REALLY Late Oktoberfest

[ghank15]

Why not just lager it for the usual length of time using your normal process?

My local brewery put out there Oktoberfest today, and it will be all gone by the first week in October. Most commercial stuff will be sold out or not as fresh by the end of October.

By the time all the commercial stuff is sold out, yours should be good to go, and you can have great beer (my personal favorite style) throughout November or December.

 

[starrfish]

why not just lager it for the usual length of time using your normal process?

My local brewery put out there oktoberfest today, and it will be all gone by the first week in october. Most commercial stuff will be sold out or not as fresh by the end of october.

By the time all the commercial stuff is sold out, yours should be good to go, and you can have great beer (my personal favorite style) throughout november or december.

+1

 

[NigeltheBold]

Brewed it yesterday, and things went pretty well. Missed the OG by about .002 points, but that's no big deal. Transferred the wort from the kettle to a glass carboy, pitched the SF Lager yeast, and it's been bubbling for several hours now. Keeping it at about 60 degrees in my basement.

I'm a little concerned, because I accidentally transferred quite a bit of hop sediment and trub into the fermenter. I usually strain the wort as I transfer it, but that's hard to do with a carboy. Do you think the hop sediment in the fermenter will cause the beer to be too hoppy/grassy? I wouldn't be worried if this was a hoppy recipe, but it's an Oktoberfest, not an IPA or anything. Should I be worried? Should I transfer to a secondary container after fermentation completes to get the beer off of the hops?

 

[Jsmith82]

Fan replaced, brand new replacement is trucking away, really made a difference as well, I'm getting some really crazy airflow all of the sudden.

@ Chabutna, I wouldn't sweat that you didn't strain your wort, I didn't strain mine either, I normally don't strain anything. Just means you'll have more at the bottom of the carboy when all is said and done, the yeast should still clean it out well being you've got a couple weeks ahead of you. Let the yeast do their thing and crash the temps afterward, it should clear out nicely.

If anyone gives you any guff about a little something floating in their beer, tell them to shut their mouth then drink it for them.

 

[NigeltheBold]

There was lots of activity in the fermenter for the past few days. It's starting to slow down now, and the air lock is bubbling more slowly. I think I'll leave it at sixty degrees for about two weeks and then check the gravity. I'll keep you all updated as I go along, but it may be awhile until you hear anything about this beer since it's going to be sitting in primary for awhile.

 

[NigeltheBold]

Well, I got super impatient throughout this whole process, and I ended up bottling the late oktoberfest about a week and a half ago. So it was in primary for two weeks at 60 degrees, secondary for two weeks (at about 40 degrees f), and it has now been in the bottles for a week and a half at 60 degrees.

Just to see how it was coming along, I cracked one open yesterday. Believe it or not, it was already carbonated after 1.5 weeks. It still tastes a little green (needs more time to age and condition), but overall I'm happy with the results. The SF Lager yeast produced a nice, clean and refreshing beer. In other words, it tastes like a real lager. I'm not an expert or a judge, but I think it's pretty darn close to the real thing. The beer is nice and clear as well. If I had to change anything, I would have left the beer in primary for one more week (for a total of three weeks). I was a little high on the FG. Some people told me to do this earlier in the thread, but I was too impatient.

Anyway, if anyone does this in the future and uses the same yeast, I definitely recommend a 3-week primary and at least a week in cold conditioning. Two weeks might be better. Then a couple of weeks in bottles and you're good to go.

 

[Jsmith82]

I finally bottled mine as well Chabunta, been a fun beer to rush... Total time spent in the bucket - 8/21 to 9/25. Still came in at 1.010 so I have it gauged right at 6.3% ABV, a very dark blond color to it, almost brown, crystal clear though!! Hoping that holds out once chilled. The gravity sample was MAAALLLTTTY, definitely has a clean taste to the pallet but it struck me as an ale and not much like a lager, not complaining though... Very good stuff, can't wait for it to carb up.

How about a picture once you crack into another one?

 

[NigeltheBold]

I finally bottled mine as well Chabunta, been a fun beer to rush... Total time spent in the bucket - 8/21 to 9/25. Still came in at 1.010 so I have it gauged right at 6.3% ABV, a very dark blond color to it, almost brown, crystal clear though!! Hoping that holds out once chilled. The gravity sample was MAAALLLTTTY, definitely has a clean taste to the pallet but it struck me as an ale and not much like a lager, not complaining though... Very good stuff, can't wait for it to carb up.

How about a picture once you crack into another one?

Picture coming soon!

 

[Jsmith82]

Picture coming soon!

Yeah buddy!

I'll post one up in a couple weeks once we've got some carbonation. I plan on breaking into this beer with my 1 liter mug.. Going all in

 

[NigeltheBold]

Sorry the pic is a little blurry. You can't quite see how clear the beer is in the picture, but it's pretty darn clear. I like the color though.

Tasting it for a second time, I get an interesting aftertaste. I think it's from the yeast, because I made another beer with the same yeast and tasted the same thing. It's hard to explain what it tastes like...

Maybe next year I'll use a real lager yeast and start the beer quite a bit earlier. The results from this brew weren't bad though!

 

[Jsmith82]

Looks great man! Good color to it as well.

 

[Jsmith82]

Broke into it tonight though it needs probably 10-14 more days to carb. Pretty clear, malty, but I think it finished a little too dry, smells like heaven but the alcohol is present. All in all, not my best, but it's not bad.. Prost!