Schwarzbier ala Kostrizer

[nrjones89]

I am building a keggle for all grain, and I would like my first all grain batch to be a schwarzbier similar to Kostrizer, which was the first German beer I ever tried. It will be lagered, so it will be a smaller 3g batch.

My brewing friends advised to look into water chemistry and focus on choosing a pils malt and use Carafa to darken. I am not sure if I trust same friends' opinions as their schwarzbier a year or so ago was too roasty and IMO more reminiscent of a stout. I really like Kostrizer because it's bready and light-bodied. I would probably use some biscuit malt to achieve the flavor complexity I want, and use a debittered black malt for color. I'd definitely spend more time focusing on hops to achieve some balance. What are your thoughts?

Please share recipes if you have some.

 

[BigEd]

Your friends are on the right track as far as the Pilsner malt and Carafa go but you are right about getting it too roasty. There should just be enough dark malt to get the right color but not enough to push the beer into porter/stout flavors. I'd stay away from biscuit malt. This is a German beer, use German malts. Good quality Pilsner malt along with some Munich will get you the flavor and aroma you're looking for. Then a touch of Carafa is what you need for color.

You may want to check adjustments for a 3 gallon batch, this is a 10 gallon recipe cut down in size:

4 lbs German pilsner malt
1.75 lbs German dark Munich malt (such as Weyermann II)
.25 lb Carafa II

.50 oz worth of German noble hop close to 5% AA (bittering boil)

Ferment with your favorite Bavarian lager yeast.

Keep water adjustments simple, this is not a beer that needs flinty water. Modest amounts of Calcium and chloride are welcome along with a little carbonate alkalinity for balance with the dark malts. Keep the sulfate low to very low.

 

[nrjones89]

What is a German malt that would impart a bready biscuity flavor that I could use with this batch? I have used Munich extract before and found it to be too sweet for what I used it for.

Why do you recommend carafa in place of debittered malt for darkening? What benefit would I get from using Carafa instead?

Our water here is around 8.7 pH with lots of calcium and some chloride, no flint. I typically don't mess with the water, just add a 1/4 campden tab for chlorine and 1 tsp yeast nutrient.

Thanks for the recipe!

 

[beerlover77]

CarafaII is a dehusked grain so it is naturally less bitter
for my Dark German Lager I used:
-64% Weyerman Bohemian pils malt
-27% Light Munich
-5% Carastan (caramunich would be better)
-5% CarafaII
34/70 yeast

It was great and everyone feels I should make the excat recipe again.
It had a small roastiness that could be countered by adding the CarafaII late in the mash

 

[nrjones89]

I am planning on doing several German beers in a row, so this will be the first in the series. So in order to save money, I'm going to buy a lot of pils malt. What would be the best all-around German pils malt for various German styles?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Use cafafa special 3 for darkening or special 1/2 if you want a bit more chocolate flavour. Carafa special grains (1, 2 and 3 from lightest to darkest colour) are huskless, so they are less bitter than other dark malts. Carafa (without the 'special' part) is not huskless.

For a dry, pils like schwarzbier (which kostrizer is) go with mostly good German Pils malt, about 10 to 15% German munich malt, and enough Carafa special 2 or 3 for colouring. Use enough noble hops to get about 30IBU's with about a gram per litre/quart late in the boil. Aim for an OG of 1.050. I'd recommend a non-traditional yeast - WY2042 Danish lager.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Bestmalz and Weyermann Pils malts are both excellent.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

CarafaII is a dehusked grain so it is naturally less bitter
for my Dark German Lager I used:
-64% Weyerman Bohemian pils malt
-27% Light Munich
-5% Carastan (caramunich would be better)
-5% CarafaII
34/70 yeast

It was great and everyone feels I should make the excat recipe again.
It had a small roastiness that could be countered by adding the CarafaII late in the mash

This is a really solid schwarzbier recipe (an IMO probably better than Kostrizer) but will be much richer than Kostrizer, which really is a dark pilsener.

 

[beerlover77]

This is a really solid schwarzbier recipe (an IMO probably better than Kostrizer) but will be much richer than Kostrizer, which really is a dark pilsener.

Thanks dude...

I should correct that I used Carafa special II not the regular stuff.
I've only used Weyermann (as far as continental pils malt goes) but really like it.
I have used Canada Malting Pils but it is kinda like regular 2-row

 

[nrjones89]

This is a really solid schwarzbier recipe (an IMO probably better than Kostrizer) but will be much richer than Kostrizer, which really is a dark pilsener.

I think that a lot of schwarzbier is often done wrong by having too much roasty, chocolate, and coffee flavors. To me, Kostrizer sets the example for schwarzbier. It's a black lager, which is the same as a dark pils. The pils flavor is hidden by the darker malts, and the darker malts are balanced out by hop flavors and IBU levels. It's a complex beer that is easy to overpower with any one component after pils malt. I've never had an American schwarz that was impressive, and local homebrews are more stout-like, when I think they should be more like porters and have a lighter body.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

It's not wrong to have more roast/choc/coffee flavours - just different to Kostritzer. Try a Leikeim Schwarzbier - it's a traditional German schwarzbier at the other end of the spectrum to Kostritzer - it's quite rich and complex.

 

[nrjones89]

Thanks for the recommendation. I will see if I can get that locally. It's hard to find any German imports around here with the craft beer scene taking over.

 

[nrjones89]

Should I attempt to do a basic German lager before attempting this? I've only done English ales, pale lager, Belgian dubbels, Hefeweizens, and pale wheat.

 

[Gnomebrewer]

This is a basic German lager (it's probably easier than a pils or helles). If you like kostritzer, go with German pils malt (Weyermann or Bestmalz) + 10% German Munich + Carafa Special II to get the right colour (probably about 8%). Mash at 145 for 30mins then 160 for 30mins if you can (Germans mostly do a low and high sacch rest), or 152 for 60mins if you can't step mash. Aim for an OG in the 1.046 to 1.050 range. Use Hallertauer or a similar noble hop, with 1/2g per quart at 15mins and 1/2g per quart at 5mins and enough at 60 mins to give 30IBU's. Chill to below 50F and pitch a BIG starter of WY2042 (like I said, it's not traditional for German lagers, but gives a nice cracker like finish that suits this style; use a different yeast if you plan to also do dunkles/o'fest/helles/bock) and ferment at 50F for at least a few weeks before lagering.

 

[BigEd]

I'd recommend a non-traditional yeast - WY2042 Danish lager.

2042 is a great yeast. For whatever reason or reasons it seems to get lost in the shuffle.

 

[jdauria]

I am planning on doing several German beers in a row, so this will be the first in the series. So in order to save money, I'm going to buy a lot of pils malt. What would be the best all-around German pils malt for various German styles?

I would go for the Weyermann Barke Pilsner malt. It's great for lagers and dark beers. It's an older barley strain that Weyermann has brought back to life.