Vern's Munich Dunkel

[Nebraskan]

Went to local brew making supply shop tonight and gathered some nice malts. I got a dark Munich 15L malt as well as some Melanoidin and some Carafa II malt, and some regular Munich malt (about 3.75 lbs left from a 10 # bag).

I created a recipe to make a Dunkel here: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/564027/vern-s-dunkel but surprisingly it does not have the check-mark that says "Matches Style". If anyone could look at the recipe and chime is as to why it is not matching style, that would be good. Either way, looks like a nice malt forward beer. and I do like dark beers like Stout and Porter.

 

[thehaze]

A Munich Dunkel, according to Brewer's Friend is both lighter in colour and alcohol content.

But I say brew to taste and not to style. It is your beer and if you want to make it the way you created the recipe, then just do it. ( ***unless you are planning on taking the beer to a competition )

 

[Yooper]

Yes, that's correct. By BJCP standard guidelines a Munich dunkel:

8A. Munich Dunkel
Overall Impression: Characterized by depth, richness and
complexity typical of darker Munich malts with the
accompanying Maillard products. Deeply bready-toasty, often
with chocolate-like flavors in the freshest examples, but never
harsh, roasty, or astringent; a decidedly malt-balanced beer,
yet still easily drinkable.
Aroma: Rich, elegant, deep malt sweetness, typically like
bread crusts (often toasted bread crusts). Hints of chocolate,
nuts, caramel, and/or toffee are also acceptable, with fresh
traditional versions often showing higher levels of chocolate.
Clean fermentation profile. A slight spicy, floral, or herbal hop
aroma is acceptable.
Appearance: Deep copper to dark brown, often with a red or
garnet tint. Creamy, light to medium tan head. Usually clear,
although murky unfiltered versions exist.
Flavor: Dominated by the soft, rich, and complex flavor of
darker Munich malts, usually with overtones reminiscent of
toasted bread crusts, but without a burnt-harsh-grainy
toastiness. The palate can be moderately malty, although it
should not be overwhelming or cloyingly sweet. Mild caramel,
toast or nuttiness may be present. Very fresh examples often
have a pleasant malty-chocolate character that isn’t roasty or
sweet. Burnt or bitter flavors from roasted malts are
inappropriate, as are pronounced caramel flavors from crystal
malt. Hop bitterness is moderately low but perceptible, with
the balance tipped firmly towards maltiness. Hop flavor is low
to none; if noted, should reflect floral, spicy, or herbal Germantype
varieties. Aftertaste remains malty, although the hop
bitterness may become more apparent in the medium-dry
finish. Clean fermentation profile and lager character.
Mouthfeel: Medium to medium-full body, providing a soft
and dextrinous mouthfeel without being heavy or cloying.
Moderate carbonation. The use of continental Munich-type malts should provide a richness, not a harsh or biting
astringency.
Comments: Unfiltered versions from Germany can taste like
liquid bread, with a yeasty, earthy richness not found in
exported filtered examples.
History: The classic brown lager style of Munich which
developed as a darker, more malt-accented beer than other
regional lagers. While originating in Munich, the style became
popular throughout Bavaria (especially Franconia). Franconian
versions are often darker and more bitter.
Characteristic Ingredients: Grist is traditionally made up
of German Munich malt (up to 100% in some cases) with the
remainder German Pilsner malt. Small amounts of crystal malt
can add dextrins and color but should not introduce excessive
residual sweetness. Slight additions of roasted malts (such as
Carafa or chocolate) may be used to improve color but should
not add strong flavors. Traditional German hop varieties and
German lager yeast strains should be used. Often decoction
mashed (up to a triple decoction) to enhance the malt flavors
and create the depth of color.
Style Comparison: Not as intense in maltiness as a bock
(and thus more drinkable in quantity). Lacking the more
roasted flavors (and often hop bitterness) of a schwarzbier.
Richer, more malt-centric, and less hoppy than a Czech Dark
Lager.

Vital Statistics: OG: 1.048 – 1.056
IBUs: 18 – 28 FG: 1.010 – 1.016
SRM: 14 – 28 ABV: 4.5 – 5.6%


So, it may not meet the standard guidelines- but if it tastes great to you, then it's a good beer regardless!

 

[Nebraskan]

I edited it just a wee bit. Left out the chocolate malts. and cut back a little overall so the EtOH would come down a bit. Still should be right in there for maltiness. I LOVE malt flavors. I tasted the Melanoid malts I bought and WOW !! Wish I could brew a beer with just that kind of malt. I like the idea of a malt bomb.

 

[Smellyglove]

A dunkel could be made out of just dark munich and a pinch of chocolate malt. But if you like clean malt flavors I'd rather use 34/70 than S-23. S-23 gives off a fruity thing.

 

[Nebraskan]

After I got finished with cooling the wart I moved it to a 5 gal PET carboy. This was around 4:00 AM. Then pitched yeast S. 23. Later that morning about noon (LOL) I noticed the sediment at the bottom and racked off that into a 3 gallon PET at appx 85% full and a 1 gallon glass at about the same 85% volume. Fermentation started very nice by early afternoon and by Sunday morning going gangbusters.

Now it has slowed down and there is a sediment (and I assume yeast) at the bottom and wondered if you all rack again into a full secondary off the gross lees (trub) and then decant the bottom sediment to recover yeast for immediate use?

Nice color. I upload pics to the recipe. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/564027/vern-s-dunkel

 

[triethylborane]

Now it has slowed down and there is a sediment (and I assume yeast) at the bottom and wondered if you all rack again into a full secondary off the gross lees (trub) and then decant the bottom sediment to recover yeast for immediate use?

Nice color. I upload pics to the recipe. https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/564027/vern-s-dunkel

I rack to 2nd after about 7-10 days of primary for my lagers. You can collect the yeast slurry or pitch it immediately with wort.

 

[snowtiger1987]

Why all this racking? For lagers I rack once after 14 days or so into the secondary where I lager. From there it goes into a CO2 purged keg.

For ales I might nit rack into a secondary at all unless I want to dry hop or bulk age.

The more you rack the more you open yourself up to bad things like oxidation and contamination.

 

[Nebraskan]

Always purge you receiving container with CO2, if you have it. I have it at home in the form of a "SodaStream" unit for making sparking water. At the winery we have 2ea 100 gallon CO2 tanks in the basement, so there is always a lot of CO2 for large tanks.

NOTE: You don't necessarily have to fill the whole secondary with CO2 "IF" you put the siphon tube at the bottom. You only need to have about 1/3 of the vessel filled with CO2. As the fluid rises, the heavier than air CO2 will keep rising toward the top and eventually overflow the vessel.

 

[Lefou]

I like your winemaker's perspective on brewing. Introducing the CO2 during transfer to secondary is an interesting approach to reduce oxidation fears.

 

[Nebraskan]

I like your winemaker's perspective on brewing. Introducing the CO2 during transfer to secondary is an interesting approach to reduce oxidation fears.

And, if you don't have a Soda Stream outfit for CO2, or something similar, all it takes is to get your secondary all clean and ready, attach a small hose to where the airlock would be on your primary, and run it into the secondary. Leave for a day, then cap the secondary with saran wrap or aluminum foil to hold in the CO2 from the primary, for when you're ready to transfer. It is heavy, so will stay pretty much right in there. Do this when the primary is fermenting nicely, or it will take quite a bit longer to accumulate some CO2.

CO2 is so heavy that when I have centrifuged wines from our tanks with the side man way, when the wine gets below the door I open the door to view the progress and to put in an anti-whirlpool device in the center of the tank for the last of the centrifuge. You can see the CO2 pouring out of the manway. If you hold a lit cigarette lighter below that door it goes out immediately. We have to wait a bit before getting too involved in looking in at the wine through the open manway door to allow it to pout out. You can actually see it as a shimmer and distortion.

Recap: save your own CO2 if you don't have a ready source of mechanically delivered CO2. It's little bird special "cheap cheap cheap".