Walked out of the LHBS with 100lbs of Vienna for $40

[Barley_Bob]

First of all, holy ****! I went into my LHBS looking for a 10lb bag of 2-row at $12. They didn't have one, so I was about to cave and grab a 50lb bag of 2-row for $54. And then no ****, the manager walks up to me and says, "Hey, I don't know if you have any use for Vienna malt, but the guy over at (a local brewery) hasn't come by to pick his up. There are 50lb bags back there on a pallet severely marked down to $20 each."

Yes. Yes, I would like Vienna malt please. There were two bags and I left with both. I've never, ever heard of a deal like that!

But now seriously, what do I do with 100lbs of Vienna? I was planning an IPA. Should I go 1:1 on the 2-row? I see folks brewing Vienna SMaSHes. Are those legit or just a gimmick? What else should I do with this heavenly bounty of malt?

 

[catdaddy66]

What do you do with 100# of Vienna malt? Whatever the hell you want!!

Seriously, I have used it in pale ales and read about Vienna sMasH recipes a lot. Vienna lagers are also popular.

Go nuts!

I love Da Yooper's pale ale which uses about 30% Vienna.

 

[OG-wan Kenobi]

WOW awesome deal good for you. I have done Vienna smashes they are good but I prefer 75/25 Vienna/2 row for an IPA base 50/50 works very well also. I use it with a lot of my traditional IPA's and in my Festbier or anywhere I want to add some malt character that munich would be overpowering for my goal, a lot of people make Vienna lagers with it as well. It's a solid malt and very versatile you got a 100lbs on the cheap have fun with it play around your not going to lose at 40 cents a pound.

 

[Soulshine2]

First of all, holy poopy! I went into my LHBS looking for a 10lb bag of 2-row at $12. They didn't have one, so I was about to cave and grab a 50lb bag of 2-row for $54. And then no poopy, the manager walks up to me and says, "Hey, I don't know if you have any use for Vienna malt, but the guy over at (a local brewery) hasn't come by to pick his up. There are 50lb bags back there on a pallet severely marked down to $20 each."

Yes. Yes, I would like Vienna malt please. There were two bags and I left with both. I've never, ever heard of a deal like that!

But now seriously, what do I do with 100lbs of Vienna? I was planning an IPA. Should I go 1:1 on the 2-row? I see folks brewing Vienna SMaSHes. Are those legit or just a gimmick? What else should I do with this heavenly bounty of malt?

I love it when a right place at the right time deal goes down. good for you.

 

[jmcquesten]

Negra Modelo clone. I started making it last year and the kegs go quick. Of course you gotta have lagering capability and get some WLP940 (Mexican lager yeast) and a couple lbs of flaked corn. I have the recipe if interested.

Nice deal, I also would have jumped on that.

 

[brewbama]

Negra Modelo clone. I started making it last year and they kegs go quick. Of course you gotta have lagering capability and get some WLP940 (Mexican lager yeast) and a couple lbs of flaked corn. I have the recipe if interested.

Nice deal, I also would have jumped on that.

I am interested.

 

[dchmela]

I would also try an all Vienna Saison, great for the summer.

 

[jmcquesten]

10 lb Vienna Malt 78.7%
8 ozAmerican - Caramel / Crystal 60L 3.9%
3.25 ozAmerican - Chocolate 1.6%
2 lb Flaked Corn 15.7%

12.7 lbTotal

Hops

0.5 oz Magnum 13% - Boil 60 min
1 oz Tettnanger 4.5% - Boil 10 min


Yeast (huge starter)

White Labs - Mexican Lager Yeast WLP940

*Edited: The corn in this recipe was my addition. The original clone recipe does not call for any flaked corn

 

[Barley_Bob]

What do you do with 100# of Vienna malt? Whatever the hell you want!!

Ha! Fair enough!

I really appreciate the ideas, and please keep them coming! For my current brew, I could use some advice. I like a maltier IPA, like Dale's Pale Ale, Mirror Pond, Anti-hero, Lakefront, Yum Yum, etc. Dry IPAs just aren't my thing. So my grist was supposed to be 2-row, munich, aromatic, and victory (I like all of these in an IPA). I have literally just one pound of 2-row right now. Should I just go 100% Vienna? Should I add something else to add depth? I'm lost.

It's a solid malt and very versatile you got a 100lbs on the cheap have fun with it play around your not going to lose at 40 cents a pound.

I totally agree - I just can't lose no matter what. I just want good beer.

 

[Barley_Bob]

I also think a spring Kolsch or mock Maibock would be good.

 

[Miraculix]

First of all, holy poopy! I went into my LHBS looking for a 10lb bag of 2-row at $12. They didn't have one, so I was about to cave and grab a 50lb bag of 2-row for $54. And then no poopy, the manager walks up to me and says, "Hey, I don't know if you have any use for Vienna malt, but the guy over at (a local brewery) hasn't come by to pick his up. There are 50lb bags back there on a pallet severely marked down to $20 each."

Yes. Yes, I would like Vienna malt please. There were two bags and I left with both. I've never, ever heard of a deal like that!

But now seriously, what do I do with 100lbs of Vienna? I was planning an IPA. Should I go 1:1 on the 2-row? I see folks brewing Vienna SMaSHes. Are those legit or just a gimmick? What else should I do with this heavenly bounty of malt?

First thing to do, brew a Vienna lager smash. It will be very good. Just use saaz or mittelfrüh or similar, or cascade if you want it American. Don't go overboard with ibus and late addition, 30 to 35 ibus, mashed medium low and a bit of late additions. No dry hopping. Brewed it.and loved it.

Now that you know what you are at, you probably want to brew something else with it so I'll 2nd the suggestion above and suggest an ipa or apa with 50% to 100% of Vienna and the rest pale and 10 percent wheat malt.

And after that, you'll probably want to brew the smash lager again because you realised how good it is after a few weeks waiting time

 

[bracconiere]

I'd say a 100% vienna lager would be good? lightly hopped, to keep the cost down....And you'd be down there with me, drinking ~99 cent twelvers!

Edit: And congrats! I remember the good old days of ordering grain through the local brewpub for $18 a sack!

 

[schematix]

It's not *that* much different than pale malt. Use it as your base malt.

Good deal. You got it close to cost.

 

[Barley_Bob]

I have a bunch of saaz in the freezer...

 

[jtratcliff]

Yooper's House Pale Ale is a very good APA that uses Vienna & Munich along with a pale base malt... She uses Marris Otter, but I sub in 2 row w/ victory/biscuit. Can't go wrong with that recipe..

 

[catdaddy66]

Yooper's House Pale Ale is a very good APA that uses Vienna & Munich along with a pale base malt... She uses Marris Otter, but I sub in 2 row w/ victory/biscuit. Can go wrong with that recipe..

I love that recipe! It let's me play with the hops for each batch. Last one used Idaho 7(007) and comet. Phenomenal!

 

[Cavpilot2000]

Vienna is a great malt for almost everything.
All of my APAs and IPAs get a few pounds.
Almost all of my German lagers get some too.
Try a Helles with 10% Vienna, 5% Carahell, and the rest Pilsner.

But a Vienna SMASH or near-smash (80-90% Vienna) will make a beautiful beer.
Vienna is my second-most used malt, coming in a close second to pilsner.

 

[kh54s10]

My latest is a Vienna Wheat. 54.1% Vienna and 45.9% White Wheat malt. It's in the fermenter so I can't give an opinion on taste. I have only used my Vienna as a small percentage previously.

Almost out of 2 row so the next few will have a lot of Vienna - I have most of a sack left.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

10 lb Vienna Malt 78.7%
8 ozAmerican - Caramel / Crystal 60L 3.9%
3.25 ozAmerican - Chocolate 1.6%
2 lb Flaked Corn 15.7%

12.7 lbTotal

Hops

0.5 oz Magnum 13% - Boil 60 min
1 oz Tettnanger 4.5% - Boil 10 min


Yeast (huge starter)

White Labs - Mexican Lager Yeast WLP940

I wonder if you left out the chocolate it turns into a regular Modelo. Maybe drop the crystal down to 20...HMMM.

Any other Mexican recipes? Modello is not my favorite. Do Equis or SOL are good

 

[jmcquesten]

I wonder if you left out the chocolate it turns into a regular Modelo. Maybe drop the crystal down to 20...HMMM.

Any other Mexican recipes? Modello is not my favorite. Do Equis or SOL are good

Never tried that, but it's worth a shot if someone had a bunch of extra grain. Seems like Modelo Especial might be more pilsner malt based, but I really don't know.

 

[jtratcliff]

I love that recipe! It let's me play with the hops for each batch. Last one used Idaho 7(007) and comet. Phenomenal!

Yeah, it's a very nice malt-forward base APA that is forgiving for playing around... I've also done several different-hop variations that came out quite good (just keep the IBUs about the same)... I think the original all cascade version is my favorite, though

 

[Soulshine2]

10 lb Vienna Malt 78.7%
8 ozAmerican - Caramel / Crystal 60L 3.9%
3.25 ozAmerican - Chocolate 1.6%
2 lb Flaked Corn 15.7%

12.7 lbTotal

Hops

0.5 oz Magnum 13% - Boil 60 min
1 oz Tettnanger 4.5% - Boil 10 min


Yeast (huge starter)

White Labs - Mexican Lager Yeast WLP940

Sounds good

 

[Jayjay1976]

Vienna is my base malt, and Satan is my motor.

 

[jmcquesten]

I wonder if you left out the chocolate it turns into a regular Modelo. Maybe drop the crystal down to 20...HMMM.

Any other Mexican recipes? Modello is not my favorite. Do Equis or SOL are good

So according to the clone brews book, Dos Equis would be

6.75 lb Munich
2 lb Vienna
6 oz "light crystal" (doesn't specify, so maybe crystal 10 or 20
1 oz black malt

1.2 oz Tettnang @60
0.25 oz Tettnang @10
0.25 oz saaz @10

Also list's 4 oz malto dextrine.

Yeast bohemian lager(wy2124) or Bavarian lager (wy2206).

***I have not brewed this recipe, but if I did, I would definitely use WLP940 Mexican lager yeast. I would probably use carapils instead of the malto dextrine because I'd rather use grain.

 

[jmcquesten]

Sounds good

It is. I highly recommend it. I think the yeast and flaked corn really give it a Mexican beer character. That's what separates this from a true Vienna lager I believe.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

So according to the clone brews book, Dos Equis would be

6.75 lb Munich
2 lb Vienna
6 oz "light crystal" (doesn't specify, so maybe crystal 10 or 20
1 oz black malt

1.2 oz Tettnang @60
0.25 oz Tettnang @10
0.25 oz saaz @10

Also list's 4 oz malto dextrine.

Yeast bohemian lager(wy2124) or Bavarian lager (wy2206).

***I have not brewed this recipe, but if I did, I would definitely use WLP940 Mexican lager yeast. I would probably use carapils instead of the malto dextrine because I'd rather use grain.

Black malt Huh..I would have never expected that in a light Lager..thats interesting

 

[Jayjay1976]

Would be cool to brew a Mexican style vienna lager and bottle it with hot sauce and spices to make a quasi-michelada. Depending on the sugar content, it might be possible to sub hot sauce for a portion of the priming charge. I love michelada but commercial versions are far too salty for my palate.

 

[jmcquesten]

Black malt Huh..I would have never expected that in a light Lager..thats interesting

Well, it doesn't say Dos Equis Amber (which I thought was an amber ale, not lager), but in the description it says it's a reddish colored Vienna lager style beer. It doesn't have the Dos Equis (light) Lager recipe.

 

[jmcquesten]

Here's what it says.

 

[JONNYROTTEN]

Here's what it says. View attachment 612434

Thanks for the info. I'll be making one of these in the near future

 

[Soulshine2]

It is. I highly recommend it. I think the yeast and flaked corn really give it a Mexican beer character. That's what separates this from a true Vienna lager I believe.

Not sure which brand ,but I've read that at least one of the mexican commercial breweries purposely runs their bottled beer through a UV light to give it that "Mexican beer taste"

 

[JonM]

Another vote for Vienna lager. I just kicked my annual keg of Vienna lager and wish I had more.

Since you have so much, why not experiment with maybe an all-Vienna barley wine?

Years ago I made an all-Maris Otter barleywine. I used a ton of MO, like 18 lbs or something, and did a 3.5 hour boil. (Rumor has it that’s how they make North Coast Old Stock Ale.) Anyway, I bet that same technique would be great with Vienna.

 

[Queequeg]

Drink Vienna lager for the rest of your life. Still that's no bad thing

 

[Barley_Bob]

Thanks for all the input guys! I think I'll do a Vienna/Saaz smash this weekend. I can't lager, but I can do a Kolsch. Okay, it won't really be a Kolsch. I don't have that yeast. Don't judge me. It'll taste good. And then I'll top crop and do my pale ale next week. After that, I'll have a ton of slurry for something bigger, like a barleywine.

 

[Jayjay1976]

Thanks for all the input guys! I think I'll do a Vienna/Saaz smash this weekend. I can't lager, but I can do a Kolsch. Okay, it won't really be a Kolsch. I don't have that yeast. Don't judge me. It'll taste good. And then I'll top crop and do my pale ale next week. After that, I'll have a ton of slurry for something bigger, like a barleywine.

Yeah! Sounds like a solid plan for all that glorious Vienna malt!!

 

[cyberbackpacker]

A tip you may want to consider for your pseudo-lager...

I find an overpitch of healthy and active 1056, fermented around 63F, produces a very clean drinking beer. I took second in best of show with an Eisbock doing exactly this-- and in an eisbock your flavors get very concentrated. So I take that as a good recommendation of technique!

 

[Lefou]

Not sure which brand ,but I've read that at least one of the mexican commercial breweries purposely runs their bottled beer through a UV light to give it that "Mexican beer taste"

You know, that just bugs the hell outta me if it's true.
I can see it happening to beer stored badly in clear bottles but it should be a punishable offense to do intentionally. Some people might like the mildly skunked beer, but to me, it's a flaw.

 

[jmcquesten]

You know, that just bugs the hell outta me if it's true.
I can see it happening to beer stored badly in clear bottles but it should be a punishable offense to do intentionally. Some people might like the mildly skunked beer, but to me, it's a flaw.

Guess it depends on what "Mexican beer taste" you're talking about. I don't consider skunky/light stricken flavor to correlate to Mexican beer. I almost find it hard to believe that anyone is purposely skunking their beer. More of a clear bottle and storage/transport temperature issue would be my guess.

 

[Barley_Bob]

Update - I brewed up the Vienna/Saaz smash. Brew day went as planned. I went under my mash temp by 2 degrees, but RDWAHAHB. Life goes on. It's alone in my apartment for the week with the heat at 65.

 

[thehaze]

Vienna malt, provided is not darker than 4L, then it can be used for so many styles of beer: Vienna Lager, Lagers blended with some Pilsner malt, IPAs, Pale Ales, Belgian beers, Porters, Browns, Stouts, ESBs, etc. Very good deal.