What do you think of my Oktoberish recipe?

[PintOfBitter]

Here's what I'm thinking of brewing tomorrow. It's an ale that I'm hoping will be a bit oktoberfest-ish, but I have no Munich, and will be using Apollo for bittering. Looking for a bit of sweetness without being heavy, and low on the bitterness. I've never used the Melanoidin, Aromatic, or CaraRed before.

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.32 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 10.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 21.6 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 60.00 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
1 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 10.00 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
8.0 oz Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2.50 %
4.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.50 %
0.35 oz Apollo [17.50 %] (60 min) Hops 21.6 IBU
1 Pkgs Pacman (Wyeast) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 10.00 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
45 min Mash In Add 12.50 qt of water at 170.5 F 158.0 F

My main concerns are that the Crystal malts will give me more of a "brown" flavor than malty/sweet. I haven't brewed much with Crystal lower than 60L. Some carmel flavors would be nice, but I don't want this to be a dark flavored beer.

Thoughts?

 

[SavageSteve]

I think you'll definitely be in the "Oktoberish" zone with this one, but definitely outside of the Oktoberfest style. The Vienna will be great and give a nice rich maltiness to it.

For my taste, 1.5 lbs. of crystal malt would be too much, but you said you're looking for something sweetish, so that should do it. I don't think it'll be a dark flavored beer, but it will definitely be malty, and caramelly. Should have a great malt aroma, too.

It's definitely going to be chewy, too, with a mash temperature of 158 deg. F and all of that crystal malt.

Good luck!

-Steve

 

[PintOfBitter]

I'm open to suggestions for change - I'd like to approximate the style reasonably well, probably looking to wind up with something on the sweeter edge of the Oktoberfest style. Lower temp mash may be in order, though?

 

[SavageSteve]

Well... since you asked...

I would definitely mash lower, say 152 or 153. And cut back on the crystal malt. Oktoberfests should be malty, but not have a caramel or malt sweetness to them.

I've never used Aromatic, CaraRed, Biscuit, or Melanoiden malt before, but my first instinct would be to use a light hand with them. That's a lot of different malts for a style that is actually very simple in ingredients (though I tend to have a good variety in my Oktoberfests).

You could simplify a bit by ditching the pale malt-- a 1:6 ratio with Vienna isn't going to be noticed. I say go with all Vienna.

The IBU's look a little low compared to the OG. You could bump it up a bit (26-28) to help balance it out. The timing is good since you only want little to no hop flavor.

Oktoberfests have become a bit of a passion with me the past few years. I brew mine at the big side of the style, and that's the way I like it!

-Steve

 

[PintOfBitter]

Thanks, i'll take your advice to heart and retool the grain bill a bit. The pale malt is in there because I've only got 6 lbs of Vienna

 

[Malticulous]

I don't like the crystal 10L, it's sweet but brings nothing much else to the table. The Aromatic and Melanoiden are redundant, I say no more than six oz of just one of them.

 

[PintOfBitter]

yeah, i decided to dump the crystal. Thanks for the info about the Aromatic and Melanoiden - I didn't know they were similar.

 

[dontman]

My Oktoberfest just went into keg today. After 6 weeks of lagering. I know Oktoberfest is actually celebrated kind of now but since I am over here I plan to celebrate it in October dammit!

(My Pumpkin Ale just went into secondary today too. It is already crystal clear with only 2 weeks of primary. Odd. Not complaining but odd. Nice pie smell to it.)

 

[Malticulous]

I think I'll bottle mine tomorrow.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

September 19th - October 4th is the parties.
Here is an OctoberFAST that I threw together, sitting in a keg ready to tap on the 19th.
Maybe I also went overboard with the crystals, but the samples tasted fantastic. But US-05 really brought it down more than I thought it would.
20090903 Racked to keg. SG 1.009 Ready to drink now.

OG 1.056 FG 1.009
IBU 27 SRM 13

46.2 % 6.00 American Two-row Pale 27.7 1.8
15.4 % 2.00 Belgian Caravienne 7.5 7.3
15.4 % 2.00 American Munich (Light) 8.3 3.3
7.7 % 1.00 Belgian Aromatic 3.8 4.2
7.7 % 1.00 American Crystal 20L 4.4 3.3
3.8 % 0.50 CaraPils 2.1 0.2
3.8 % 0.50 American Crystal 40L 2.1 3.3
13.00 55.8
% (oz) Hop Form AA% AAU Boil Util IBU
40.0 % 1.00 Hallertau Pellet 4.5 4.5 60 0.258 14.5
20.0 % 0.50 Hallertau Pellet 4.5 2.3 40 0.227 6.4
20.0 % 0.50 Tettnanger Pellet 3.9 2.0 30 0.199 4.8
20.0 % 0.50 Tettnanger Pellet 3.9 2.0 5 0.051 1.3
2.50 27.0

 

[PintOfBitter]

WOW this came out super awesome. Best beer I've ever made. Did a 1L stirred starter on the Pacman. The only change I'd consider making is the hops, but that's just what I had on hand. IBUs are perfect. Flavor is fresh and fantastic. Beautiful color and creamy, lasting head. Ended up with a chill haze, though. My first impression was the prominent fresh bread flavor. Surprisingly yeasty, considering it was crystal clear before going in the fridge. Any ideas where a fresh, yeasty flavor would come from in this recipe?


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.32 gal
Estimated OG: 1.048 SG
Estimated Color: 6.1 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.9 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 69.52 %
2 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 23.17 %
4.0 oz Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.90 %
3.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 2.20 %
3.0 oz Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM) Grain 2.20 %
0.35 oz Apollo [17.50 %] (60 min) Hops 22.9 IBU
1 Pkgs Pacman (Wyeast) Yeast-Ale


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 8.63 lb
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
60 min Mash In Add 10.79 qt of water at 169.6 F 154.0 F

 

[SavageSteve]

Cool-- glad it came out good!

Not sure what to say about the yeasty flavor, except that maybe some more cold conditioning will help drop out the remaining yeast. How long has it been in the fridge?

-Steve

 

[PintOfBitter]

has been cold for about a week and a half maybe? I actually enjoy it immensely just how it is, even if it isn't quite the oktoberfest simulation I hoped it would be. It's definitely right on for my tastes, and i'll brew it again.