1) Are you doing it all grain?
2) Are you pulling a triple decoction?
3) Why not, what's wrong with you?
Don't get me wrong, I like decoctions. They're a pain, but I they allow me to give the beer a little sumpin sumpin and more importantly, do step mashes without adding volume to my 10 gallon igloo, meaning I can brew stronger 10 gallon batches. So with this Oktoberfest I compromised. A bit more specialty malts, a single infusion at 153-154 and a decoction to knock it out at the end. Split the batch with half getting Munich Lager, half Bavarian Lager. One liter starters on both.
Nothing went right on brew day. Couldn't find my Stopper Thermowell after the move (even now, angry at my lack of precise control over the lager temps). Record heat meant my groundwater through the plate chiller only cooled it to 75 (!?!). Seventy-five! The last batch cooled to 65 with the same water! Grrr. Still better than Miami though! Forgot to add the whirlfloc until the last 5 minutes so had to boil a bit longer. Put the carboys in the chest freezer (at 38 degrees) overnight, then in the 50 degree lager fridge the next morning. Took off like a shot within a few hours. Still going, will secondary in a few days.
But overall it went ok, got a O.G. of 1.060 and decently correct volume meaning we're on track for a beer in the 5.8% range. After a week in secondary, I'm going to lower it a degree a day to 34 and leave it till the third week of September. Then keg, carb, and serve with homemade sausages and pretzels. It's so nice to be able to ferment ales at room temperature, and use the fridge for lagers. I'm thinking I'll repitch the yeast on a Baltic Porter and maybe a Doppelbock when it's done.
Also had the problem that I haven't used this fridge for beer before. The glass shelf at the bottom was not going to work with that much weight. So popped down to Limback Lumber on Market. They cut me a new wood shelf to fit out of scrap, quickly sanded too, for $5. Sweet. Also, reason for volume discrepancies in the photo: 5.5 gallon carboy and 6.5.| Knocktoverfest |
| Oktoberfest/Marzen |
| Type: All Grain | Date: 7/17/2009 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Batch Size: 10.50 gal | Brewer: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Size: 13.80 gal | Asst Brewer: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Boil Time: 90 min | Equipment: Brew Pot (15 Gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (10 Gal) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 | Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Taste Notes: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ingredients | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Beer Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Original Gravity: 1.059 SG | Measured Original Gravity: 1.060 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG | Measured Final Gravity: 1.014 SG | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.84 % | Actual Alcohol by Vol: 6 % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bitterness: 23.9 IBU | Calories: 269 cal/pint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Est Color: 10.7 SRM | Color:
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| Mash Profile | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body | Total Grain Weight: 22.00 lb | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Water: 10.37 gal | Grain Temperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F | TunTemperature: 72.0 F | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE | Mash PH: 5.4 PH | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time). | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carbonation and Storage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carbonation Type: Force | Volumes of CO2: 2.4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pressure/Weight: 7.9 oz | Carbonation Used: - | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Keg/Bottling Temperature: 34.0 F | Age for: 28.0 days | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Storage Temperature: 38.0 F | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Water: add 1gm Epsom, 2gm Baking Soda, 6gm chalk to mash. PH of mash water should be 7.2, add 0.2ml lactic acid, and 1ml to sparge water for Seattle-Tolt. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 comments:
I have my Oktoberfest on tap now, and a single infusion still made a great beer!
Have you ever tried Melanoidin to replicate the "maltiness" gained from decoctions? I was thinking about throwing that in there next time
I totally agree, the decoction is more due to my equipment than anything else. I couldn't do an infusion big enough to knock out the mash with the remaining volume in the mash tun.
A couple years back I didn't have the space to do lagers, so I did a Mocktoberfest using Kolsch yeast. As I remember it was a batch sparge mash, using a lot of specialty malts. There was at least a pound of melanoidin in there, and some aromatic and caramunich. It came out pretty good.
Another thing you can do to build up those essential melanoidins is to collect the first half gallon or so of your first runnings, heat up your kettle till nearly scorching, add the first runnings, and then boil down to reduce by half. This kettle caramelization will basically mimic some of the things that happen in a decoction, and will increase the maltiness enormously. Just don't let it burn!
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