Oktoberfest!
Need to come up with a beer icon.
Anyway, as I explained earlier, my last batch, the Blonde Ale, came out somewhat disappointing. The main culprit, I'm convinced, is that the temperature in my basement was too cold for the yeast to really do their thing. As a result, I ended up with beer that had a much higher sugar content at the end than it should have. I was hoping that this would just manifest itself as sweetness, but it actually tastes like beer does before it ferments. I can only describe it as "young" - sweeter, but not in a good way, and a little tart. The tartness is not unwelcome, since I wanted a summery ale. But this just isn't quite right. I've put the bottles in a warmer room and agitated them a bit to re-suspend the yeast in hopes that a few more weeks will help. But I'm contemplating the very real possibility that this may be my first "failed" brew. But hey, seven beers in and only one failure? Not too shabby.
So, in learning from this experience, I decided to brew an Oktoberfest beer next. The yeast for this beer prefers cooler temperatures, so I'm hoping that it will not have the same problems the Blonde had. I started with a recipe I had found online for an extract-based Oktoberfest ale, and I modified (rather significantly) from there. Since Oktoberfest is technically supposed to be a lager (requires fermenting in a refrigerator, which I haven't done yet), doing it with ale yeast (ferments at room temp) means it isn't a true Oktoberfest. But this yeast is supposed to have fewer ale-like characteristics and more lager-like characteristics. So here's hoping.
So I did a few things that might be "against the grain", if you'll forgive the pun. First off, the website that had the original recipe suggested adding some calcium carbonate to the water in order to raise the pH. Apparently the water in Bavaria has a higher pH and this plays a large role in the taste of true Oktoberfest beers. Second, I used two different types of malt extract - pale (ale) malt, and pilsen (lager) malt. I don't think this should make a difference. The lager malt is very pale, and I'm hoping will impart a cleaner taste. Third, I added servomyces, which is a yeast nutrient designed to generally improve the way the yeast works. Fourth, I added Irish Moss, a seaweed derivative which is supposed to help make the beer less cloudy. Homebrews come out cloudy for a number of reasons, one of which is suspended proteins, which the Irish Moss is supposed to help precipitate out. Anyway, all four of these things are things I've never done before, so I'll never know which, if any of them, affected the final outcome. But hopefully they'll all contribute positively.
The recipe is:
2 lbs pale (ale) DME
3 lbs Pilsen (lager) DME
Steeped:
1 lb Crystal 40 malt
0.5 lb Crystal 60 malt
0.25 lb Special B malt
0.25 lb Chocolate malt
1 oz Tettnang hop pellets (60 min)
0.5 oz Saaz hop pellets (30 min)
WLP029 German Ale/Kolsch yeast
Target OG = 1.052
Actual OG = 1.046
I attribute the lower OG to not getting as much out of the steeped grains as I'd expected. If the yeast fully ferments this time, I should end up with an FG of 1.012 or so.
Brewing the hops earlier in the boil and not including any in the last 15 minutes (as I have in the past) should result in less hop aroma and more of a malty flavor to the final beer (both characteristic of Oktoberfests). The yeast, in addition to having a cooler temperature profile (65-69 deg) is also supposed to produce a cleaner more lager-like beer.
Really, Oktoberfest is one of my favorite brews, and I have high hopes for this one. The wort looked a lot darker than I expected it to, but once I added the wort to the pre-boiled water (which is what brings the total volume up to 5 gal) the color ended up very close to what I had envisioned. I'm really hoping that this one works out - not just because I am emotionally invested in it, but also because I need a win after my last batch.
Here's hoping!
Anyway, as I explained earlier, my last batch, the Blonde Ale, came out somewhat disappointing. The main culprit, I'm convinced, is that the temperature in my basement was too cold for the yeast to really do their thing. As a result, I ended up with beer that had a much higher sugar content at the end than it should have. I was hoping that this would just manifest itself as sweetness, but it actually tastes like beer does before it ferments. I can only describe it as "young" - sweeter, but not in a good way, and a little tart. The tartness is not unwelcome, since I wanted a summery ale. But this just isn't quite right. I've put the bottles in a warmer room and agitated them a bit to re-suspend the yeast in hopes that a few more weeks will help. But I'm contemplating the very real possibility that this may be my first "failed" brew. But hey, seven beers in and only one failure? Not too shabby.
So, in learning from this experience, I decided to brew an Oktoberfest beer next. The yeast for this beer prefers cooler temperatures, so I'm hoping that it will not have the same problems the Blonde had. I started with a recipe I had found online for an extract-based Oktoberfest ale, and I modified (rather significantly) from there. Since Oktoberfest is technically supposed to be a lager (requires fermenting in a refrigerator, which I haven't done yet), doing it with ale yeast (ferments at room temp) means it isn't a true Oktoberfest. But this yeast is supposed to have fewer ale-like characteristics and more lager-like characteristics. So here's hoping.
So I did a few things that might be "against the grain", if you'll forgive the pun. First off, the website that had the original recipe suggested adding some calcium carbonate to the water in order to raise the pH. Apparently the water in Bavaria has a higher pH and this plays a large role in the taste of true Oktoberfest beers. Second, I used two different types of malt extract - pale (ale) malt, and pilsen (lager) malt. I don't think this should make a difference. The lager malt is very pale, and I'm hoping will impart a cleaner taste. Third, I added servomyces, which is a yeast nutrient designed to generally improve the way the yeast works. Fourth, I added Irish Moss, a seaweed derivative which is supposed to help make the beer less cloudy. Homebrews come out cloudy for a number of reasons, one of which is suspended proteins, which the Irish Moss is supposed to help precipitate out. Anyway, all four of these things are things I've never done before, so I'll never know which, if any of them, affected the final outcome. But hopefully they'll all contribute positively.
The recipe is:
2 lbs pale (ale) DME
3 lbs Pilsen (lager) DME
Steeped:
1 lb Crystal 40 malt
0.5 lb Crystal 60 malt
0.25 lb Special B malt
0.25 lb Chocolate malt
1 oz Tettnang hop pellets (60 min)
0.5 oz Saaz hop pellets (30 min)
WLP029 German Ale/Kolsch yeast
Target OG = 1.052
Actual OG = 1.046
I attribute the lower OG to not getting as much out of the steeped grains as I'd expected. If the yeast fully ferments this time, I should end up with an FG of 1.012 or so.
Brewing the hops earlier in the boil and not including any in the last 15 minutes (as I have in the past) should result in less hop aroma and more of a malty flavor to the final beer (both characteristic of Oktoberfests). The yeast, in addition to having a cooler temperature profile (65-69 deg) is also supposed to produce a cleaner more lager-like beer.
Really, Oktoberfest is one of my favorite brews, and I have high hopes for this one. The wort looked a lot darker than I expected it to, but once I added the wort to the pre-boiled water (which is what brings the total volume up to 5 gal) the color ended up very close to what I had envisioned. I'm really hoping that this one works out - not just because I am emotionally invested in it, but also because I need a win after my last batch.
Here's hoping!