IDEA
As October was approaching fast (at least when I brewed this beer), I decided to make a little Oktoberfest at home. The concept was to brew four German style beers or four beers that’s somewhat related to Germany. Today's beer is the first one on the list and as such I went with the most iconic beer of the festival, the festbier. As I never brewed this style and wanted at least one not experimental recipe, I went with the Meanbrews Festbier recipe. However, as usual I went with a kveik strain, due to the lack of temperature control.
Recipe
Stats:
Est. OG: 1.042
Est. FG: 1.005
ABV 5.9%
Color: 4.4 SRM
IBU: 24.3
Est. Brewhouse Efficiency: 80%
Boil-Time: 70 minutes
Water Profile: Meanbrews - Festbier
| Name | Temperature (Metric) | Temperature (US) | Time (minute) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| β-amylase Rest | 62C | 143.6F | 40 | |||||||
| α-amylase Rest | 68C | 154.4F | 50 | |||||||
| Mash Out | 75.6C | 168.08F | 10 | |||||||
| Boil | 100C | 212F | 70 |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | Percentage | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weyermann Pilsner | 2.3 kg | 5.07 lb | 59% | |||||||
| Weyermann Vienna | 0.8 kg | 1.76 lb | 20.5% | |||||||
| Weyermann Munich | 0.8 kg | 1.76 lb | 20.5% |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | IBU | Alpha Acid | Time (minute) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnum | 12.8g | 0.45 oz | 20.9 | 12.5% | 60 | |||||
| Hallertau Tradition | 15g | 0.53 oz | 3.3 | 4.7% | 15 |
| Name | Producer | Type | Style | Dry Alternatives | Liquid Alternatives | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lutra | YeasterBunny | Dry | Lutra Kveik | Omega Yeast - Dried Lutra | Omega Yeast - Lutra |
| Strike Water (Metric) | Strike Water (US) | Sparge Water (Metric) | Sparge Water (US) | Ca | Mg | Na | SO4 | Cl | HCO3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.68L | 4.14 gal | 13L | 3.43 gal | 50 ppm | 2 ppm | 8 ppm | 50 ppm | 75 ppm | 0 ppm |
| Name | Weight (Metric) | Weight (US) | Time (minute) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yeast Nutrient | 1g | 0.04 oz | 15 | |||||||
| Supermoss | 4g | 0.14 oz | 15 | |||||||
| L-Ascorbic Acid | 3g | 0.11 oz | Strike Water before mash |
Brewday
In the morning I crushed the malts, as I already collected the RO water the day before.
This was the first brewday where I didn’t use the changed water ratio. With the previous ratio, I experienced around 5 percent of efficiency loss, so I decided to switch things up again. This time I used a 4l/kg water/grain ratio, which is much closer to my old 3.5l/kg method. I also tried out the usage of tea filter instead of the upper mesh disc, to make the stirring of the mash easier.
When the mash reached 62℃, I checked the pH of the wort. It was slightly higher than what’s optimal, so I added 0.3ml of 80% lactic acid, which lowered the pH enough to be in the optimal range.
With such a long mash time, there was no doubt that the iodine test will have a negative result. So after the test I took the pre-boil gravity, which was 0.004 points higher than anticipated. I used the previous water ratio efficiency average to calculate the expected gravity, so the higher value was not a surprise.
While the wort was heating, I measured the hop additions.
I boiled the wort for 70 minutes, at 60 minutes I added the magnum and at 10 minutes the tradition hops.
After the boil I chilled the wort to 25℃ and pitched the lutra starter. The original gravity came out at 1.052 with correction, which is 0.002 points higher than the predicted 1.050.
As the weather cooled down, so did the house. Luckily the minimum temperature for Lutra is 20℃ so there was no issue during the fermentation. The temperature was between 23.2℃ (73.76℉) - 28.7℃ (83.66℉), with an average of 25℃ (77℉).
Please note that the gravity readings by my iSpindel are used for the tracking of the fermentation and should not be taken as specific gravity.
The final gravity was way higher than the expected. I suspect this was due to issues during the mash (the temperature probe read wrong values during mash). With temperature correction, it came out at 1.011 instead of the predicted 1.005.
Tasting
Sadly, I was unable to take a good photo of the beer. It was a light yellowish brown and not orange at all.
First week: In its smell, the beer had a malty sweetness distinct to German lagers, with some herbal notes in the background. The taste carried these notes through nicely, with a very soft mouthfeel. The malty sweetness was nicely balanced out with a light bitterness at the end and the spicy notes of the Hallertau Tradition.
Later on: Sadly, the beer did not clear out at all. Other than that, there were notable changes.
Conclusion
The beer came out just as expected from a Meanbrews recipe. The distinct festbier malt flavour was just right, with a hint of spiciness from the hops. Two things that were not in style are the clarity of the beer (or rather the lack of it) and the sweetness caused by the higher final gravity. With a lager strain and enough time, the transparency would be right. As for the sweetness, it’s hard to point out if the problem was the yeast (which I don’t think) or some error I made during the mash.