So the beer has been brewed, and, as of this morning is bubbling away happily in the primary fermenter. It’s not as heavy as I had planned, coming out at 1.042 Original Gravity, partly due to brewing 5 1/2 gallons, rather than 5, and also to poor mash efficiency. I think I let the mash cool off too much during sparging, and didn’t rinse the sugars out as effectively as possible.

I pitched a 1 liter starter of the White Labs Duseldorf Alt yeast, and fermentation was active several hours later, and well going by the morning. I’ll move it to the basement tonight, to keep it a bit cool.

Here’s the plan for today’s brew. An Alt, brewed with an Maerzen grain bill and hopping, so it should be similar in style to a O’fest. I’m planning a single decoction mash, so I’ll be pretty busy.

Oktober Ale
Recipe oktober ale Style Oktoberfest/Marzen
Brewer Steve Downey Batch 5.00 gal

Recipe Characteristics
Recipe Gravity 1.054 OG Estimated FG 1.013 FG
Recipe Bitterness 24 IBU Alcohol by Volume 5.4%
Recipe Color 13° SRM Alcohol by Weight 4.2%

Ingredients

Quantity Grain Use
7.00 lb Vienna Malt mashed
1.00 lb German Munich mashed
1.00 lb White Wheat mashed
1.00 lb CaraVienne mashed
0.25 lb Belgian Special “B” mashed

Quantity Hop Form Time
1.00 oz Hallertauer pellet 45 minutes
0.75 oz Hallertauer pellet 30 minutes
1.00 oz Liberty pellet 15 minutes

Yippe! I’m brewing this weekend (weather, wife, and kids permitting)

Just saw on http://www.morebeer.com/ that my order has shipped. The grain bill and hops is for an Oktoberfest style beer, but the yeast is an Alt. I don’t have the facilities to lager an O’fest, so this is a compromise. With any luck I won’t be too far out of style, though.

I plan to go easy on the Special B, as it’s rather dark, probably about 1/4#, and about 1./2# of the Caravienne. The wheat is out of style, but it helps with head retention, and at 10% of the grain bill, shouldn’t change the flavor profile appreciably.

I’m planning a single decoction mash, to get that malty O’fest flavor.

I’ll probably start with the Liberty at 45 minutes, and the Hallertau at 30 and 15. Exact amounts depend on the %Alpha Acid on the hops, as I don’t want this to be very bitter. Just enough to give it some backbone.