Tag Archives: festbier

Munich Madness II

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German beers are certainly my favorite, although a classic German pils is probably my most frequently brewed style within that realm (19 batches since 2016). I haven’t done many märzens, and it seemed like a good seasonal style to explore again. My first version was Monks’ Fortitude Märzen, and it was an exceptional beer. Malt is at the forefront of this style, with Monks’ Fortitude hitting 1.055 with 71% Vienna, 25% Munich II, and 4% Carared malts. For my latest foray into märzens, I took a page from Brewing Classic Styles, via their Munich Madness recipe. Atlhough BCS is pushing 20 years old, it has stood the test of time as a handy reference, especially for styles that have been pretty constant.

My version of Munich Madness has been adjusted slightly from the original, primarily to lower the abv a bit. The original had a starting gravity of 1.059, so I dropped it to 1.054 to hit the lower bound of the BJCP style and also make it a bit more drinkable for my tastes. This was done by maintaining the grain proportions and dropping the amounts slightly, and drops the recipe from around 6% to the lower end of 5%.

Munich Madness II

  • 4.75 lb. pilsner malt (Rahr)
  • 3.5 lb. Munich I malt (Weyermann)
  • 2.75 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.75 lb. Caramel Munich 60L malt (Briess)
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, added to mash
  • 2 oz. Hallertauer Mittelfrueh hop pellets (2.7% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 0.5 tsp. BrewTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 3 pkg. Diamond Lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.054 o.g., 1.013 f.g., 5.3% abv, 19 IBU, 10 SRM
  • Full volume mash at 152° for 60 minutes, 10 minute mash-out at 168°
  • Claremont tap water, with Campden tablet, adjusted to hit water profile of 56 ppm Ca, 12 ppm Mg, 87 ppm Na, 89 ppm SO4, 110 ppm Cl, and 20 ppm CO3.

Procedure

  • Starting with 7.5 gallons of tap water, I added a Campden tablet and 6.25 mL of 88% lactic acid, followed by 2 g of gypsum, in order to hit my water profile.
  • I heated the water to 158°, and added the grains, holding at 152° with recirculation for 60 minutes before heating to 168° and holding there for 10 minutes.
  • At the end of the mash, I removed the grains. In total, I collected 6.75 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.045, for 70% mash efficiency.
  • I brought the runnings to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the heat and chilled to 80° before transferring to the fermenter.
  • I chilled the fermenter overnight down to 50°, before pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed the beer on 13 September 2024 and pitched the yeast on 14 September 2024. Starting gravity was 1.053.
  • I fermented at 52° until 30 September 2024, when I let the beer free rise to 60°, and then pulled to ambient (~74°) on 5 October 2024.
  • I kegged the beer via closed transfer on 12 October 2024. Final gravity was 1.012, for 5.4% abv.
amber beer with ivory head held aloft in dimpled German mug, with background of pink flowers

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • The beer pours with a tall and persistent ivory head; it is a clear and medium amber-orange beer.
  • Aroma
    • A moderate bread crust malt character at the forefront; slight spicy hop aroma behind that.
  • Flavor
    • Very rich, malty character dominates the flavor, with some bready notes. A medium-low, clean bitterness with a hint of spice is behind that. Yeast profile is clean. It is a very easy drinking beer!
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, moderate carbonation, smooth finish that is slightly dry.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • This is a fantastically drinkable fall lager, which is interesting but not so interesting that I can’t have another. The malt character is excellent. I rushed this beer just a touch (relative to a “traditional” märzen) in terms of lagering, and a little more time would help it condition and clear to brilliance. Overall, though, this is a winner! [note added after the post was published – by mid-December, the beer had cleared to brilliant; so, a minimum of two months seems to be optimal for this style, recipe, and yeast]
  • Overall
    • 8/10

Monks’ Fortitude Märzen

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I’ve never made a märzen before, and was intrigued by a recipe in the September 2022 issue of BYO, for Monks’ Fortitude Märzen (paywall). My version is virtually identical, other than using a different dry lager yeast.

Monks’ Fortitude Märzen

  • 8.5 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 3 lb. Munich II malt (Weyermann)
  • 0.5 lb. Carared (Weyermann)
  • 1 oz. Hersbrucker hop pellets (4.3% alpha), first wort hop and 75 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Hersbrucker hop pellets (4.3% alpha), 30 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. BruTanB, 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 5 minute boil
  • 0.5 oz. Hersbrucker hop pellets (4.3% alpha), 5 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Diamond Lager dry yeast (Lallemand)

Target Parameters

  • 1.055 o.g., 1.009 f.g., 6.1% abv, 24 IBU, 8 SRM
  • Full volume mash at 145° for 40 minutes, 156° for 40 minutes, and 10 minute mash-out at 168°
  • Claremont tap water, with Campden tablet

Procedure

  • I mashed in with 7.25 gallons of water at 145°, adding 7 mL of 88% lactic acid. I maintained temperature at 145° for 40 minutes, before stepping up to 156° for 40 minutes and then 168° for 10 minutes.
  • I collected 6.5 gallons of wort with a gravity of 1.046, for 67% mash efficiency.
  • I forgot to add the CaraRed (argh! too many distractions during my brew day) in the initial mash, but was able to steep it in hot wort for 20 minutes at the start of the boil. I then filtered out the grains and added the steeped liquid to the boiling wort. This should probably kick my efficiency up to around the target.
  • I added hops and finings per the recipe, boiling for a total of 75 minutes.
  • I hit a target gravity of 1.055, exactly on the nose. I chilled the beer
  • I brewed the beer on 8 October 2022, and chilled it overnight to 48°. The next morning, on 8 October 2022, I pitched the yeast.
  • I started fermentation at 48°, and let it free rise to 50° on the first day.
  • I brought the beer out to ambient on 12 November 2022, and let it sit at this temperature until kegging on 19 November 2022.
  • Final gravity was 1.012, for 5.7% abv.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Brilliantly clear and light amber hue, with a persistent off-white head.
  • Aroma
    • Malty! There is also a slight bit of spicy hop character. Yeast profile is very clean.
  • Flavor
    • The beer has a rich malty character, with an off-dry finish and a bread-crust quality. Very drinkable! Bitterness is moderate, well matched with the maltiness.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Medium body, med\ium carbonation, smooth and off-dry finish.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Yes! This is wonderfully drinkable and well attenuated, and a very nice lager. It’s a good version of this style.
  • Overall
    • 10/10

Holiday Festbier

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I have always stereotyped lagers–especially those that are lighter in color–as beers best suited for warm weather. Lawnmower beer. That kind of thing. As my palate has expanded, though, I’ve decided that lighter lagers aren’t just for the summer. A festbier–with its slightly more complex flavor profile–seems like a good option for cooler months. And who says it’s just for Oktoberfest?

My recipe was inspired by a festbier recipe I saw on Brulosophy, with pilsner and Vienna malts carrying the bulk of the grist alongside a splash of Munich malt. In the end, it worked out pretty well!

Holiday Festbier

  • 6 lb. Vienna malt (Weyermann)
  • 5.5 lb. Superior pilsen malt (Great Western)
  • 0.75 lb. Munich Malt (Best; 7.6 SRM)
  • 0.35 oz. Magnum hops (13.2% alpha), 60 minute boil
  • 2 oz. Saaz whole hops (3.0% alpha), 10 minute boil
  • 1 Whirlfloc tablet, 10 minute boil
  • 1 tsp. Fermax yeast nutrient, 10 minute boil
  • 2 pkg. Saflager lager yeast (W34/70)

Target Parameters

  • 60 minute infusion mash, 149°, batch sparge.
  • 1.056 o.g., 1.011 f.g., 5.9% abv, 21 IBU, 5 SRM
  • Water built from RO, for target of 35 Ca, 3 Mg, 29 Na, 41 SO4, 40 Cl, 77 HCO3, 37 RA

Procedure

  • I built up 4.25 gallons of mash water by adding 1.7 g baking soda, 1.3 g CaCl, 0.8 g gypsum, and 0.5 g epsom salts. I aimed for a mash-in temperature of 160.5°, to hit 149.1° for the mash. Immediately after mashing in the grains, I added 9.5 mL of 88% lactic acid, to adjust the pH appropriately.
  • I built up the sparge water with 4.6 gallons of RO water supplemented with 1.9 g baking soda, 1.5 g CaCl, 0.9 g gypsum, and 0.6 g epsom salts.
  • I started the batch sparge with 1 gallon of water at 180°, let it sit for 10 minutes, vorlaufed, and collected first runnings. I then added the remainder of the sparge water, vorlaufed, and collected the rest of the runnings.
  • In total, I collected 7 gallons of runnings with a gravity of 1.045, for 70% efficiency.
  • I brought the kettle to a boil, adding hops and finings per the recipe. After 60 minutes, I turned off the flame and chilled down to 75° or so. After transferring to the fermenter, I chilled down to 50° in the fermentation chamber before oxygenating the wort and pitching the yeast.
  • I brewed this beer on 7 December 2019. Starting gravity was 1.053, a touch below my target (1.056), but not too awfully low.
  • I started fermentation at 52°, and raised it to 56° after two weeks (21 December 2019). I raised the beer to 60° on 23 December 2019, before crashing to 33° on 26 December 2019.
  • I kegged the beer on 28 December 2019, by semi-closed transfer into a CO2 purged keg. Final gravity was 1.009, which works out to 5.9% abv.
  • After kegging, I lagered the beer at 33°. From the start, flavor was really nice. When I sampled the beer on 12 January 2020, after two weeks of lagering, flavor was still amazing, but the beer was still fairly hazy. By February 6, the beer had only a slight haze, and could be rated as relatively clear (but not yet bright). I expect it should be up to snuff within a week or two.

Tasting

  • Appearance
    • Gold, nearly clear (only a slight haze at the time of this tasting), with a nice and persistent white head.
  • Aroma
    • Malt, malt, malt. Aroma is a slightly sweet malty quality, and I don’t pick up much for hops.
  • Flavor
    • Smooth maltiness, with the malt character being a combination of pure maltiness and a bit of breadiness. (I’m using various forms of “malt” in my descriptions, but that’s really the best descriptor for this beer!) Hop level is moderate and has a beautiful smoothness, with the balance of the beer definitely tilted towards malt.
  • Mouthfeel
    • This beer is sooooo drinkable! Medium body, moderate carbonation, just a pure thing of beauty.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Absolutely! This is a wonderful recipe. My only mild knock-down is for the slight haze in the beer, but if I were to lager this for months as a proper festbier I think it would be fine. The malt character and hopping level are perfect. On top of all of this, it really nails the high drinkability that a good festbier should have.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

Festbier Head-to-Head

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I’ve been wanting to do a head-to-head comparison of my festbier versus commercial examples, and finally got the chance to do so tonight. My buddy Steve stopped by, and I poured out three sampler glasses for each of us. Steve didn’t know which was which, other than that one was homebrew and two were commercial beers.

For my commercial comparison, I chose Ayinger’s October Fest-Märzen and Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest. Both were available at local stores, and are reasonably well regarded. I sampled the beers before and after brewing, to give me a bit of an idea what to expect in a festbier.

festbiers

Three festbiers (from left): Ayinger’s October Fest-Märzen, my Festivus Simplex, and Sierra Nevada’s Oktoberfest.

Steve and I tasted simultaneously, but I tried to avoid giving him any leading comments or critiques that might sway his opinion. Our observations are below; I transcribed his comments, but wrote down my personal observations without telling him, so as to avoid that avenue of bias.

  • We noticed that my beer has an ever so slightly lighter color, as well as a taller and more persistent head. All of the beers are quite clear.
  • Steve noted that the Ayinger version had a more prominent malty aroma. We both perceived malty sweetness and a hint of ginger in the flavor (the latter likely from the hops). I think that the maltiness is potentially from mild oxidation, which wouldn’t be a huge surprise for a beer that might have sat on a store shelf for some time after import. The malty character had that slightly cloying aspect from oxidized beers, as I experienced in an excellent seminar at the 2017 Homebrew Con.
  • The Sierra Nevada version came across as a little less carbonated to me, and Steve remarked that the flavor was a little flatter on the tongue. We both noted that the taste was less complex, and its head was not very persistent relative to the other two beers.
  • Steve described my homebrew as having a more complex taste than the Sierra Nevada version, and he preferred that mine had a less distinct after taste than the other two beers. For me, the hop aroma on mine was a touch more pronounced than in the Sierra Nevada and maybe a shade more than in the Ayinger, which I liked.
  • When asked to guess which was the homebrew, Steve guessed mine, based on the slight color difference and some intangibles in flavor. When asked which he preferred, he ranked my homebrew and the Ayinger pretty closely, with the Sierra Nevada in third place. I am biased, but I preferred my homebrew by a slight margin (although perhaps a fresh example of Ayinger would perform better), and agreed that the Sierra Nevada came in third place.

Overall, I think my festbier is definitely a contender against the two commercial varieties I sampled. It captures the style quite well, and in some ways (especially appearance, via head and head retention) exceeds the commercial examples. As I noted in my earlier tasting, I could up the maltiness just a shade. But overall, I’m pretty thrilled with how my version of a fall favorite turned out! This exercise in comparison was really educational–I’ll be trying it again for selected beers.

Beer Tasting: Festivus Simplex

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Tasting time! Tasting time! For this round, I’m evaluating my festbier.

  • 20171113_174304The Basics
    • 1.056 o.g., 1.014 f.g., 5.5% abv, 21 estimated IBU, 6 SRM
  •  Appearance
    • Burnished gold and quite clear, with a thick white head that is quite persistant. Very pretty!
  • Aroma
    • Modestly malty (characterized by bready and toasty note), with a slightly spicy hop aroma.
  • Flavor
    • Gorgeously malty character that is at the forefront, with bready aspects dominating, but still quite drinkable. The bitterness is clean, moderate, and well balanced against the malt; there’s not much in the way of hop flavor, other than a slight herbal and spicy character. I feel like I could up the malt character a bit (maybe even go completely with Munich and Vienna, cutting out the pilsner malt) and the beer would be even better.
  • Mouthfeel
    • Moderate body, with a moderately high (but not effervescent) carbonation. The finish is slightly dry, but not overly so, and doesn’t linger forever.
  • Would I brew this again?
    • Absolutely! This is a really nice festbier, and falls squarely into everything I’m looking for in a drinkable fall lager. I might up the maltiness just a touch.
  • Overall
    • 9/10

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