Bayou Beer

All about beer brewing and drinking in South Louisiana.

Doppelbock 2016 Edition

February 12th, 2016

Probably the final beer in my annual German series will be a very nice doppelbock. This is a re-brew of a beer that’s come out extremely well in the past. I’m really looking forward to fermenting it with two different yeasts. The 2015 edition of this beer got great marks at a few competitions but didn’t place. My thoughts on it were that it wasn’t quite aromatic enough in it’s malt profile. . So I’ll be adding some melanoidin malt to try and bump that up a little.

Update 2/15/2016

Brew day was a pain in the ass. Lots of wind made it hard to get to a boil. I’m going to have to invest in building a wind guard to fit on these keggles for 10 gallon batches. Gravity readings early made it seem as if I’d be high on gravity but ended up being around 1.074. So somewhat low for some reason but it tasted great and should be a fine beer. Pitching the yeast 24 hours later after it cools down to 50F.

Update 2/18/2016

Fermenting like crazy for the first couple of days. Still going now. Made a mess in the bottle of the chest freezer. Very thick smell of yeast character in there compared to the previous two beers on the yeast.

Update 2/28/2016
Final gravity on the 833 version was around 1.013 for an 8% alcohol beer. Final gravity on the 830 version was 1.016 for a 7.5% alcohol beer. Both taste like young doppelbock with my preference being towards the 833 version. The both need about 6 months to mature. I’ll carbonate these two, bottle them and put them in the closet until the end of 2016.

Update 1/30/2017
This beer was over-carbonated so it’s been hard to enjoy. I tend to believe this beer will behave similar to my previous years doppelbock and need another year to be worth drinking. Although I’ll have to let every beer rest before actually enjoying it. Or employ some strategy to reduce carbonation.

Recipe Details

Batch Size	Boil Time	IBU	SRM	Est. OG	Est. FG	ABV
5.5 gal	60 min	22.0 IBUs	20.8 SRM	1.081	1.022	7.9 %

Style Details

Name	Cat.	OG Range	FG Range	IBU	SRM	Carb	ABV
doppelbock	5 C	1.072 - 1.112	1.016 - 1.024	16 - 26	6 - 25	2.3 - 2.6	7 - 10 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Munich Malt	12 lbs	61.54
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger	5 lbs	25.64
Caramunich Malt	2 lbs	10.26
Melanoiden Malt	4 oz	1.28
Special B Malt	4 oz	1.28

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Magnum	1 oz	20 min	Boil	Pellet	14
Hallertauer Mittelfrueh	0.25 oz	0 min	Aroma	Pellet	4

Miscs

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Type
Lactic Acid	15.00 ml	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Calcium Chloride	8.00 g	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate)	4.00 g	60 min	Mash	Water Agent

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
Bohemian Lager (2124)	Wyeast Labs	71%	48°F - 58°F

Mash

Step	Temperature	Time
Mash In	152°F	60 min

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Schwarzbier American Monchshof

January 31st, 2016

So continuing on my German beer series as I work my way through this sack of Weyermann pilsner malt I purhcased. Reusing my WLP833 and WLP830 yeast cakes from the German pilsner on this rather bold Schwarzbier recipe. Schwarzbier is one of my most nostalgic brewing beers as it was one of the first I brewed and shared at a festival. Most Americans have never had it and are shocked by the dark beer with the smooth character. This one should be a rather agressive cousin of Monchshof which is probably the most popular version of the style you’ll find in the United States today.

The brew day went well with the exception of gravity coming in a little high at 1.054. Did have some pump trouble which led to some higher than expected mash temperatures temporarily which could be the primary cause for this high gravity. It’ll probably have a higher finishing gravity as well but should taste perfectly fine. If it finishes as dry as originally expected I’ll worry it’ll be a little warm on alcohol.

Recipe Details

Batch Size	Boil Time	IBU	SRM	Est. OG	Est. FG	ABV
6 gal	90 min	26.9 IBUs	25.5 SRM	1.054	1.012	5.5 %

Style Details

Name	Cat.	OG Range	FG Range	IBU	SRM	Carb	ABV
Schwarzbier	8 B	1.046 - 1.052	1.01 - 1.016	20 - 30	17 - 30	2.5 - 3	4.4 - 5.4 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Munich I (Weyermann)	6 lbs	45.96
Pilsner (Weyermann)	6 lbs	45.96
Carafa II (Weyermann)	4 oz	1.91
Carafa III	4 oz	1.91
Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess)	4 oz	1.91
Chocolate (Briess)	2.88 oz	1.38
Pale Chocolate Malt	2 oz	0.96

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Magnum	0.6 oz	60 min	Boil	Pellet	14
Hersbrucker	0.25 oz	10 min	Boil	Pellet	2.8
Hersbrucker	0.5 oz	1 min	Boil	Pellet	2.8

Mash

Step	Temperature	Time
Mash In	150°F	75 min

Notes

the crystal will end up being caracrystal from Briess. 55L

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German Pilsner

January 17th, 2016

I always love brewing lagers when it’s cold. Living in South Louisiana it just seems easier to manage lager fermentation when it’s cold and the beer will be ready in time to start the Summer. So…given that some of the 2016 Bayou State Circuit homebrew competitions are sporting German Pilsner I went with that one. I decided to do 10 gallons and vary the yeast. One will be the bock strain of WLP833 while the other will be WLP830 or simply “German Lager Yeast”. I chose to go with straight Magnum because in the past when brewing this sort of beer I got comments concerning the beer being too hoppy. I suspect this is due to judges being used to trying pilsners which were not fresh from shipping across the ocean. We’ll see! The grain bill was simply Weyermann Pilsner malt which is supposed to be great for this.

The brew day went fine although the gravity was coming in a little high so I adjusted with tap water. Pitched the yeast in the very yellow wort. Fermenting at about 50F. Hopefully it comes out great because the wort tasted very nice.

Following this I’ll be using the yeast for schwarzbier and finally doppelbock.

Update 2/6/2016
The WLP830 version ended up being the best pilsner I’ve ever brewed. Professional quality clear, crisp, refreshing and drinkable by the liter. Very delicate with a fine head. The WLP833 is also better than any other pilsner I’ve ever brewed before but just a tad less clear and not quite as spot on for pilsner as the WLP830. So next time I brew this beer it’ll be the WLP830 along with some other like WLP838 Southern German Lager for example.

Update 4/7/2016
So much to my disappointment this beer didn’t place with comments being it needed more bitterness. Scoring was 37 on the points scale which is a win and still the only 30+ pilsner score I ever received so I’m happy about that. Point of this update is next time add more hopping. Possibly a small late hop addition.(although topping up 10% with water probably dropped bitterness some also) It was also commented that the carbonation should’ve been higher for a pilsner. Perhaps that contributed to the lower perceived bitterness. Carbonation will be the next issue I tackle since my beer comes out the kegs perfectly carbonated by transferring via the beer gun appears to lose some of that. So this beer only needs a very minor recipe tweak and I need to tune my carbonation to bottling process.

Recipe Details

Batch Size	Boil Time	IBU	SRM	Est. OG	Est. FG	ABV
12 gal	90 min	35.6 IBUs	3.9 SRM	1.049	1.010	5.1 %

Style Details

Name	Cat.	OG Range	FG Range	IBU	SRM	Carb	ABV
German Pils	5 D	1.044 - 1.05	1.008 - 1.013	22 - 40	2 - 5	2.5 - 3.2	4.4 - 5.2 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger	25 lbs	100

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Magnum	2 oz	45 min	Boil	Pellet	12

Miscs

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Type
Lactic Acid	8.00 ml	60 min	Mash	Water Agent

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
German Bock Lager (WLP833)	White Labs	73%	48°F - 55°F
German Lager (WLP830)	White Labs	77%	50°F - 55°F

Mash

Step	Temperature	Time
Mash In	148°F	75 min

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Bock Plus Vienna

August 28th, 2013

This bock was a little bit of a trainwreck beer. Brewstock messed up my order and combined my two stock-up base grains. No worries as I just calculated how much caramunich was coming out of this mix of caramunich and Vienna I was sent. Everything went pretty well. I may have gone heavy on the Epson salts but we’ll see. I pitched on top of the yeast from last month’s Helles Bock and boy that thing took off with the WLP833. Brew date was 8/26/2013

Update 9/27/2013

This beer turned out fantastic in my opinion. It’s just a wonderfully smooth and rich beer at 1 month. Given another month it should clear more and be a beer that can win some awards.

Recipe Details

Batch Size	Boil Time	IBU	SRM	Est. OG	Est. FG	ABV
6.5 gal	90 min		18	1.08	1.018	8

Style Details

Name	Cat.	OG Range	FG Range	IBU	SRM	Carb	ABV
		0 - 0	0 - 0	0 - 0	0 - 0	0 - 0	0 - 0 %

Fermentables

Name	Amount	%
Munich Malt	14 lbs	59.57
Pilsner (2 Row) Ger	4 lbs	17.02
Caramunich Malt	2 lbs	8.51
Extra Light Dry Extract	2 lbs	8.51
Vienna Malt	1 lbs	4.26
Aromatic Malt	0.5 lbs	2.13

Hops

Name	Amount	Time	Use	Form	Alpha %
Hallertauer	2 oz	60 min	Aroma	Pellet	4.8
Hallertauer	0.5 oz	10 min	Aroma	Pellet	4.8

Miscs

Name	Time	Use	Type
Calcium Chloride	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Epsom Salt (MgSO4)	60 min	Mash	Water Agent
Whirlfloc Tablet	15 min	Boil	Fining

Yeast

Name	Lab	Attenuation	Temperature
German Bock Lager (WLP833)	White Labs	73%	48°F - 55°F

Notes

Caramunich 3 came in a mix of 2lbs caramunich 1 pound vienna and 1 pound munich

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First 2.5 Gallon Batches – Bock & Munich Dunkel

November 14th, 2012

I’ve recently figured out that my small bar refrigerator at the lowest setting will hold 2 – 3 gallon better bottles and will keep their temperature at about 44 degrees Fahrenheit. So now it’s time to start brewing some lagers! Both of these guys are either direct copies or very near copies of Jamil’s Brewing Classic Styles recipes. Here’s hoping the new 2.5 gallon kettle and mash tun scenario works out!

Brew day was November 21, 2012

Everything went very well. It was much easier working stovetop in the kitchen rather than working outside. The small batches went almost exactly as planned. The Munich Dunkel finished at around 1.059 and slightly low in volume. I decided to leave it rather than dilute it. The bock finished at 1.069ish. PH, Mash Temperature, cooling and boil all were fine. I pitched the Dunkel after a few hours in the refrigerator and waited until morning to pitch the bock. I pitched an active 1 liter starter in the bock. I think these two beers will end up great.

I don’t have the recipes up here at the moment. I used my new Brew Tablet software on this particular round of brewing. Due to not having a “recipe export” feature completed yet I’m not able to post them here yet. However I will be getting that done in the next month so I can continue posting the recipes I use here.

Notes From Bock Recipe:

Single infusion mash at 155F. Mash with 10 quarts of acidified prepared water. Sparge with 8 quarts of acidified water. Water Salts Used: 1.4 grams of chalk, 0.25 grams Gypsum, .5 grams calcium chloride. 1 ml of lactic acid on the mash and 1 ml lactic acid on the sparge should adjust the ph. This is an adaptation of a Munich water profile.

Notes From Dunkel Recipe:

Mash at 154F single infusion. 8 quarts of acidified mash water needed. 6 quarts of acidified sparge water needed. Treat 10 quarts of mash water and 8 quarts of sparge water to be safe on amounts. Water Salts Used: 1.4 grams of chalk, 0.25 grams Gypsum, .5 grams calcium chloride. .8 ml of lactic acid on the mash and .8 ml lactic acid on the sparge should adjust the ph. This is an adaptation of a Munich water profile.

Notes at Fermentation after 10 days of fermentation.:

The beer seemed to take off immediately but it was slow at first. There was immediate krausening and it was obvious activity was happening. After 6 days I took a reading and it was about 30% done. At 10 days there’s a lot of movement in the fermenter. The yeast is doing very well now. Interesting enough the WLP833 yeast is rocking despite being below it’s optimum temperature. The liquid temperature is in the mid 40’s. I decided to try this from what I heard from the head brewer at Karbach who spoke at the Dixie Cup. The bock tastes nice so at this point I think it’s a good suggestion.

Notes at Fermentation after 14 days of fermentation:

The dunkel is at 1.013 and appears completely done fermenting and the bock is at 1.018 with some yeast still left in suspension. Both are at desired terminal gravity and taste great so I’m dropping the temperature on them to cold crash. So far pretty darn good on first attempt in this new brewing configuration.

Tasting Notes on Dunkel at 32 days

The nose is right on as it smells like cocoa, fudge type character. The taste is good but at first astringent. A light astringency but it’s indeed there. I believe it should age out after 1 month of lagering.

Tasting Notes on Dunkel and Bock at 42 Days

I just got around to racking the bock to a keg and was a little worried about it. However it looks beautiful and tastes absolutely wonderful even flat. I hope not a thing changes! The astringency in the dunkel is gone and it tastes like German bakers chocolate to me. Zero head retention though. Both should be very good beers.