Creator: Will Lovell
In October 2013, my spouse and I met up with some associates for a street journey by means of the Bavaria area of Germany the place along with visiting many castles and monasteries, we attend the most important beer social gathering on this planet– Oktoberfest. I noticed some fairly wile issues on that journey, from oxen rotating on a spit to pretzels that have been larger than my head. I additionally consumed a moderately massive amount of scrumptious beer.
Märzen was the normal beer served throughout Oktoberfest, however by the late twentieth century, it had been largely changed by Festbier, a paler lager with a bit extra power. The purported impetus for this shift was to supply drinkers a much less advanced and thus extra drinkable various, and whereas I stay a fan of Märzen, I positively affiliate the autumn season with Festbier, which the BJCP describes as:
A clean, clear, pale German lager with a reasonably sturdy malty taste and a lightweight hop character. Deftly balances power and drinkability, with a palate impression and end that encourages ingesting. Showcases elegant German malt flavors with out changing into too heavy or filling.
Since getting back from that journey to Bavaria, I’ve loved having a keg of Festbier on faucet to align with Oktoberfest, although time sadly received away from me this 12 months and I used to be unable to make one utilizing my customary method. It was the primary week of September, which gave me a few month to go from grain-to-glass, so I threw warning to the wind and determined to see what I may get away with in that timeframe!
| BREWING THE BEER |
I designed this Brief & Shoddy Festbier recipe based mostly off of previous batches I felt have been profitable and relying solely on the substances I had on-hand.
Brief & Shoddy Festbier
Recipe Particulars
| Batch Measurement | Boil Time | IBU | SRM | Est. OG | Est. FG | ABV |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5.5 gal | 30 min | 20.4 | 6.2 SRM | 1.055 | 1.01 | 5.91 % |
| Actuals | 1.055 | 1.01 | 5.91 % | |||
Fermentables
| Identify | Quantity | % |
|---|---|---|
| Llano Pilsner | 12.75 lbs | 85 |
| Munich Malt | 2 lbs | 13.33 |
| Victory Malt | 4 oz | 1.67 |
Hops
| Identify | Quantity | Time | Use | Type | Alpha % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saphir | 60 g | 30 min | Boil | Pellet | 3.5 |
| Saphir | 30 g | 5 min | Boil | Pellet | 3.5 |
Miscs
| Identify | Quantity | Time | Use | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calcium Chloride (CaCl2) | 3 g | 0 min | Mash | Water Agent |
| Gypsum (CaSO4) | 4 g | 0 min | Mash | Water Agent |
| Whirlfloc | 0.5 objects | 15 min | Boil | Fining |
Yeast
| Identify | Lab | Attenuation | Temperature |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest (L17) | Imperial Yeast | 74% | 32°F – 32°F |
Notes
| Water Profile: Ca 61 | Mg 0 | Na 0 | SO4 78 | Cl 51 |
The night time previous to brewing, I collected the total quantity of water and adjusted it to my desired mineral profile earlier than milling the grain.
Having set the water to begin heating up with a warmth stick whereas I used to be nonetheless in mattress, I woke as much as correctly heated water and integrated the grains at 6:36 AM, checking to make sure it was at my desired mash temperature.
Through the mash relaxation, I ready the kettle hop additions.
As soon as the temporary 30 minute mash was full, I rapidly sparged to gather the correct pre-boil quantity then proceeded to boil for simply half-hour, including hops on the instances said within the recipe.
When the boil was completed, I rapidly chilled the wort to 77°F/25°C, since that was as cool as my groundwater would get it, then I transferred it to a sanitized Kegmenter.
A refractometer studying confirmed the wort was at 1.055 OG, indicating I received about 56% brewhouse effectivity.
13.6 ˚Bx = 1.055 OG
Subsequent, I direct pitched a single pouch of Imperial Yeast L13 Harvest into the nice and cozy wort.
The stuffed fermenter was positioned in my chamber managed to 66°F/19°C, at which level I hooked up a spunding valve set to keep up 18 psi.
After simply 5 days, I observed an absence of exercise and took a hydrometer measurement indicating FG had been reached.
1.010 FG
With fermentation full, I cold-crashed the beer to 34°F/1°C then pressure-transferred it to a CO2 purged keg, which was positioned in my kegerator and burst carbonated in a single day earlier than the gasoline was decreased to serving strain. After simply 2 weeks of conditioning, it was able to serve to blind tasters.
| RESULTS |
A complete of 20 folks of varied ranges of expertise participated on this Brief & Shoddy analysis. Individuals have been knowledgeable of the particular beer fashion and offered the BJCP description previous to finishing the survey. Tasters have been then instructed to fee how hoppy, malty, and dry they perceived the beer to be on a 0-5 scale the place a score of 0 indicated “in no way” and 5 indicated “extraordinarily.”
Tasters have been offered an inventory of widespread hop, malt, and yeast traits then instructed to pick out from every the one they perceived as being most outstanding within the beer.
Hop Traits
Malt Traits
Yeast Traits
Subsequent, individuals have been requested to point whether or not or not they detected any off-flavors within the beer; those that did have been offered an inventory of widespread off-flavors and instructed to pick out the one they perceived as being strongest. Just one individual famous perceiving an ester off-flavor on this beer.
Tasters have been then requested to fee how nicely the beer represented the meant fashion, based mostly on the offered BJCP description, on a 0-5 scale the place 0 meant “in no way” and 5 meant “precisely.”
Lastly, tasters have been requested to fee how a lot they loved the beer on a 0-5 scale the place 0 indicated they hated it and 5 indicated they cherished it.
My Impressions: I perceived this beer has having a wealthy malt spine with complimentary toasty traits. The bitterness was proper the place I anticipated whereas hints of floral hop notes poked by means of. General, whereas the looks left a lot to be desired, I believed this Festbier was scrumptious and extremely crushable!
| CONCLUSION |
It’s been a pair a long time since Festbier stole the Oktoberfest beer-of-choice torch, and whereas amber malty Märzen continues to be loved by many, the crisp drinkability of the previous is what trendy drinkers affiliate with this historic occasion. As a beer fashion, Festbier is historically brewed utilizing various arguably arduous strategies, from prolonged step-mashes and prolonged boils to chill fermentation and extended lagering intervals.
Whereas a “correct” Festbier can take wherever from 2 to six months to make, I didn’t have time for that and brewed my newest batch utilizing various corner-cutting strategies. Apparently, regardless of the abbreviated mash and boil, heat fermentation temperature, and temporary lagering time, the overwhelming majority of tasters not solely felt it was illustration of the fashion, however they loved ingesting it as nicely.
I really like Festbier and have consumed fairly a bit in my day, and this one hit practically each mark– toasty malt, floral hops, and clear fermentation. The haze wasn’t completely surprising, particularly since I allowed simply 2 weeks of conditioning time, however I might have most popular extra readability. All in all, I used to be actually impressed with how this beer turned out and, aside from including some fining after fermentation, I can’t consider the rest I’d change within the recipe or course of.
When you have ideas about this Brief & Shoddy brew, please be at liberty to share it within the feedback part under!
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