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Author Topic: Oktoberfest!  (Read 21916 times)

Offline bluesman

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Oktoberfest!
« on: July 29, 2010, 08:05:48 am »
Oktoberfest is a 16-day festival held each year in Munich, Bavaria, Germany, running from late September to early October. It is one of the most famous events in Germany and the world's largest fair, with some six million people attending every year. The Oktoberfest is an important part of Bavarian culture. Other cities across the world also hold Oktoberfest celebrations, modeled after the Munich event.



I have always been fascinated by this great event.  One day I will go.  I thought with the coming of this great event it would be great to exchange fest beer recipes.  I am a big Marzen fan and like to try different homebrewed recipes.  My latest version entails a combination of Vienna, Munich and Pilsner with a small amount of Carapils and Caramunich.  I used magnum and Hallertau for bittering and flavor/aroma.  Actual recipe to follow.

Show us your favorite Oktoberfest recipe and/or tips.
Ron Price

Offline a10t2

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2010, 08:22:39 am »
I try to do an Oktoberfest every year, making changes until I find the one I like best. This year's is pretty far from traditional, but I think it's my favorite so far. And I actually got a decent head start; it's been lagering since May.

Size: 5.5 gal
Efficiency: 77.62%
Attenuation: 73.6%
Calories: 239.78 kcal per 16 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.054 (1.050 - 1.057)
|================#===============|
Terminal Gravity: 1.014 (1.012 - 1.016)
|================#===============|
Color: 12.05 (7.0 - 14.0)
|===================#============|
Alcohol: 5.21% (4.8% - 5.7%)
|===============#================|
Bitterness: 24.6 (20.0 - 28.0)
|=================#==============|

Ingredients:
6.0 lb Munich Malt 1
4.0 lb Pilsen Malt
0.5 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
0.5 lb Belgian Caramunich
15.0 g Magnum (12.1%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
15.0 g Hallertau Mittelfruh (3.0%) - added during boil, boiled 15 min
1.0 ea WYeast 2206 Bavarian Lager

Schedule:
00:36:05 Mash In - Liquor: 5.5 gal; Strike: 168.01 °F; Target: 68.0 °C
01:36:05 Rest - Rest: 60 min; Final: 67.4 °C
01:51:05 Batch Sparge - Sparge #1: 2.97 gal sparge @ 85 °C, 15 min; Total Runoff: 7.24 gal

Notes
Chilled to 62°F with CFC, then placed in chest freezer at 48°F ambient. Yeast pitched after 8 hours, at 52°F. Aerated for 5 minutes both before pitching, and 12 hours after pitching. After 14 days, moved to room temperature for 48 hours, then racked to carboy and returned to chest freezer at 44°F. Lagered for 47 days, then racked to keg. Will lager an additional 2.5 months in keg.
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Offline beersk

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2010, 11:10:37 am »
I love Spaten-Munich Octoberfest!  Great beer.

I'm brewing an ale version of Octoberfest this weekend using Wyeast 1007.

5lbs Pils (castle)
5lbs light Munich
1lb dark munich
1/2lb caramunich (56L)
1oz hallertau at 60min
1oz hallertau at 30 min.
Wyeast 1007.

Should be good I'm hopin'. 
Jesse

Offline blatz

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #3 on: July 29, 2010, 11:36:27 am »
great topic.  I am still in search of the elusive perfect recipe for my tastes on this style.  For the past 5 years I've tweaked a little here and there to try out.  Here's what I did last weekend:

12gal 1.056/25 ibus
9# pils
9# vienna
4# Light munich
1# dark munich
1# carabrown

21ibus Hall Mittlefruh at 60
2oz Tettnang at 15
WL 830

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Offline tmaurer

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #4 on: July 29, 2010, 04:13:15 pm »
Do you guys usually brew your o-fest this time of the year?  I finally got a chest freezer, and for my first lager I was thinking about doing an o-fest.

Offline blatz

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #5 on: July 29, 2010, 04:24:31 pm »
Do you guys usually brew your o-fest this time of the year?  I finally got a chest freezer, and for my first lager I was thinking about doing an o-fest.

yeah man - just did mine last weekend - will probably tap around 1st week or Oct or whenever my dunkel kicks
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

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Offline hopaddicted

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #6 on: July 29, 2010, 05:57:41 pm »
Brewed mine on June 20th, first batch of Oktoberfest, second lager (German Pils brewed on 6/15):

6# Munich Dark
5.5# Pilsner
1# Caramunich
1.5 oz Tettnang
1 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker
WLP #820

Fridge broke on me after first few days, so temp has slowly climbed to around 60 degrees presently. New fridge is settling and cold conditioning will begin. Still in secondary until keg space opens up NLT end of September.

Primary: Lambic
Secondary: Oktoberfest, German Pilsner, Double IPA,
In Bottles: Lucknow IPA clone, Rough Rider Brown Ale clone,
John Harvard Imperial Stout clone, Hoppy Amber, Witch's Brew (Habanero and Smoked Corn Small Ale), Porter, Dunkleweizen, Dry Stout, Irish Red Ale, American Maple Wheat Ale, Black Wit, Belgian style Wit, Belgian Golden Strong Ale
Kegged: IPA, Saison, Hoppy Brown Ale

Offline bluesman

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #7 on: July 29, 2010, 06:28:56 pm »
Do you guys usually brew your o-fest this time of the year?  I finally got a chest freezer, and for my first lager I was thinking about doing an o-fest.

yeah man - just did mine last weekend - will probably tap around 1st week or Oct or whenever my dunkel kicks

+1

I made mine this past Monday.  Lagers of this style are ready after 6-8 weeks of lagering.
Ron Price

Offline tygo

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #8 on: July 29, 2010, 08:23:03 pm »
Brewed mine about three weeks ago.  It's been sitting in the chest freezer at 50 waiting for a CAP to be put alongside it to lager.  Stepping it down to lagering temps right now.

4 lbs Pilsner
3 lbs Light Munich
3 lbs Vienna
0.5 lbs Carapils
0.5 lbs Crystal 120
1.25 oz Mt Hood (60 min)
1.00 oz Mt Hood (25 min)

The sample tasted delicious when I racked it.  Nice and malty.
Clint
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Offline theDarkSide

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2010, 06:43:54 am »
Did mine last Saturday.  Even though it's an ale version, it's going to ferment for 3 weeks then lager in the keg for a minimum of 2 month, which puts it right around the beginning of October ( although I may try a pint in September at the beginning of Octoberfest ).
Seacoast Homebrew Club - Portsmouth, NH
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Offline bluesman

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2010, 07:48:46 am »
Some interesting facts.

The 16-day party attracts over 6 million people every year who consume 1.5 million gallons of beer, 200,000 pairs of pork sausage, and 480,000 spit-roasted chickens during the two-week extravaganza.

The Oktoberfest tradition started in 1810 to celebrate the October 12th marriage of Bavarian Crown Prince Ludwig to the Saxon-Hildburghausen Princess Therese. The citizens of Munich were invited to join in the festivities which were held over five days on the fields in front of the city gates. The main event of the original Oktoberfest was a horse race.


Just 6 Munich breweries - Augustiner, Hacker-Pschorr, Hofbräu, Löwenbräu, Paulaner, and Spaten - are permitted to serve beer at the festival. Beer is served by the Maß, a one-liter mug, and costs about 8 euros. Beer maids and waiters must be able to carry 10 of these beer-filled mugs at a time.

only 8 but I'm okay with that




Visitors consume large quantities of food, most of which consists of traditional hearty fare. Readily available all over the fairgrounds are Hendl, whole chickens grilled on a spit and typically sold in halves. Variations are the spit-roasted duck or goose. Roasted meats, especially pork, and potato dumplings are served up with the traditional red cabbage and apple dish (Blaukohl). Local specialties such as roasted ox tails, grilled pork knuckles, or Bavarian Weißwürste, steamed white veal sausages served with sweet mustard, sauerkraut, and a pretzel or bread roll are found on just about every menu. Visitors hankering for some seafood might try the charcoal-fired fish-on-a-stick (Steckerlfisch).

Oktoberfest is known as much for its traditional folk music as it is for its beer drinking. Popular and folk music, marches, and polkas make up the oompah music Germany is stereotypically famous for around the world. As the evening wears on, the music becomes louder and more and more people begin to sing, linking arms and swinging beer mugs from side to side, some standing and swaying and dancing on benches or tables. Before each break, the band will offer up "ein Prosit der Gemütlichkeit", a toast to contentment, congeniality, and relaxation.

Prost!




Ron Price

Offline beersk

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2010, 08:22:03 am »
"Fifteen is my limit on schnitzengruben."

How is she doing that?
Jesse

Offline bluesman

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2010, 08:34:43 am »
"Fifteen is my limit on schnitzengruben."

How is she doing that?

LMAO

That was the funniest scene.

I need to watch that one again.
Ron Price

Offline beersk

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2010, 08:40:11 am »
I'm always saddened when I hear that someone hasn't seen that movie. 
Jesse

Offline blatz

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Re: Oktoberfest!
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2010, 08:40:39 am »
I'm always saddened when I hear that someone hasn't seen that movie. 

ok, seriously, what movie??
The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything they have.

BJCP National: F0281