[hopfenundmalz]

I liked the first one better.  Then again, I have lost a handfull of afternoons at Zum Uerige. 

[denny]

I like the way that looks. I'm glad you kept the aroma hops too. 

I like it, too. 

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Well then, I'll brew that one!  But I would like to try brewing a pils-based Alt sometime in the future, just to compare.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Do you really need the pickling lime?  I'd check the pH before adding that... even using water with no alkalinity I really doubt you need that to get your pH to 5.4.

Narvin,

You're right, I didn't need any pickling lime to get a pH of 5.4 with my initial recipe.  I must have input some of the data wrong in Bru'n Water when I wrote that recipe.  If anything, I might have had to add a small % of acid malt to get the pH in range.

[narvin]

Do you really need the pickling lime?  I'd check the pH before adding that... even using water with no alkalinity I really doubt you need that to get your pH to 5.4.

Narvin,

You're right, I didn't need any pickling lime to get a pH of 5.4 with my initial recipe.  I must have input some of the data wrong in Bru'n Water when I wrote that recipe.  If anything, I might have had to add a small % of acid malt to get the pH in range.

I find that the calculators usually report a little low, at least for darker beers.  Base malt just seems to have a lot of buffering capacity compared to the acidity of dark malts.  My latest 40 SRM stout hit 5.5 without any water adjustment, and my water's RA is only 25.  One thing to note was that the ColorPhast strips were way off when testing this wort compared to a calibrated pH meter and read about 5.0 for some reason.  Kai's calculator was closer to being correct than Bru'nWater, although the recipe input isn't as easy to use since you have to determine color % from roasted vs caramel malts.

[Pawtucket Patriot]

Brewed the revised version (Munich/Vienna base) last Friday. Ended up with a 12P wort, which should yield a nice session strength alt.  Thanks again for the suggestions!