Alan's and Melissa's Oktoberfest

Bodensatz Brewing

Oktoberfest Lager

Past Experience

This is the third time we've brewed this recipe, which we like very much. This time, however, we plan to lager it properly, which is something we haven't tried in the past. We're also trying a new yeast this time around.

Here are details on the other times we've made this recipe : Aug 26, 1995. Oct 28, 1995.

Ingredients

3.0 kg Liquid Light Malt Extract (bulk)
3.0 oz Hallertauer Boiling Hops (full boil time, 4% alpha)
0.5 oz Saaz flavour hops (at 10 minutes)
0.5 oz Saaz finishing hops (steep 2 minutes)
1/2 lb Crystal Malt (grain)
1/8 cup Chocolate Malt (grain)
Wyeast 2024 Danish Lager Liquid Yeast.

Method

Crush grains with a rolling pin or wine bottle, put into a grain bag, then immerse in brewpot containing 7 or 8 litres of cold water. Turn on the burner and bring to a boil. Just as the water begins boiling, remove the grain bag.

Turn the stove off, add the 3kg of malt extract, then turn stove back on again. Add the 3.0 oz of Hallertauer hops in another bag, and boil for 60 minutes. With 10 minutes left in the boil, add 0.5 oz of Saaz (left over from making the Czech Pilsener).

When the boil is done, turn off heat and add the finishing hops, let steep for 2 minutes then remove bag and sparge it into the carboy.

Put the brewpot into sink, and run cold water into one sink, while siphoning it out into the other sink, thus giving a constant flow of cold water to cool the wort. Let set 20 minutes or so, then dump into carboy. Fill up all but about 2 litres. Wort is already 72.

Stick an aeration stone into carboy, and turn on fish tank pump for 25 minutes or so to aerate, then remove stone and fill up rest of way.

Data

brewed: 10/11-Feb-1996 (brewed late at night)
pitched: 12-Feb-1996
racked: 24-Mar-1996 -- S.G. 1.016
bottled:
O.G. 1.040
F.G. 1.0xx

Pitching

Wyeast 2024 Danish Lager Liquid Yeast, dated at June of 1994, so it was a year and a half old. Packet was smacked in the afternoon of Feb 8th, and was still not swelled by the 10th (brew day), so we made a 1300ml 1.040 starter and pitched that. On the morning of the 11th the starter began really slowly, and on the morning of the 12th it was at high kraeusen and ready to pitch, so we pitched 500ml of it, adding 900ml of 1.040 wort to the remainder in order to propagate the yeast for several future batches.