HopToberfest (sort of) Vienna Lager
Brewed: 10/9/2011 Kegged: 10/22/2011
New Belgium brewery has a beer called "Hoptober Golden Ale". At some point, that triggered me to think of the name "Hoptoberfest". I've been thinking for quite some time that I like the name "Hoptoberfest" (rhymes with Oktoberfest) for a home-brewed beer. I always imagined an Oktoberfest style lager, only with more hop flavor and aroma. After kegging a batch of Rocktoberfest and harvesting the yeast, I decided to brew "Hoptoberfest" next.
First, I had to come up with a recipe. For the recipe, I took Jamil's "North of the Border Vienna" (with the all-grain substitutions) and then added in more late hops. There were a couple other minor modifications, but nothing major.
The bitterness of the beer is not too over-the-top, but it should have lots of Hallertauer and Crystal flavor and aroma. I expect it to have a lot of the rich, deep Munich maltiness of my Rocktoberfest Lager with lots of flowery spicy hop flavors and aroma like my 15 Anniversary Ale. I am mashing pretty low with the goal of getting a highly attenuated beer. I think with some dryness, the hops should really "pop".
Looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
You can see what I've written about Hoptoberfest on my blog: follow this link.
| HopToberfest |
| Style | Vienna Lager | Batch Size | 5.50 gal | |||
| Type | All Grain | Boil Size | 7.00 gal | |||
| Mash Efficiency | 70.00 | Boil Time | 90 minutes |
Recipe Characteristics
| Recipe Gravity | 1.050 SG | Estimated FG | 1.010 SG | ||||
| Recipe Bitterness | 32.0 IBUs (Rager) | Alcohol by Volume | 5.2 % | ||||
| BU : GU | 0.645 | ||||||
| Recipe Color | 11.5 SRM |
|
|||||
| Measured OG: | 1.048 | Measured FG: | 1.011 | ||||
| ADF: | 77% | Measured ABV: | 4.8% |
Ingredients
| Amt | Name | Type | # | %/IBU |
| 3 lbs | Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) | Grain | 3 | 28.1 % |
| 3 lbs | Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) | Grain | 2 | 28.1 % |
| 4 lbs 8.0 oz | Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) | Grain | 1 | 42.1 % |
| 3.0 oz | Carafa II (412.0 SRM) | Grain | 4 | 1.8 % |
| 0.50 oz | Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min | Hop | 5 | 26.5 IBUs |
| 1.00 oz | Hallertauer [4.30 %] - Boil 10.0 min | Hop | 7 | 3.3 IBUs |
| 1.00 oz | Crystal [3.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min | Hop | 8 | 2.2 IBUs |
| 1.0 pkg | Saflager Lager (DCL/Fermentis #W-34/70) [50.28 ml] | Yeast | 9 | - |
| 0.50 tsp | Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) | Fining | 6 | - |
| 1.00 tsp | Yeast Nutrient (Primary 3.0 days) | Other | 10 | - |
Mash Profile
| Name | Description | Step Temperature | Step Time |
| Saccharification | Add 31.13 qt of water at 155.8 F | 150.0 F | 60 min |
Remove grains, and prepare to boil wort Recipe Notes
Yeast harvested from Rocktoberfest. Make 2 liter starter a couple days before brew day.
Boil and add hops as instructed above. Add irish moss and yeast nutrient as directed. Cool as close to 55 as possible and pitch rehydrated yeast. Aerate with blender. Ferment between 50 and 55 for 2 days and then let fermentation temperature rise as far as it wants for a total of 2 weeks or so.
Brewing Record
| Brew Date: | 10/9/2011 | Strike Temp: | 158 | |||
| Mash Temps: | 150 all the way through | |||||
| Pre-boil OG | 1.042 (1.046 SG) | Pre-boil Vol | 7 gal (7.00 gal) | |||
| Actual Mash Efficiency | 75.4 | Pitch Temp | 65 | |||
| Fermentation | ||||||
| Day 1: right around 55 on one and 50 on the other. | ||||||
| Day 3 pretty low 50's on both | ||||||
| Day 4 pretty much stopped paying attention. going at ale temps now. | ||||||
Brewing Notes
10/9/2011 Brewed up this recipe. Did the starter early in the morning. Things went pretty well, although mash efficiency was not as high as usual.
10/13/2011 After the first few days, I let the temps rise above lager temps in both fermenters. We'll see how this ends up tasting.
10/19/2011 FG at about 1.011. A little bit more in Tuke. A little less in Rutt. This puts us at 4.8 ABV and about 77% ADF. Flavor is right about exactly what I wanted. I think I was hoping for a bit more hop aroma, but I am pretty fine with the sample in whole. Hope to bottle this weekend if I have enough bottles.
10/22/2011 Bottled up this batch with 4.125oz sugar. Used the keg and beer gun again. Didn't actually take an FG reading, but I figure the one I took a few days ago is probably close enough. Will carb this for two weeks and then distribute to various lucky individuals. Got 29 12 oz bottles, 5 liter bottles, and 3 bombers.
11/4/2011 Tried a liter. Nice german malt flavor. Firm hop bitterness and flavor. Love this beer.
11/8/2011 Giving away 2 6-packs today. See <a href="http://www.sheppybrew.com/gifts.aspx">Beer Gifts</a>.
10/9/2011 Brewed up this recipe. Did the starter early in the morning. Things went pretty well, although mash efficiency was not as high as usual.
10/13/2011 After the first few days, I let the temps rise above lager temps in both fermenters. We'll see how this ends up tasting.
10/19/2011 FG at about 1.011. A little bit more in Tuke. A little less in Rutt. This puts us at 4.8 ABV and about 77% ADF. Flavor is right about exactly what I wanted. I think I was hoping for a bit more hop aroma, but I am pretty fine with the sample in whole. Hope to bottle this weekend if I have enough bottles.
10/22/2011 Bottled up this batch with 4.125oz sugar. Used the keg and beer gun again. Didn't actually take an FG reading, but I figure the one I took a few days ago is probably close enough. Will carb this for two weeks and then distribute to various lucky individuals. Got 29 12 oz bottles, 5 liter bottles, and 3 bombers.
11/4/2011 Tried a liter. Nice german malt flavor. Firm hop bitterness and flavor. Love this beer.
11/8/2011 Giving away 2 6-packs today. See <a href="http://www.sheppybrew.com/gifts.aspx">Beer Gifts</a>.