Experimental Oktoberfest Ale Recipe

October 15, 2017October 16, 2017 / josephminton / Leave a comment

Oktoberfest Ale Homebrewing Recipe

Some people like IPA’s and some people hate them, some folks out there will only drink lagers while others like barrel aged stouts. It is rare when you find a beer that just about everyone will enjoy. I am not sure if I have accomplished that, but so far everyone that has tried this experimental Oktoberfest has liked it!

So why do I call it experimental? Well, about a month ago some friends and I were sitting at a brewery having beers and one suggested that we should brew up an Oktoberfest since October was approaching. I chimed in that we did not really have enough time to pull off a traditional lager. So we discussed it and decided that maybe we should do an Oktoberfest Ale, and in stead of stopping there, perhaps we can do an American twist on it and celebrate both German and American brewing heritage with it. So I worked on a recipe that did just that. I used both German and American grains and a single German hop, with higher than normal IBU’s and an American Ale Yeast! The results were a beautifully balanced beer, with a rich color and notable flavor!

Oktoberfest Ale All Grain Home Brewing Recipe

So here is my crazy recipe. One of the only tweaks I would make is removing the 2oz’s of roasted wheat ( I removed it from the home brewing recipe listed here) . I added it for some additional color at the last minute and I probably should not have. The color is beautiful but a little too dark for an Oktoberfest.

Beer Name: Kaiser Washington Oktoberfest Ale
Style: American Oktoberfest Ale
Estimated OG: 1.056
IBUs: 40.0
Color: 16.2 SRM
ABV: 5.6

Mash Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
10 lbs	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	1	76.2 %
2 lbs	Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)	Grain	2	15.2 %
1 lbs	Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)	Grain	3	7.6 %

Boil Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
1.00 oz	Mandarina Bavaria [8.50 %] – Boil 60.0 min	Hop	5	26.7 IBUs
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins)	Fining	6	–
1.00 oz	Mandarina Bavaria [8.50 %] – Boil 15.0 min	Hop	7	13.3 IBUs

I fermented with Wyeast 1056 American Ale and used a touch of biofin clarifier to really make it shine after fementation completed. Just make sure you cold condition it for at least 2 weeks before passing judgement!

If anyone decides to brew it, please let me know what you think!

Beer Boiling In A Brew Kettle

Coal Miner’s Hands – Robust Porter All Grain Home Brewing Recipe

February 1, 2017 / Home Brewer / Leave a comment

Robust Vanilla Porter Homebrewing Recipe Beer Animated Gif

Coal Miners Hands Robust Porter Recipe

I just finished this porter up and I love it. Typically I am hyper critical of my beers, always finding the smallest of imperfections. This is one of those times where I have no complaints, well aside from maybe brewing another 5 gallons with no vanilla added. Here is the recipe if anyone is looking to brew it!

Home Brewing Recipe Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 8.51 gal
Boil Time: 60 min
End of Boil Vol: 6.51 gal
Fermentation: Ale Single Stage

Est Mash Efficiency: 73 %
Estimated ABV 6.9%

Mash

Mash Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
11 lbs	Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM)	Grain	3	78.7 %
1 lbs	Caramel/Crystal Malt – 40L (40.0 SRM)	Grain	4	6.6 %
1 lbs	Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)	Grain	5	6.6 %
6.0 oz	Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)	Grain	6	3.3 %
8.0 oz	Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)	Grain	7	3.3 %
4.0 oz	Chocolate Wheat Malt (400.0 SRM)	Grain	8	1.6 %

Mash Steps
Name	Description	Step Temperature	Step Time
Mash In		152.0 F	60 min
Mash Out		169.0 F	10 min

Sparge with 2.91 gal water at 169.0 F
Add water to achieve boil volume of 8.51 gal
Estimated pre-boil gravity is 1.046 SG

Boil Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
0.75 oz	Columbus (Tomahawk) [14.00 %] – Boil 60.0 min	Hop	9	32.9 IBUs
2.00 oz	Cascade [5.50 %] – Boil 15.0 min	Hop	10	17.1 IBUs
1.00 Items	Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 5.0 mins)	Fining	11	–

Estimated Post Boil Vol: 6.51 gal and Est Post Boil Gravity: 1.063 SG

Cool and Transfer Wort

Cool wort to fermentation temperature
Transfer wort to fermenter
Add water if needed to achieve final volume of 5.50 gal

Yeast

Fermentation Ingredients
Amt	Name	Type	#	%/IBU
1.0 pkg	American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Starter	Yeast	12	–

Post Fermentation

Add (1) medium toast American oak stick, 6 oz’s of cacao nibs and 1 scrapped – cleaned vanilla bean once fermentation has completed. Leave in contact with beer for 7-10 days. Taste and age longer if additional oak or vanilla flavor is desired. This final step is not required as it is an incredible beer with out the vanilla, oak or cacao. The inspiration for this homebrew all grain robust porter recipe was Jamil Zainasheff’s Heretic Shallow Grave Porter which is available at MoreBeer. I just made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it more to my liking.

Pliny the Elder All Grain Homebrewing Recipe Kit

August 25, 2016August 25, 2016 / Home Brewer / Leave a comment

Pliny the Elder All Grain Homebrew Recipe Kit

Russian River Pliny the Elder is one of those beers that I would love to stock my refrigerator or my kegerator for that matter with. Unfortunately it is also one of the most difficult beers for a person to come by. The good news is that home brewers can brew their own Pliny the Elder!

Here is the recipe:

Beer Style:	Double IPA
Recipe Type:	All Grain
Batch Size:	5 Gallons
Mash Type:	Infusion 60 Minuntes at 152F Mash 10 Minuntes at 169F Mash Out
Grain Bill:	13 LBS Pale 2 Row Malt 1 LBS Cara-Pils Malt 8 OZ Crystal 40L Malt 1 LBS Corn Sugar Added During Last 10 Minutes of Boil
Hops:	2 oz Whole Cascade Hops Added at the Start of the Mash 2 oz Magnum – Start of Boil – 90 Minutes 1 oz Simcoe at 45 Minutes 1 oz Columbus at 30 Minutes 1 oz Simcoe at Falme Out 2 oz Centennial at Flame Out
Other Additions:	Whirlfloc Tablet at 5 Minutes Before End of Boil
Yeast:	Wyeast 1056 American Ale Yeast or SA-05
Fermentation:	2 Week Primary Fermentation at 68F Dry Hop at the end of fermentation for 5-7 days 3 oz Columbus 1 oz Centennial 1 oz Simcoe Cold crash for 2 days at 40F Bottle or Keg and Condition for 2 weeks
Notes:	This Pliny the Elder Kit and an Extract Version can be purchase here

Homebrew Recipe for Pliny the Elder

One of the best things about this recipe is that it was given to MoreBeer from the owner of Russian River. For a very reasonable price MoreBeer is selling both the Pliny the Elder All Grain Beer Kit and the Extract Pliny the Elder Beer kit for a very reasonable price and it ships free!

These Pliny the Elder Home Brewing Kits Can Be Purchased Here

More Information on this Pliny the Elder Homebrewing kit found Here:
West Coast Brewer