Dunkel Beer recipe

[oddjob113]

Does anyone have, or point me in the right direction of, a Dunkel Beer recipe. Love the dark lager you find in Germany and the Czech Republic and like the idea of replicating one.

Any assistance gratefully recieved.

[dave-o]

I guess you're after a dark lager rather than a Dunkelweizen?

No experience of dark lagers, but my Dunkelweizen recipe is:

2.5kg pilsener malt
2.5kg wheat malt
150g Carafa I

30g Spalt - full boil

[lancsSteve]

How dark a dunkel - brown and malty or black as pitch? You'll want lots of munich. I've brewed a good dunkel from UK ingredients with recipe out of GW's 'Home Brewing' book which was excellent, and a schwartzbier more recently out of german ingredients.

Are you looking to use grain and hops etc you have already or order stuff in?

Pale or pilsener as a base with munich base + possibly some carafa special II or III and then tettnang or mittelfruh as hops and a lager yeast are your basic ingredients.

Will try and post a recipe later when I'm back near my books and recipes I've used.

[oddjob113]

Thanks guys, in answer to your question LancsSteve am after a really pitch black style drink. I'll be buying the ingrediments in so pretty much looking for a good, tasty dark beer.

[mysterio]

95% weyermann light munich and 5% dehusked carafa special is the way to go. Both of these ingredients are very important. Any german hops for 20 or so IBUs and the same for finishing. Use a lager yeast and ferment at the recommended temps.

[lancsSteve]

^^^ what mysterio says

Malt Miller has light (type 1) http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=163 and dark (type 2) http://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/index.ph ... ductId=164 munich malts.

Would recommend a liquid yeast and a BIG starter - wlp820 oktoberfest or wlp833 bock would be ideal (out of stock at the mo at MM though but in at thrifty http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk/all- ... yeast.aspx) then cool fermentation and extended lagering.

ANd yeah asmysterio says - any german hops would work but might as well use low alpha noble on home brew scale for a better hop bed and straining and smoother bitterness - tettnang, spalt or mittelfruh would be my choices.

[mysterio]

Yep, important to use the Weyermann stuff I reckon, if you go to German breweries you'll see Weyermann sacks everywhere, its part of the flavour of the continental lagers.

If using the British munich that will still make a great beer but I would tend to 'cut' it with some lager/pilsner malt, 50/50 say. Still use the carafa.

[Barley Water]

Well, when I think of really black German lagers, I think of Swartzbier. Most German Dunkels are brown that I have run into. I have a German Dunkel on tap right now and basicly it is a 50/50 mix of light and dark Munich malt, about 6oz of Melonodin malt and a couple of ounces of Carafa II. I bitter mine around 25 IBU and aim for a starting gravity of about 1.055. Of course, and you know this was coming, I double decoct mine and also boil down a couple of quarts of first runnings, it's all about those melonodin flavors in the bier. I think I have used WLP2206 if I remember correctly. I think the best examples are relatively dry so I don't add any crystal type malts although I have seen many recipes that include at least some. Anyhow, this beer comes out really good every time and a couple of years ago, I won a first place stein with this stuff in a very large contest. It sort of tastes a little like a German chocolate cake and the house will for sure smell like it if you go the decoction route, I just love to brew this stuff.

I have never made a Swartzbier but my understanding is that you go for a black pilsner using the Carafa malts for color. Of course, you would want to hop it much heavier that you would a Dunkel and since you want a lighter body, I would think you would mash cooler as well. Anyhow, let us know what you decide on and how it comes out.

[HighHops]

Munich Dunkel is next up on my lager list

This was my intended recipe

4.40 Kg Munich
0.023Kg Carafa special III
0.15 Kg Torrefied wheat
0.15 Kg Carapils
0.15 Kg Flaked Barley

45 EBC target colour
20 IBU target bitterness
21 g Northern Brewer 60 min
14 g Hersbrucker 20 min
Yeast : WLP833
1051 OG
1012 FG
5.0% ABV

I'm using English malts. Why would you cut 50/50 with pilsner Mysty? Never used Weyermann stuff. Is it malted differently or is it the grain?

[mysterio]

BW is right, 5% of carafa is a bit much and will give you a black beer, just use a couple ounces.

I think UK Munich malt is a bit more intense than the German stuff. I think a 50/50 split is quite malty/chewy and tastes like a dunkel. Maybe people with more experience with using 100% British Munich malt can give their opinion. Like I said I don't think it's inferior quality, it just seems a bit maltier and fuller.

[oddjob113]

Well definitely got plenty of food for thought there. Thanks for the info.

Going to be heading down my home brew suppliers next week so I'll let you all know what I end up brewing. Should be interesting whatever.

[196osh]

BW is right, 5% of carafa is a bit much and will give you a black beer, just use a couple ounces.

I think UK Munich malt is a bit more intense than the German stuff. I think a 50/50 split is quite malty/chewy and tastes like a dunkel. Maybe people with more experience with using 100% British Munich malt can give their opinion. Like I said I don't think it's inferior quality, it just seems a bit maltier and fuller.

I agree with this, don't think a full Dunkel with 100% british Munich would work.

2.50 kg Lager Malt (3.9 EBC) Grain
1.80 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain
0.20 kg Carafa III (1034.3 EBC) Grain

2 Pkgs SalfLager W-34/70 (DCL) Yeast-Lager

20L OG 1054

This was my Dunkel Recpie and it turned out pretty good.

[mysterio]

I tried the above, and it was darn good, reminded me of a Budvar dark.

[HighHops]

2.50 kg Lager Malt (3.9 EBC) Grain
1.80 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain
0.20 kg Carafa III (1034.3 EBC) Grain

Is that 200g or 20g of Carafa III?

[196osh]

0.2kg=200g

Could use that much, but I would probably use 100g if I did it again.