Munich Dunkel - Brewday 19.February.2011

[bosium]

I am planning a 10 gal batch of my favourite beer, bohemian pilsner, for summertime, and needed to culture some yeast. Best way to do this is to brew a 5 gallon batch and repitch the yeast, so that's what I did. I love a nice malty beer now and then when I'm not drinking hoppy pilsners and pale ales, and I've wanted to brew a dunkel for ages but have been holding out until I could get hold of real German munich malt. These Weyermann malts really are superb, especially for lagers.

OG 1.050
FG 1.016
ABV 4.5%
AA 68%
IBU 22
EBC 28

Recipe
99% Weyermann Munich II
1% Carafa Special II

60g - 23 IBU - Hallertauer Mittelfruh 4% @ 65 min

Mashed at 67.8C (154F) for 90 minutes. Mash hit pH 5.2 without any salt additions, but 4g Calcium Chloride added to the kettle. Acidified sparge water with lactic acid. 90 minute boil.

2x Vials WLP815 - Belgian Lager in a 4L starter, fermented out, decanted and pitched at 8C.
Allowed to rise to 10C and will be held there before raising to 16C for a diacetyl rest near to the end of primary fermentation.

I used my pump to vorlauf whilst at the same time raising the mash temperature to mashout (I had the boiler element on while recirculating the hot wort through it). Also, this is the second beer I've fly sparged and I like it so much better than batch sparging. It's less hassle, less mess and less likely to cause a stuck sparge and the efficiency is a little higher too. I do need a new (stainless) 30L kettle though and a bigger (stainless) mash tun for when doing 10-gallon brews as my cooler tun is full to the brim with 10KGs of grain.

There was a wonderful rich, malty smell from the wort as it boiled, especially mouth-watering once the noble hops went in

[leedsbrew]

THAT is a cracking colour! Like the recipe man!

[HighHops]

Looks like a cracker bosium. Let us know how it turns out!

How long are you thinking of lagering for?

[mysterio]

That will be great. Weyermann malts make such a difference. The Vienna malt certainly has nothing in common with British Vienna malt, I bet the Munich doesn't either.

[bosium]

Thanks gents, I have a good feeling about this one. Krausen forming now after about 24 hours from pitching, I'm looking forward to seeing how WLP815 turns out. I was going to go for WLP830 as I've still not used it and it is supposedly the most well-used lager strain in the world, but I can use it anytime and WLP815 won't be available for much longer.

@HighHops - I usually lager my beers for about 8 weeks or more, but I usually make hoppy lagers and at a higher gravity too which tend to need longer before they start tasting good. I'm guessing this will start tasting good at the 6 week mark.

[bosium]

This beer finished out at 1.016, pretty high indeed. I am guessing this has to do with the high mash temp and the low diastatic power of munich malt, rather than an underpitching / under-oxygenation issue. Either way, it tastes pretty good. It really tastes like the dark bread crust on the very top side of a slice of granary bread, with maybe the slightest hint of roastiness. There is a touch of sulphur, not a lot but just slightly noticeable and not entirely unpleasant. Bitterness is, if anything, perfectly balanced but the beer will probably benefit from a bit of mellowing time to allow the sweet malt to come through a little better.

I kegged it after two weeks in the primary and have allowed it to warm condition in my cupboard under my stairs at about 17C for two weeks, while I prepared to make some space in my lagerator. It's now in at 0C or thereabouts and I'm hoping it will start to drop clear in a couple of weeks.

[symptomlesscoma]

Did something similar round xmas using 50/50 Lager/British Munich Malt. Seems pretty similar colour, looks bright red in certain lights.
Needed a little while for the maltiness to round out. Drank it at 3 weeks and it wasn't great, but at 8 weeks tasted pretty good.

[Barley Water]

I also make a Dunkel, usually in the fall. I use dark/light Munich malt in a 1:1 ratio with a bit of melonodin and a touch of carafa II for color (ok colour). Naturally, I decoct the hell out of the whole thing and it makes for a great, fairly complex malty beer. I have had good luck in competitions with that formulation so at least I know somebody out there likes it besides me.

[LowLife]

I still don't know what to think whenever I see a picture of you guys boiling in plastic. Its very unusual to me. I'm used to only seeing stainless steel being used.

I will have to look into that more to satisfy my curiosity.

[196osh]

Looks great. The catering company on Ebay from Germany is good for the shiny pots.

[bosium]

I gotta say, this is pretty tasty now, a great food beer and very quaffable at only 4.5% ABV. It could be a little sweeter tho, I might dial back on the bitterness a bit next time. Also, I think I'll leave the carafa out entirely. It's nice to have the colour a little darker than would be possible with 100% munich malt, but I think I would prefer the flavour without it.

I need to rack it into a serving keg and dispense it from my ale fridge (10 C), as I think it would be better suited to a warmer serving temperature than my pilsners..