# Oktoberfest/Märzen



## ceeaton (Jan 7, 2017)

7 lbs Avangard Pilsner Malt
1 lb Avangard 20L Munich Malt
1 lb Avangard 10L Munich Malt
6 oz MF 80L Crystal Malt
8 oz Sugar (table sugar)
1 oz German Perle pellet hops - 60 min (4.5 AA - 14.6 IBU)
.5 oz German Perle pellet hops - 20 min (4.5 AA - 4.8 IBU)
SafLager S-189 dry yeast

Infusion Mash @ 156*F - igloo cooler - 1.5 hrs
Temp to 168*F before adding to lauter tun
7.25 gallons collected from sparge
Boil 75 min
5.25 gallons final volume, SG 1.054 - yeast pitched @ 60*F
Fermenter in basement @ 56.5*F ambient temp

This is a Oktoberfest/Märzen batch for my wife. She has (I hope) no clue I'm making it for her. Back when I had my beer fridge with a manual temperature controller, I made this batch and to this day it was her favorite. Hoping I can replicate my past success. I'd made this another time about a year ago, but with the IBUs at 25, she thought it was too bitter.


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## ceeaton (Feb 7, 2017)

Kegged this one 2-5-17. Nice color, still a bit cloudy (worried that my sparge water was a bit too warm). Too young to be drinking, a bit estery for a Fest beer. Hoping a month or so in a cold corny keg will smooth things out a bit. If not I'm sure it won't go to waste with me around.


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## ceeaton (Feb 16, 2017)

Tried a sip tonight, markedly improved. Heavy esters are a thing of the past, just needed some age. Not crystal clear yet, but good enough that I poured the rest of my 16oz glass full (went well with spicy ground turkey tacos for dinner).


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## Mismost (Feb 16, 2017)

ceeaton said:


> Tried a sip tonight, markedly improved. Heavy esters are a thing of the past, just needed some age. Not crystal clear yet, but good enough that I poured the rest of my 16oz glass full (went well with spicy ground turkey tacos for dinner).



So happy your beer mellowed! But....turkey and taco should never be used in the same sentence. Maybe I just live too close to Mexico!


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## ceeaton (Feb 16, 2017)

Mismost said:


> But....turkey and taco should never be used in the same sentence. Maybe I just live too close to Mexico!



Two T1D kids, so I have to watch the saturated fat where ever possible. That means more fowl and less beef. Plus it doesn't hurt my heart to limit a bit of the fat either.


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## Mismost (Feb 16, 2017)

ceeaton said:


> Two T1D kids, so I have to watch the saturated fat where ever possible. That means more fowl and less beef. Plus it doesn't hurt my heart to limit a bit of the fat either.



I know, I know....two heart attack survivor here. Turkey and chicken every day make me wish for #3 sometimes!! Folks want to go to Mars and we can even fix our food down where it doesn't try to kill you!


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## jswordy (Feb 17, 2017)

I'll bet that beer kicks butt in about another month or so, if you can wait that long. On the food, I'm trying to do that in advance of the heart attack, so I maybe avert one. 5 days out of 7, lunch is a green salad, I jog a mile three times a week, do the weights, etc. Seems my body has a hankering to have a heart attack eventually, the medical signs say, so I am trying to curb that urge. LOL...


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## ceeaton (Feb 17, 2017)

jswordy said:


> I'll bet that beer kicks butt in about another month or so, if you can wait that long. On the food, I'm trying to do that in advance of the heart attack, so I maybe avert one. 5 days out of 7, lunch is a green salad, I jog a mile three times a week, do the weights, etc. Seems my body has a hankering to have a heart attack eventually, the medical signs say, so I am trying to curb that urge. LOL...



I'm hoping it kicks butt since it's for my wife. Might let her try it tonight since I don't think she's driving anywhere. I'm working on building a cooler that uses ice to lower ambient temps 20*F or so, plan on using that to try and make a lager @ 45-50*F or so. Just have to find a way to get an 8' x 4' sheet of insulated board into a Corolla. Might have it delivered when I get wood delivered to redo my deck this Spring.

My paternal Grandpa died of a heart attack (72), my Dad of cancer (69), my maternal Grandpa of a stroke (56), my maternal Grandma of leukemia (63-ish), and my paternal Grandma of old age (96, she looked like a pretzel from Arthur Ritus). I'm hoping to follow my paternal Grandma, who loved her a.m. daily bloody mary until her late 80's. What's the use of living a long life on this earth if you aren't having some fun?

Edit: Hey Mikey, she likes it!


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## Boatboy24 (Feb 17, 2017)

ceeaton said:


> Just have to find a way to get an 8' x 4' sheet of insulated board into a Corolla.



Don't think 'into', think 'on top of'.


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## ceeaton (Feb 17, 2017)

Boatboy24 said:


> Don't think 'into', think 'on top of'.



If I put the sheet at the right angle, I might get 'er airborne!


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## ceeaton (Mar 12, 2017)

My younger brother dropped by to give me some albums (yes I said albums) he had recorded. I gave him a keg sample of my Irish red and the Oktoberfest. He looked up from his glass and said that the Oktoberfest was the best beer he's ever tasted of mine. He mentioned it tasting like one of those small German refrigerator kegs you can buy. At last tasting it was still really young, so I guess 2 months old is old enough. Sent him home with a growler of it, made me feel good since I haven't tasted it recently, and won't for at least another 28 days. Had my wife drooling a bit since it is a batch for her...


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## Mismost (Mar 12, 2017)

that is why I started brewing beer and by extension making wine.....I want to make a beer like I had when I was in the Army over in Germany

I've since decided that I can't even remember what that beer tasted like 40 years ago....but, I'm gonna keep trying.


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## ceeaton (Apr 30, 2017)

Put the keg (in the basement) in a cylindrical cooler this morning, added some ice, and enjoyed a few Oktoberfest beer after I got done picking up to oldest two, one from a Field Hockey tournament and the other from work. This has really come around, I loved the flavor, but in all honesty it needs the malt bumped up a bit, or the hop level lowered to let the malt come forward. I'll make it again if I can get a "cold box" constructed to do a lager ferment this summer.


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## Mismost (May 1, 2017)

cold box....chest freezer and a InkBird controller...done! After having one for a while, I wonder how how I lived without it. All freezers should have similar temp control. Right now I have 8 wild hog back straps soaking in brine for a few weeks....then a little smoke....then a machine thin slice and vac package as Canadian Bacon. Temp control beer ferments, cold crash beers and wines, extra fridge, meat cooler, beer box,...heck I have even used it as a freezer for a big batch of catfish and briskets!!

cold boxes....they're not just for beer anymore Craig!


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## ceeaton (May 1, 2017)

Mismost said:


> cold box....chest freezer and a InkBird controller...done! After having one for a while, I wonder how how I lived without it. All freezers should have similar temp control. Right now I have 8 wild hog back straps soaking in brine for a few weeks....then a little smoke....then a machine thin slice and vac package as Canadian Bacon. Temp control beer ferments, cold crash beers and wines, extra fridge, meat cooler, beer box,...heck I have even used it as a freezer for a big batch of catfish and briskets!!
> 
> cold boxes....they're not just for beer anymore Craig!



I have a controller, just not a shoulder/right arm that can lug it down the basement steps. Ripped a bicep when I brought the old one up 3 1/2 years ago and vowed never to take a new one down, though I do have a strapping 18 year old son who I can employ on the cheap....


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## ceeaton (May 13, 2017)

Iced the keg down again. This is down to the last 1/3rd of the keg and getting really good! I guess time on some yeast has taken care of the off flavors I was perceiving, but my wife and brother have never taken issue with them. My goal tonight is to leave a few glasses for my wife tomorrow, but as I'm sipping on a pint I'm finding it hard to stop drinking it!


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