6 lbs dark munich malt
4 lbs bohemian pilsner malt
1 lb caramunich type II malt
2 oz carafa special type II malt
1 oz saaz hops 60 minutes
1 oz saaz hops 40 minutes
Dough in at 130 and rest for 30 minutes Then add near boiling water and bring temp up to 150 and rest 20 more minutes. Add more near boiling water and raise temp to 170 and rest 20 minutes. batch sparge for 6 gallons and 5 gallons in fermenter. Chill wort to around 55 degrees and add either wyeast 2278 or I have used white labs wlp 800. Both are fantastic yeast. Ferment for 2 weeks at 50/53 degrees. Then rack to secondary and drop temp to 40 degrees for 3 to 4 weeks
Well if I were doing it I would completely eliminate the caramunich. I made a German dunkel and what I do is use roughly 50% dark and 50% light Munich, a smidge of Carafa for color and just a little Melonodin malt. I also decoct but I don’t want to get that debate started. What I try to do is get extremely malty but not at all sweet (which crystal type malts are going to do). If you let the beer get sweet you are getting into Bock territory plus it cuts down on the so called “drinkability”. Anyway, have fun and good luck, it’s great beer.
I use 5% of caramunich in my german dunkel and it doesn’t come across sweet at all - very malty but fairly dry in the finish. but you’re at 9% or so - may want to cut that back.
then again Czech dark is a bit sweeter IIRC - only have had one, and my god was it awesome!
and there you go - 15% caramunich. I’ve seen some other recipes going that high as well. i’m a bit scared to try that, but Ive seen some experienced brewers say it turned out very well.
Thanks for the link dan and thanks for the replys. Not meaning to sound like mr know it all but Barley water Bohemian dunkel is different than german dunkel and munich dunkel. This recipe is not overly sweet with the caramunich and is with in the style guide lines. and I would like to say is pretty damn good beer.
That looks like a solid recipe to me, but why do you only mash in the saccharification range for 20 minutes? That seems insufficient to me, and I also don’t know why you’d do a protein rest that’s longer than the conversion rest. I’d definitely do it the other way around. In my experience, a protein rest should only be conducted for that kind of length if it’s part of a longer decoction or infusion schedule, otherwise your beer could come out with a watery body and poor head retention. But as I see from the picture you’ve posted, this does not seem to be the case, so you seem to have figured out a way to make that schedule work for you. Still, I can’t help thinking that your beer would be even better if you gave it a longer conversion rest.
Deliusism. The 30 minute rest at temp 130 is to help with mouthfeel and body breaking down chains to smaller easier ferminable sugars. 130 degrees 90 % of your starches can convert and these simple sugars also help head retention. Also breaks down proteins that cause chill haze making a cleaner and lighter body lager. The next step up in temp creates longer chains thats harder for yeast to eat. The idea is create both chains and improve the taste and body of your beer.
I’m already well aware of the purpose of the different rests in a multi-step infusion or decoction mash schedule. I’m not asking why you mash at those temps. I’m asking why you only mash in the saccharification range for such a short time. 20 minutes is not a long conversion rest by most anybody’s standards, and there’s no reason to ever hold a protein rest for longer than the conversion rest, as far as I’m aware. If your malt is so undermodified that it needs that long a protein rest (and it’s pretty rare that this is the case with most of the malt on the market these days), then a much longer conversion rest would definitely be in order, to maximize efficiency. The protein rest is only supposed to prime the malt for further conversion; conducting it for too long a time will actually work against head retention, not in favor of it, although I wouldn’t really say that 30 minutes is excessive.
I also have to question what you’re saying about the purpose of the protein rest. Your post makes it sound like 90% if the conversion is done in the protein rest, which is absolutely not the case, if that’s what you’re saying. Also, I have to point that simple sugars have nothing at all to do with body and head retention. All simple sugars do is increase the fermentability of the wort. Complex sugars found in caramel/crystal malts, and dextrins obtained by mashing in the alpha amylase range, add body and head retention, not simple sugars.
Like I said, though, if this schedule seems to work for you, then I’m in no position to question it, but I’m pretty darn sure that your beer will turn out with a more well-rounded flavor if you go for a longer conversion rest, and mashing in the alpha amylase range for a while certainly wouldn’t hurt, either.
Have a few typo in my reply there. Ment to say at 130 degrees 90 % of starches are souble. This the way it was explaned to me by a brewer thats been making beer for 35 years. When i first brewed this recipe i mashed at 154 for 60 minutes and beer was great. I let my brewing buddy try it and told him recipe and he told me he could improve it with the mash temps and times it has now. It greatly improved the finished beer. He explained that low temps could cause head problem if held for to long. 30 minutes is not long enough to cause a problem. 20 minute rest and the other temps is all it took to convert the starches needed for the other medium sugar chains to create this great beer.
