This is a pretty rock solid beer. Lot of depth of malt character, rye bread crust, lots of malt sweetness, but has a real dryness and drinkability.
On our last two German beers though, we have struggled with head stability. Both were single-infusion mashes (152) which used Avangard pils malt. Next time I would definitely use a 154 mash temp and perhaps even some carahell to build proteins/body.
Not sure how to size images on this forum.
Cool trick. Brewer in a glass👍
I use a little carapils in my pilsner for this reason. Haven’t had any issue with my other lagers. I do mash my dunkel and doppel bock at 154 though.
Mash my doppel at 154 too
Mine is on tap now and its coming along. I’m in the taste a small glass every day until the carbonation is right. At which point it will be presented to get opinions. And probably bottle some off. I notice a little alcohol heat, would this be appropriate to the style? It is almost 9% abv. Im liking it but just wondering I mashed more like 150
Per the 2015 BJCP Guidelines:
“Invariably there will be an impression of
alcoholic strength, but this should be smooth and warming
rather than harsh or burning.”
Definetly not harsh. Smooth really.
My head problem may be a glassware issue. Will link a separate post. This is in a taller lager glass after about 5 minutes. Not exactly meringue, but way more persistent.
Higher abv beers usually do have a head retention of only a very short duration. Mine is 8.5 abv and it dissipates rapidly.
Looks fine to me. Nice color and clarity. Less head means you get more beer in the glass! 
Nice and clear. Mine is about that color but not as sparkling. I have another keg of it stuck in a snow bank maybe it will get clearer than this keg. How long did you lager?
I brewed my Doppelbock this pastW/E, and seeing you talk of head retention I put in a pound of wheat to help. I was aiming for 8 gallons and ended up with 7. I must not have done the soak up part right. Anyways, 21 pounds of malt, SG at 1.081, bubbling away on the 838 bock yeast… Now for the waiting part. I do git to look forward to the samples! I figured my efficiency out to be 91…Sneezles61
Good call on the wheat. I add wheat to mine and have nics foamy head. Actually I add wheat to all my lagers.
I’ve got 10 days of fermenting at 50*, and the activity has finally slowed… Soon time to test AND sample… This is driving me nuts! Sneezles61
Mine fermented foreva and then took awhile to clear but worth the wait. First keg is almost gone . I’ll be making this one a lot. Good luck waiting.
I started the ramp up this AM… I should be at 65 Thursday… Then my first sample to check gravity. once its at or close to FG, I will rack to the kegs and hide in the garage where it remains in the 30’s Sneezles61
My samples had some heat and I was worried but it aged beautifully… Still in the 30s. We are warming up here this week, crazy winter. I’m doing a helles bock next.
Mine turned out really nice. At first I thought it was going to be too sweet for my taste, but after it was carbonated I really like it.
I’m brewing a marzen tomorrow then another bactch of pilsner after that.
we’re going to be "eis"ing +/- 4 gallons of this that is in a keg (and has been lagering for 3+ months!).
Any tips on eising methods? Just skim the ice off as it begins to freeze?
Oh great Idea! You’ve probably read the “original” story of it forgotten outside and found the next morning! You may what to try that to verify if its true… If not then thaw it out til you can use a strainer to remove and measure how much water was taken out to get your new ABV. Sneezles61
