[quote=“Ken Lenard”]Buddy: I know exactly what you’re talking about and I recently made one and then refined it and made it again. I did not do a decoction but just a single infusion and I also realized that using authentic ingredients is the key. Check out this recipe and tell me what you think… it makes a very nice, dark gold/light amber lager that is very much in the style of a German Festbier.
[b]5.00 lbs Weyermann Pilsner malt
4.50 lbs Weyermann Munich 10L (also called Munich Dark)
8 ounces Carafoam
4 ounces Acid Malt
1 oz Spalt pellets @ 4% plus 1 ounce Tettnanger pellets 4.5% FWH
1 oz Hallertau Mittelfruh pellets 3.1% for 1 minute
Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager yeast
OG: 1.054, FG: 1.014, IBU: 25, SRM: 7-8, ABV: 5.2%[/b]
I used 100% filtered tap water with some calcium chloride added to the mash, mashed at 151-152° for 90 minutes and fermented in a fridge at 47°. There are no hops added between 60 minutes and 2 minutes of the boil… they’re all FWH and then in the last minute. What you get is firm but smooth bitterness from the 8.5 AAU of FWH and then some aroma from the last hop addition. All ingredients are German (except the water, of course) and all hops are Noble. Beware of anything domestic that may call itself “dark munich”, etc. You may see Briess “Dark Munich 20L” which is NOT a base malt and may not even be a Munich malt, but more of a crystal malt. This Weyermann 10L Munich is the absolute boss and makes such a delicious beer when everything else is done properly. More HERE
, but look close because there are two recipes there. The first one came out “good” but the second one will be MUCHO better. Cheers.[/quote]
Thanks for replying Ken!!
Funny, I actually meant to add in acid malt - 1-2% in the grist.
I really like the idea of FWH, but I’ve never tasted or smelled hop aroma in Munich beers that you would get with a 1min addition of 1oz a hops.
Is this something you’ve noticed, or something that you personally like?
With the ratio of Munich to Pilsner malt, do you think my 70/20 split would end up too bock like?
And any reason you went with carafoam over carahell? I can only think of the additional color carahell would add.