Munich Dunkel

Hi Ken,

OG: 1.050; FG: 1.013; IBUs: 24; SRM: 13.8
Mash efficiency 80%, 5.5 gallon batch size (about 5.25 gal into the fermentor)

9.25 lbs Munich malt (8 SRM)
1.5 oz Carafa Special Type 3

Any noble hops to 21 IBUs at 60 min
1/2 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh 20 min

Mash at 154 for 60 min. Boil 60 minutes. Water profile almost exactly as per Bru’n Water malty amber recommendation.

Ferment with your favorite lager yeast. I used 2308 this time, but was happier with the 2206 I used last time.

The bread is a pretty basic rye bread recipe, 50/50 mix of wheat and rye flour, but with 1.5 cups of dunkel instead of water.

I just had a friend’s homebrewed dunkel last night with pert near the same exact recipe. It was delicious. Bet that one is just as tasty.
My next Munich dunkel will have a little pilsner in it, but still pretty much 80-90% Munich I.

Nice lacing and color! It looks fantastic.

It’s a really good beer to drink with a heavy meal - goes great with pork. Not as good for cooling you down on a hot day.

Hi Ken,

OG: 1.050; FG: 1.013; IBUs: 24; SRM: 13.8
Mash efficiency 80%, 5.5 gallon batch size (about 5.25 gal into the fermentor)

9.25 lbs Munich malt (8 SRM)
1.5 oz Carafa Special Type 3

Any noble hops to 21 IBUs at 60 min
1/2 oz Hallertauer Mittelfruh 20 min

Mash at 154 for 60 min. Boil 60 minutes. Water profile almost exactly as per Bru’n Water malty amber recommendation.

Ferment with your favorite lager yeast. I used 2308 this time, but was happier with the 2206 I used last time.

The bread is a pretty basic rye bread recipe, 50/50 mix of wheat and rye flour, but with 1.5 cups of dunkel instead of water.[/quote]

Brewing this grainbill for a Dunkel tomorrow AM. Couldn’t get Mittelfruh at the LHBS so I’m bittering with Liberty and tettnang for 20 minute addition. I’m using the 15srm avangard munich. I hear conflicting opinions on the diastatic power of dark munich. I hope it won’t turn out too sweet. Maybe I should mash lower like 152?

edit:
Did a little research on the dark munich. The 15 SRM Munich should be about 50 L so it should be self converting.

Liberty and Tettnang should be fine for bittering this. I don’t think you need to worry about the conversion, but you might want to lessen the Carifa Special some as you are using a darker Munich. In fact, when I plug the numbers into ProMash, you can eliminate it entirely and get the same color as I did. I was using 8L Munich.

[quote=“Beersk”]I just had a friend’s homebrewed dunkel last night with pert near the same exact recipe. It was delicious. Bet that one is just as tasty.
My next Munich dunkel will have a little pilsner in it, but still pretty much 80-90% Munich I.[/quote]
Funny this is coming up again. I just had the same dunkel from my friend’s batch last night. It’s bottled and still tasted fantastic 6 months later, if not better.
Surprised Ken hasn’t replied in this thread.

Actually I haven’t seen him around now that you mention it. Hope everything is alright…

If I ain’t mistaken, Ken hangs out almost exclusively on Brews Brothers these days. He’s doing fine.

Just tapped this Dunkel, brewed 11/19, kegged and lagering since 12/4. I ended up using 1.5 oz carafa special III so it’s about 17srm.

Man is it good!

[quote=“dannyboy58”]Just tapped this Dunkel, brewed 11/19, kegged and lagering since 12/4. I ended up using 1.5 oz carafa special III so it’s about 17srm.

Man is it good![/quote]
Sad to say this keg of Dunkel kicked last night. Probably my favorite beer right now and it was a huge hit with my boys and a couple buddies!

Getting a starter going today to brew my first 11 gallon batch with this. The second keg should be amazing after a few months lagering! Thanks again for posting the recipe RC!

Glad you enjoyed it. The longer I brew, the more I appreciate simple recipes like that one. If you remove the handful of roast malt that is just there for color, you have a SMaSH brew.

I brewed the slam dunkel from the American home brewers association recipes. Turned out surprisingly well I’m actually drinking a glass now. Simple recipe 8 lbs Munich 2 lbs wheat and 4 oz chocolate. Used wlp 838 yeast. I would recommend this recipe even though it’s not your typical Munich dunkel. Currently fermenting beside my dortmunder. Got a Munich dunkel going like you all brewed except I added 2 oz of melanoidin malt.

I’m brewing 11 gallons of this tomorrow and thinking of changing the hops to use what I have on hand. Intially I was thinking of bittering it with Hallertau Tradition 5.3aa but I’m also considering using Magnum 14.5aa. I’m not certain if it’s German or US Magnum.

For the flavor/aroma hops I have 1/2 ounce of hallertau which wouldn’t be enough by itself. I have Hersbrucker 2.8aa and the aforementioned Hallertau Tradition 5.3aa.

Any opinions?

I’m brewing 11 gallons of this tomorrow and thinking of changing the hops to use what I have on hand. Intially I was thinking of bittering it with Hallertau Tradition 5.3aa but I’m also considering using Magnum 14.5aa. I’m not certain if it’s German or US Magnum.

For the flavor/aroma hops I have 1/2 ounce of hallertau which wouldn’t be enough by itself. I have Hersbrucker 2.8aa and the aforementioned Hallertau Tradition 5.3aa.

Any opinions?[/quote] I like magnum smooth bitterness one of my last dunkels.I used .33 oz
Magnum 60 minutes and hallertau 1 oz for 10 min aroma about 25 ibu’s tasted great. Actually got me thinking I need to brew it again.

Plenty of folks don’t use late hops in a dunkel at all; reference Kai, JZ, and so on. I like to emphasize the bready malt in a dunkel, and tend to use low or no late hops. I use more late hops in a schwarz.

On my last trip to the LHBS, they were out of munich light. Had to improvise on the spot for my dunkel, and came up with a rather complex recipe: 75% Munich dark, 14% pils, 10% vienna, 1% carafa III. In the fermenter now…

[quote=“seajellie”]Plenty of folks don’t use late hops in a dunkel at all; reference Kai, JZ, and so on. I like to emphasize the bready malt in a dunkel, and tend to use low or no late hops. I use more late hops in a schwarz.

On my last trip to the LHBS, they were out of munich light. Had to improvise on the spot for my dunkel, and came up with a rather complex recipe: 75% Munich dark, 14% pils, 10% vienna, 1% carafa III. In the fermenter now…[/quote]
I use a small hop addition at 20 mins just for balance and light flavor. I could see just giving it a bittering charge to 25 IBU or so.

I agree the Dunkel should be all about the malt. I use 100% avangard munich dark, 15l.

I’m 45 mins into the mash right now. I think I’ll bitter it with the magnum and use hallertau tradition for the 20 min.

I find that you get wonderful flavors from noble hops if they are simply boiled for a full 60 minutes. There’s no need to “waste” them by waiting until the last 0-20 minutes of the boil. This goes not just for dunkel but all noble-hopped styles.

Dave, what would be your response to doing a single FWH addition to traditional 60 min.?

Short answer: That should work great.

Long answer: Personally I don’t believe FWH offers any advantage at all as compared to a regular 60-minute addition, as some experiments by others have shown (I haven’t run my own experiments yet). However it also won’t hurt anything if you do want to stick with FWH. It’s almost identical based on the experimental results of some others. Denny wouldn’t agree, but others would. As I see it, FWH is one of those old brewers’ tales that’s still kind of up in the air as to whether it’s actually different or better than regular boiling additions.