Ofest/Marzen No Head Retention, No lacing

Northern Brewer General
1

I’m currently serving a marzen I brewed 10/18/14. Printout from BS2 is below. I kegged it 11/3/14 and lagered at 33 until I tapped it 12/7/14. It’s been on CO2 since it was kegged and during lagering at 9psi. It draws with a nice head which dissipates rather quickly and has virtually no lacing on the glass.

It’s crystal clear, tastes great but the mouth feel could be better. Just doesn’t seem like the carbonation has hydrolyzed.

I don’t get it.

Any ideas?

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Danny Boy’s O’Festivus
Brewer: Danny
Asst Brewer:
Style: Oktoberfest/Märzen
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications

Boil Size: 7.95 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.45 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 6.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.75 gal
Measured OG: 1.062 SG
Measured FG: 1.012
Estimated Color: 10.6 SRM
Estimated IBU: 33.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 82.7 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
4 lbs 8.0 oz Munich Malt - 20L (15.0 SRM) Grain 1 40.7 %
4 lbs 8.0 oz Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 2 40.7 %
2 lbs Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 3 18.1 %
1.0 oz Carafa II (Weyermann) (415.0 SRM) Grain 4 0.5 %
1.00 oz Tradition [6.90 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 24.4 IBUs
1.00 oz German Hallertau [2.70 %] - Boil 60.0 mi Hop 6 8.9 IBUs
2.3 pkg Octoberfest Lager Blend (Wyeast Labs #2206 Yeast 7 -

Mash Schedule: BIAB - Danny’s
Total Grain Weight: 11 lbs 1.0 oz

Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash in Kettle Add 23.03 qt of water at 158.8 F 151.0 F 60 min
Sparge Add 12.00 qt of water at 203.9 F 168.0 F 10 min

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com

2

Ummmm…nevermind…turns out my new lager glasses were sitting on the counter after I unpacked 'em and SWMBO decided to be helpful and put them in the dishwasher… :oops:

3

Danny I was going to ask about the glasses but I didn’t want to offend you. Glad you got it worked out… with both the glasses and swmbo. :wink:

4

You woulda had to work harder than that to offend me brother! :lol:

5

You woulda had to work harder than that to offend me brother! :lol: [/quote]

A challenge? :wink:

6

You woulda had to work harder than that to offend me brother! :lol: [/quote]

A challenge? :wink: [/quote]
haha yea…take yer best shot kid!

7

Danny do you have any experiences with WY 2487/WLP 833. Was thinking of doing a Mai-bock soon.

8

No I’ve only brewed a few lagers. Used 2001 Urquell lager, 2206 Bavarian lager and 2633 Oktoberfest.

9

I’ve used those too and really liked them on pils and o’fest. I’ve also heard a few responses on the Hela-Bock yeast so I’m going to give it a whirl soon.

10

Yea the Ofest turned out great both times. Schwarzbier with 2206 was a bit too roasty but no fault to the yeast. Munich Dunkel and Vienna with 2206 are lagering. The Pils has been lagering the longest, 5 weeks now, and I can’t wait to taste. Hoping to brew on New Years Day, maybe I’ll tap it after I get that day’s brew in the fermenter.

11

For what it’s worth, commercial examples from Germany don’t tend to have much, if any, lacing or head retention. Perhaps it’s because they aren’t fresh or something. I was all my glasses in the dishwasher, but I’m starting to think that maybe I shouldn’t. I’ve stopped using Jetdry, but I guess if I wash my beer glasses by hand, I could go back to using Jetdry for the rest of my dishes.