October Fest (all grain 10 gallon)

October is here and I hope you all are enjoying your October Fest beers. My wife and I both look forward to this time of year. We brew our October Fest beer, make beer brats, and enjoy some German cuisine. If you don’t have a recipe of your own, you can try ours. It is my wife’s favorite and I enjoy making it for her each year. It should be started a couple months early, but I say it’s never too late to brew and drink great beer, no matter what time of the year.

October Fest 2011 - Oktoberfest/Märzen (3B)
Brewer	Steve
Date	08/14/2011

 

Batch Size	10.500 gal	Boil Size	11.750 gal
Boil Time	60.000 min	Efficiency	77%
OG	1.067	FG	1.014
ABV	6.3%	Bitterness	28.5 IBU (Tinseth)
Color	13.9 srm (Morey)	Calories (per 12 oz.)	204

Fermentables

Total grain: 25.000 lb
Name	Type	Amount	Mashed	Late	Yield	Color
American (2 Row)	Grain	13.000 lb	Yes	No	81%	2.0 srm
Munich Malt	Grain	8.750 lb	Yes	No	80%	9.0 srm
Victory Malt	Grain	16.000 oz	Yes	No	73%	25.0 srm
Caramel/Crystal Malt - 120L	Grain	4.000 oz	Yes	No	72%	120.0 srm
Caramunich Malt	Grain	2.000 lb	Yes	No	72%	56.0 srm

Hops

Name	Alpha	Amount	Use	Time	Form	IBU
Hallertau	4.5%	2.500 oz	Boil	60.000 min	Pellet	17.0
Tettnang	4%	2.000 oz	Boil	30.000 min	Pellet	8.2
Tettnang	4%	2.000 oz	Boil	10.000 min	Pellet	2.2

Misc

Name	Type	Use	Amount	Time
Irish Moss	Fining	Boil	0.500 tsp	15.000 min

Yeast

Name	Type	Form	Amount	Stage
WLP820 - Oktoberfest/Märzen Lager Yeast	Lager	Liquid	2.367 tbsp	Primary

Mash

Name	Type	Amount	Temp	Target Temp	Time
	Temperature	---	---	152.000 F	60.000 min

 

 

I first substituted German 2 row PILS with American 2 Row.

I mashed for 60 minutes at 153 degrees.

Sparge at 168 degrees for 50 minutes, collecting 12.5 gallons of wort.

Boil for 60 minutes.

Primary fermentation was 2 weeks at 65 degrees

Secondary fermentation was 3 weeks at 60 degrees

I kegged the beer 5 weeks after brew and let it sit for a month in the fridge under low pressure. I would only do this for kegging, as the clearing process is not complete after 5 weeks in the carboy. I know a lot of brewers don’t like to use the lager yeast at a higher temperature but I have not had any issues doing it this way. I don’t have a cold storage set up for my brews so I ferment them in my finished basement where it is cooler. I hope you enjoy this American style October Fest as much as we do. Prost