Altbier recipes

I made a sticke alt wit a grist that was 66% pils, 30% dark Munich, 3% caraMunich, and 1% carafe special for a little more color. Hopped to with 47 ibus magnum @ 60 min with late additions of Tettnang, fermented with WY 1007.

It was pretty good, although I think I might have preferred to cut the dark Munich a bit, or maybe sub a lighter Munich malt. I was experimented and I wanted to get a sense for what the dark stuff was like. .

 

I have gotten hooked on making Altbier and I will say that a decoction is a MUST! I usually use Pils at around 75% Vienna around 10% and Caramunich around 15% and it works great.

 

Jesse, I make a Sticke Altbier every year that I think is a winner.

My grist is:

· A base malt ratio of 2/3rd Pilsner and 1/3rd Munich

· 0.5 lbs. Caramunich III

· 2 ounces dehusked Carafa II

I use German Magnum for bittering and I use Hallertau Mittelfruh for flavor/aroma hops.

My preferred yeast is Wyeast German Ale yeast (1007).

Good luck with your Alt!

Cheers!

 

Jesse,

My experience with 1007 is that it is a neutral yeast which completes primary fermentation fairly quickly (less than a week for a 1.050 ale).

Here is the recommended “Temperature Range: 55-68° F (13-20° C)” for 1007.

I personally ferment in the lower 60’s (e.g., 63°F) but I suspect that 1007 is pretty neutral over the temperature range. I do not do any adjustments; just ferment in the low 60’s.

My last batch had a total time in the primary of 3 weeks but that included dry hopping time: 1 week of primary fermentation and 2 weeks of dry hopping. If I hadn’t dry hopped I would have bottled after primary fermentation was completed.

I know that there are plenty of BAs who are advocates of ‘extra’ conditioning time but I personally bottle my beers when primary fermentation is complete.

Cheers!

Jack

 

One thing I will add about 1007 is be ready for some blow off. I fermented at 58 and had the most blowoff I have ever experienced. The Wyeast description does say "A true top cropping yeast".

 

Carafa is a must, I add it in the lauter tun. You can't get the color/flavor balance right without use of Carafa. The trick is to use small enough amounts to avoid chocolate notes leaking in. Two hopping additions, one at 60 and one at 30 before knockout. I prefer Spalt and or Tettnang hops. Mash in a step mash - 144F for 20-30 mins and then 156F for 30-45 mins. You want attenuation at least 80%. Aim for 4.5-4.7% ABV, this style is meant to be crisp and snappy so you dont want to bump up the ABV on this one.

Prost! Jim

 

Yeast clean up some fermentation byproducts that would otherwise cause off flavors. The cleanup tends to lag behind the fermentation. There is some overlap, but the fact remains that when there is still a lot of sugar available, the yeast are mostly doing fermentation. In addition, one of the compounds that the yeast clean up is diacetyl. Diacetyl can form during fermentation *and* after fermentation. So the extra time also allows the cleanup of late forming diacetyl.

 

“When other BA's advocate for extra conditioning time, what is their rationale?” If byproducts such as excess diacetyl and acetaldehyde exist at the end of primary fermentation then the ‘extra’ conditioning time permits the yeast to ‘process’ those compounds. Some folks refer to this as a ‘clean-up’. In my personal brewing practice, my beer is ‘done’ at the end of primary fermentation but this is a case of YMMV.

“Also, if I were looking to keep the maltiness of the beer, but lighten the color, would you recommend upping the pilsner malt and maybe dropping the dehusked Carafa, or is that crazy talk?” As Jim Busch posted I would not recommend that you nix the dehusked Carafa. Having stated my personal opinion, this is your beer so you can brew it any way you choose.

“Finally, what would you recommend for a mash temp?” I noted that Jim suggested a step mash but IMO, todays malts convert just fine via single infusion mashing. I would recommend that you just mash at 150-152°F for a minimum of 60 minutes. Either mash regime will result in a tasty Altbier.

I took note that Jim commented on: “Aim for 4.5-4.7% ABV, this style is meant to be crisp and snappy so you don’t want to bump up the ABV on this one.” That is a fair statement if you are brewing a ‘standard’ Altbier. I prefer the Sticke version; my last Sticke Alt had an ABV of 6%.

As a ‘reminder’ the BJCP style guidelines list for a ‘standard’ Northern German Altbier an OG of 1.046 – 1.054 and a FG of 1.010 – 1.015.

Cheers!

 

Are you defining end of fermentation as your beer reaching final gravity, or by your beer reaching final gravity as confirmed by two identical hydrometer readings 2-3 days apart? If it's the latter, then you already have extra cleanup time built in to your process before declaring it done.

 

I have been homebrewing for quite some time (I will be bottling my 330th batch sometime this week)). I do not perform hydrometer readings over multiple days. I bottle my beers when visible signs of fermentation are complete. I would not recommend that other homebrewers do this but I have been homebrewing long enough that I know when fermentation is complete without the need to take multiple hydrometer readings. Another instance of YMMV.

Cheers!

 

Had an altbier SMaSH a few months back that was excellant. The malt was Best Red X. Can't recall the hop but whatever.

 

Did you brew this beer? What are your impressions of Best Red X malt?

Cheers!

 

As an aside, I have seen many batches continue to bubble (outgassing) well after attenuation is finished. In fact, most of my batches do this. If you are waiting for bubbling to stop and not getting any off flavors, it may well be that your attenuation is finished a few days before you are bottling.

OTOH, depending on the someone's equipment/environment, bubbling may stop before attenuation is complete.

 

nope. Everyone was really impressed with the malt. seemed like super vienna but i need to keep trying it. Like Best says, you can really go 100% with it. On friday I'm brewing a Session IPA with 100% Red X malt.

 

Please report back with your impressions of using Red X malt. I am thinking that this malt at 100% of the grist would make an awesome Red/Amber Ale.

Cheers!

 

I think you are not getting that much flavor from the carafa and you could lose it and your beer would not suffer much, except in appearance. I never had an authentic Dussseldorf alt, but it seems like commercial and homebrew American versions do go for an amber to brown ale color. How to increase the maltiness depends on what you mean by maltiness. Some think sweet = malty. If you are in this camp, use more caramunich or other crystal malt. Some think toasty = malty. If this is what you have in mind, either more munich or a bit of melanoiden or aromatic malt.