German Octoberfest

[CrealCritter]

Brewing up a German October Fest tomorrow, supposed to rain, so a good day for brewing. I figured I might as well, before it gets to warm in the basement to brew lager.

Mini mash ingredients, lots of fermentables and flavors in this brewers best kit.

 

[CrealCritter]

Wolfgang Van Wortenhauser our happy little German Octoberfest Lager is alive and krausening. I love it when a old processes comes together like this. Both thumbs up for authentic tried and true German brewing traditions.

 

[CrealCritter]

Day 1 - Wolfgang Van Wortenhauser our little Octoberfest, has started eating. See bubbles in the gallon bucket of sanitizer, via the blow off tube . This is a very old German lager yeast strain, which is a bottom feeder. Ale yeasts are top feeders.

The wort looks so rich and tasty already.

Thick layer of yeast on the bottom. Normally with ale yeast this would be inactive, dead yeast, proteins and other things unfermentable. But with lager yeast, the bottom is where the action occurs. The yeast cake is thick for just one day and it looks a lot like butter doesn't it? Brewing beer is so interesting...

 

[CrealCritter]

Day 5 - still chugging along... Good things come to those that wait.

Bottom of the carboy

 

[CrealCritter]

You do so many interesting things.

I'm just easily amused, motivated by curiosity.

 

[CrealCritter]

That looks like a really nice dark beer..

Yeah... A sniff of the air lock smells like spiced rum but what I'm smelling is both the dark Cara Munich German malt and the floral herbal scent of the Hallertauer Tradition German hops.

I can't get to happy just yet... This Octoberfest is going to spend 6 to 8 weeks lagering @ 35 to 40 degrees before I even bottle it.

 

[CrealCritter]

Day 14 - racked into secondary 5 gallon carboy for the long lager phase. Starting temp 55 degrees, then drop the temperature 2 to 3 degrees every day until 35 to 40 degrees. Then keep it at 35 ~ 40 degrees for a minimum of 4 weeks. Then raise the temperature 2 to 3 degrees everyday until 55 is reached. Then you can bottle it. This is as close as I can get to simulating a cave over a German winter, which is how the Germans originally made lagers. I plan on lagering at 35 degrees for 7 to 8 weeks. This is a Octoberfest after all.

I did sneak sneak a little bit during racking, it was really good This will be the last post with pictures until bottling, see ya in about 3 months.

Forgot to add... I'm washing this lager yeast. Just another fancy phrase for saving yeast to reuse for the next batch of lager style beer. Syphon beer off the yeast bed in the primary. Add about 1 quart water, mix water in the carboy and pour into a sterile container. After a day or so there should be three separations, the bottom is trub (you don't want this) the middle is active yeast (this is what you want) the top is beer and water (you don't want this either).

After about 2 hours the three separations are getting more noticeable in the 1/2 gallon canning jar. Should be real distinct after a day or so. I'll syphon off the middle and store in a sterile jar in the refrigerator until next lager brew. Of course sanitation is the most important part of all of this.

 

[CrealCritter]

This is so interesting. I'm learning loads here, by reading these threads If I get to a point in future where I may decide to brew my own, I'll know where to come for tips!

My daughter sent me this picture said it reminded her of me when I brew.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I love Octoberfest!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

And, I love beer! I guess it's genetic...I have a strong German heritage.