Dec 30, 2008

Rotkapchen Lager

Rotkapchen Lager
O.G. = 1.066
45 IBU
6.7% ABV
Current hop shortages have made recipe planning a little difficult. I was intending on brewing up a batch of Bohemian Pilsener today, but was unable to procure the appropriate hops to do so. My chest freezer is empty now, so that means I have to make some sort of lager to take advantage of the space. I have quite a bit of Mt. Hood hops, so this recipe was made to use those hops in a lager of some sort. The red, which will result from the dash of Carafa, was an afterthought, but makes for a good name.

Malt Bill:

10 lbs Pilsener Malt
2 lbs Munich
.5 lb Carahell
.5 lb Carapils
2 oz Carafa III

Hops:

1 oz US Northern Brewer (7.4% AA) 90 minutes
1 oz Mt. Hood (6% AA) 15 minutes
1 0z Mt. Hood (6% AA) 5 minuites
1 oz Mt. Hood (6% AA) Dry into secondary

Wyeast Urquell 2001 Yeast


I am using a two step mash with a 30 minute rest at 144 degrees and then an hour at 156. Sparging at 170 degrees should take about 55 minutes:


Brewday notes:
Infusion strike went well, and I ended up right at 144 after fifteen minutes / Mash was a little longer +5 minutes or so because I had to wait for sparge water to heat up / After sparging, I am coming up about a half gallon short. I am heating some more water up to 170 to sparge a little more. I need to learn to make more sparge water than I need -- either that or make my original infusion the same 1.3 quarts per gallon that I use with single step mashes /O.G. read at 1.066, up from the expected 1.062 -- could be because it boiled down to about five gallons instead of the 5.5 that are on my sheet.

1.4.09 -- checked gravity and it was down near 1.017. Started diacetyl rest.
1.10.09 -- Racked into secondary yesterday and added one ounce of Mt Hood. Turned the temperature down around 43, and then down to around 37 today. I will eventually get it as low as 34. I heard to turn the temp down slowly. I tasted my sample (which measured 1.015), and the hop flavor is very nice. Also, I had an enormous amount of trub in this one, so I was only able to collect about 4.5 gallons, if that.
2.20.09-- Transferred into the keg and turned on the gas.
3.2.09 -- This one is a hit. It is very crisp, and the Mt. Hood additions make for some nice flavor and aroma. The alcohol content is quite sneaky, though. This will not last long, but I am sure I will make this one again.
2.28.09 -- Thing is that this is my normal Pilsener recipe with just a small color addition and different hops. This is a good way to become familiar with the Mt. Hood hops.

1 comment:

Mone said...

If Rotkäpchen trinks enough beer she wont be afraif of the wolf ;)

Beer - a piece vital force!

Happy New Year to you!