One last new style before I brew some old familiar recipes to finish out the competition year strong and get one last test run in before NHC.  I’ve wanted to brew a Festbier for a while since it is basically a Helles on steroids.  I tried the Sierra Nevada one and really like it so hopefully I can end up in the same ballpark.  I couldn’t find any good Festbier recipes so I just winged this based on the BJCP description.  Maybe I need to go to Oktoberfest to double check how I did 🙂

Recipe Info

Recipe: festbier 3v 1
Style: Festbier 4B BJCP 2015
Date: 06-13-2017

	Recipe	Guideline Min	Guideline Max
OG	1.056	1.054	1.057
FG	1.012	1.010	1.012
Color	4.6	4.0	7.0
ABV	5.8	5.8	6.3
IBU	22.0	18.0	25.0

Brewery Info

Efficiency: 71 %
Attenuation: 78 %

Mash Info

Weight: 15.5 Lbs
Thickness: 1.25 Qt per Lb
Deadspace: 2.0 G
Strikewater: 6.84 G
Volume: 8.08 G
Temp: 146.0 F

Boil Info

Kettle Gravity: 1.047
Predicted Mash Run-off: 5.45 G
Target Starting Boil Volume: 8.5 G
Boil Duration: 60 min
Evaporation Rate: 1.5 G per Hour
Final Boil Volume: 7.0 G

Fermentables

Weight	% by Weight	Name	Yield	SRM
12.000 Lb	77.0 %	Pilsen (BestMälz)	78.3	1.5
2.500 Lb	16.0 %	Vienna (BestMälz)	76.1	4.1
1.000 Lb	6.0 %	Munich (BestMälz)	76.1	7.6

Hops

Weight	Name	AAU	Time	Use	IBUs
0.5 Oz	magnum	13.3	60 mins	Boil	13.0
1.0 Oz	tettnang	3.7	20 mins	Boil	9.0

Yeast

Amount	Name
2.000 units	German Lager White Labs WLP830

Misc

Amount	Name	Time	Use
1.000 tablet	Whirlfloc Tablet	15 mins	Boil
0.500 tsp	Yeast Nutrient (Wyeast)	10 mins	Boil

Water

Predicted Mash Ph: 5.55

	Ca	Mg	Na	Cl	So	Bicarbonate
Water	7	3	21	30	24	30
Mash	97	3	21	137	93	30
Sparge	103	3	21	145	98	30
Final	170	5	36	241	163	51
Target	75	0	0	0	0	0

Mash Water

Total Water Treated: 7.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 7.000 G

Mash Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 3.3 g
Calcium Chloride: 5.9 g
Lactic Acid: 1.0 ml @ 88.000 %

Sparge Water

Leftover Mash Water Used: Yes
Total Water Treated: 5.000 G
Percent RO / Distlled: 0 %
Water Used: 5.000 G

Sparge Water Adjustments

Gypsum: 2.5 g\
Calcium Chloride: 4.5 g

Notes

148f 30 mins
158f 30 mins
168f 10 mins
Pitch at 48f raise over 24 hrs to 50 and hold through 2 weeks. 2 day raise to 60 and hold through 3 weeks.
Lager for 4 weeks.

7/3/17 1L 100g DME starter w. (2) WLP530.  i’m trying two pouches based on a recommendation from kelsey mcnair in this amazing presentation.
7/5/17 normal 3V brewday
7/7/17 1/2″ kreusen slow steady bubbling
7/8/17 ”
7/11-14/17 ”
7/15/17 ~2 sec.  kreusen dropping
7/16-17/17 ~3 sec
7/21/17 up to d-rest.  slow steady bubbling
7/22/17 ~4 sec
7/23-24/17 ~5 sec
7/25/17 ~6 sec
7/26/17 racked to keg.  FG 1.016 which is a bit high
tastes fantastic!  a little green.  very low booze.  no other off flavors.
nice hop character.  clarity OK but not great.  very promising.
8/23/17 check clarity.  not crystal clear to added gelatin.
8/25/17 moved to keezer and put on 30psi for 24 hrs then down to 10psi to target 2.5 vol.
comparison to sierra nevada oktoberfest festbier
aroma: sn is low grainy sweet and bready.  low floral and herbal hops.  very clean.  mine is low grainy sweet.  low herbal hop.  similar but sn is more bready and bit more hop aroma.
appearance: sn is deep gold bordering on copper.  crystal clear.  low head and good retention.  mine is gold with excellent clarity.  nice head and excellent retention.  sn is considerably darker.
flavor.  sn solid bready and grainy edge.  a bit of sulfur.  herbal hop flavor is low.  mine is malty sweet w/ bready and grainy edge and low herbal hop flavor and med-low bitterness.
mouthfeel:  sn is solid med carb 2.5-2.6 vol med body with dry finish.  mine is med carb.  2.4ish.  med body and dry finish but a hair sweeter.
overall: both really nice beers.  sn seems closer to a vienna then a festbier.  darker w/ more bready notes and a bit higher hop character.  per bjcp i think mine is a better example of the style.