Late Lager
So, another brew session is in the books. We made our annual Oktoberfest Lager on Sunday, but this year, we're going to be at quite a loss as to what to call it.
Normally, we call it by it's traditional style name, Oktoberfest Marzen. Marzen implying that, per Bavarian tradition, it is made in March. For the first time though, we had to make it in early April this year. Oktoberfest Aprilen just doesn't have the same ring to it.
As last year's brew was fantastic, we only made a very, very small change to the recipe. Last year featured 6lbs of munich malt, 5lbs of pale, and 1lb of Belgian aromatic. This year we simply switched the ratios of Munich and Pale, to get the color just a touch lighter. Mash efficiencey was an amazing 81%, and we pitched a 1-quart yeast starter, which should help assure the beer has a full fermentation.
Procedure wise, Bert and I are really getting good at decoctions and hitting our strike temps. Our low-temp rest was off by a mere 1 degree (138' vs a target of 137') and our saccarafication rest was exact down to the tenth of a degree, at a perfect 158'F.
Hops were Willamette and Perle. 21 IBUs, slightly more than last year, but still in the middle of the style guidelines.
As always, everybody is free to come try it. All you have to do is show up at Smuggler's Den Campground the Friday before Oktoberfest this coming fall!
The rest of my weekend, going in reverse order, was also enjoyable. On Saturday night I put my summer tires and alloys back on, and it was nice to be reminded that yes, my steering wheel is connected to my front wheels, and yes, my car does actually like to go around corners. You'd never know with my snow tires on.
On Saturday I went out and had lunch with Martha and a few of her friends, at the Green Elephant. Afterwards, the lot of us went to a wine tastin gat LeRoux Kitchen, which was cool. They seem like a good bunch of people to hang out with.
On Friday night I joined Martha and her dine-around group at Bangkok Thai. The food was good, and one of the guys there was a part-time professional magician, who did some stunning card tricks for us. I'm still scratching my head actually...it's one thing to see them on TV, where you can assume they're using trick decks, it's quite another when you get to verify in person that it's a real deck.
Things are going well enough with us that I've decided to invite her to accompany me and my friends to Montreal for the Mondial de la Biere 2009. She's coming. Should be a ridiculously fun time. It always is.
We also plan to sign up for Ballroom dancing lessons at Maine Ballroom, for either the May or June session. She has class on Monday until 6:50 until early May, making it kind of difficult until then, but I'm thrilled to have a lesson partner!
Tonight, I'm off to the Chrism Mass at Cathedral and then to Mike's for the first meeting of his new reading group. I'm looking forward to both.
Normally, we call it by it's traditional style name, Oktoberfest Marzen. Marzen implying that, per Bavarian tradition, it is made in March. For the first time though, we had to make it in early April this year. Oktoberfest Aprilen just doesn't have the same ring to it.
As last year's brew was fantastic, we only made a very, very small change to the recipe. Last year featured 6lbs of munich malt, 5lbs of pale, and 1lb of Belgian aromatic. This year we simply switched the ratios of Munich and Pale, to get the color just a touch lighter. Mash efficiencey was an amazing 81%, and we pitched a 1-quart yeast starter, which should help assure the beer has a full fermentation.
Procedure wise, Bert and I are really getting good at decoctions and hitting our strike temps. Our low-temp rest was off by a mere 1 degree (138' vs a target of 137') and our saccarafication rest was exact down to the tenth of a degree, at a perfect 158'F.
Hops were Willamette and Perle. 21 IBUs, slightly more than last year, but still in the middle of the style guidelines.
As always, everybody is free to come try it. All you have to do is show up at Smuggler's Den Campground the Friday before Oktoberfest this coming fall!
The rest of my weekend, going in reverse order, was also enjoyable. On Saturday night I put my summer tires and alloys back on, and it was nice to be reminded that yes, my steering wheel is connected to my front wheels, and yes, my car does actually like to go around corners. You'd never know with my snow tires on.
On Saturday I went out and had lunch with Martha and a few of her friends, at the Green Elephant. Afterwards, the lot of us went to a wine tastin gat LeRoux Kitchen, which was cool. They seem like a good bunch of people to hang out with.
On Friday night I joined Martha and her dine-around group at Bangkok Thai. The food was good, and one of the guys there was a part-time professional magician, who did some stunning card tricks for us. I'm still scratching my head actually...it's one thing to see them on TV, where you can assume they're using trick decks, it's quite another when you get to verify in person that it's a real deck.
Things are going well enough with us that I've decided to invite her to accompany me and my friends to Montreal for the Mondial de la Biere 2009. She's coming. Should be a ridiculously fun time. It always is.
We also plan to sign up for Ballroom dancing lessons at Maine Ballroom, for either the May or June session. She has class on Monday until 6:50 until early May, making it kind of difficult until then, but I'm thrilled to have a lesson partner!
Tonight, I'm off to the Chrism Mass at Cathedral and then to Mike's for the first meeting of his new reading group. I'm looking forward to both.