Blending Overly Malty O-Fest?

[Dornbox]

After 2 months in the cellar, I tasted my Oktoberfest (12.5 gallons / 2.5 Corney Kegs) this weekend and I used a bit too much specialty grains in my recipe... I think. I was shooting for more of a Dunkle style but still wanted a crispier drinker. Anyway, I've never lagered such a beast for 6-7 months but I'm assuming this beer could get maltier over time but I really have no idea. With time on my side before Ludwig's Anniversary, I was thinking about brewing another batch of a paler O fest (thinking Paulaner ) or under hopped Pilsner base fermented with a Marzen Yeast and then blending or cutting my original O fest with 25 - 50% of the new. Crazy, or should I let it ride?

I know I likely would not drink very much as it currently sits and I hate pawing off beers that I'm not personally proud of so if it won't get crispier with time the odds are good that I would feed my lawn with it. Any sage advice from brewers more versed with lagering o fest or blending in similar circumstances would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

For reference:

My FG was / is 1.013

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1255594/rasputitsa-fest

 

[Donoroto]

I have relatively little experience with Oktoberfest lagers, but blending is not a completely off-the-wall idea. If you keg, then a completely oxygen – free transfer into a third keg is possible, then you just add the contents of the second keg to the first keg.

 

[Dornbox]

I have relatively little experience with Oktoberfest lagers, but blending is not a completely off-the-wall idea. If you keg, then a completely oxygen – free transfer into a third keg is possible, then you just add the contents of the second keg to the first keg.

Yeah. I go from spunding in a UNI to keg... sometimes to another keg, so physically blending via closed transfers would be easy. Thanks!

 

[dmtaylor]

Blending is a great idea. Try blending in the glass for now to make sure it improves the flavor enough for you. Then go for it.

 

[Megary]

I've never blended beer before, but I agree that it can be a way to fix beers that didn't turn out quite right. (From your recipe link, I'll lay the blame squarely on the 7.5% of melanoidin, about 7% more than I'd be comfortable using).

However, I think a lot of R&D would be needed in coming up with the ideal beer to brew in order to fix the O-Fest. If you already had another potential partner for the O-Fest at the ready, I would say definitely try and blend them. But I don't think I'd brew another beer, hoping to hit some perfect blending match. It could work, but you could very possibly end up with two beers that you aren't proud of, and a lot of wasted time.

Certainly wait for someone with more experience to chime in, but if it were me, I'd cut my losses on the first batch and if you're going to brew again anyway, just brew another O-Fest.

Good luck!

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Blending in an American Lager works for a lot of beers that ended up to bitter or big or whatever. I blend it with an IPA to get a nice pale ale. If you had a Dunkel type beer blending it with a lighter beer may help. The recipe show 7.5% melanoidin malt, that's a lot. I stopped using it because even at 3-4% the beers tasted weird to me. I now use 3-4% aromatic when I want to bump up the malt, doesn't add a weird malt character to the beer.

 

[Dornbox]

@Megary @HighVoltageMan! Damn! I never noticed that. The last O fest I brewed was 6.5 gallons and I used 8oz of melanoidin. During late night math I wonder if I doubled the OZ for this 13 gallon batch and then doubled it again when converting to lbs. Thanks for pointing that out. Maybe the recipe isn't crap after all. Maybe it's just the Melanoidin. That was a lot of yeast too but I did dump a few pints of the slurry and have it in my fridge. Maybe I can revive enough of the yeast for a remake without melanoidin. I can just pull a small decoction to replace what I was using for anyway. Anyway, thanks for pointing that out! I was really hopeful the recipe was a keeper. Maybe it still is once I adjust or remove the melanoidin.