Deciding on Fall beer style

[J A]

I love my Alt. I did play around with something close to a Festbier last year. I have done a Pumpkin Ale. I have done a Sweet Potato Brown. I like my Oatmeal Porter recipe, and I keep it in the 4s and 5s.
I had done some research before about doing a Dark Pre-Pro. I was wrong in translating the style, but I did come up with something that I very much liked. I called it "Mutt" because it was kind of a mix of styles, and I am going to make it next. It is basically my Porter recipe, but I substitute Flaked Corn for Flaked Oats. I substitute 34/70 yeast for WLP004, I do a 2 Row/6Row mix instead of Maris Otter, and I substitute Crystal hops for Fuggle.
One of the breweries that I frequent does a Kentucky Common that they call a "Dark Cream Ale". That would also be wonderful for the fall.

Might have to get you to share that Oatmeal Porter recipe...that sounds pretty good!

 

[Sandy Feet]

I had to look up the last version, and it may seem a little odd because flaked shit does not attenuate for me, so I compensate for it:
OG 1.060 FG 1.020
ABV 5.3% 61% Efficiency
63% Maris Otter, 13% Munich, 9.3% Flaked Oats, 7.4% Chocolate 350, 3.7% White Wheat, 3.7% Crystal 120.
WLP004 Pure Pitch yeast.
2 Oz Fuggle @ 60 (4.0Alpha) 1/2 oz EKG (4.5 Alpha) @ 30 - 32IBUs
Single Infusion @ 154 for 70 minutes
60 Minute Boil
Ferment in the 67-68 F Range
I also use spring water in BIAB.

 

[J A]

I had to look up the last version, and it may seem a little odd because flaked shit does not attenuate for me, so I compensate for it:
OG 1.060 FG 1.020
ABV 5.3% 61% Efficiency
63% Maris Otter, 13% Munich, 9.3% Flaked Oats, 7.4% Chocolate 350, 3.7% White Wheat, 3.7% Crystal 120.
WLP004 Pure Pitch yeast.
2 Oz Fuggle @ 60 (4.0Alpha) 1/2 oz EKG (4.5 Alpha) @ 30 - 32IBUs
Single Infusion @ 154 for 70 minutes
60 Minute Boil
Ferment in the 67-68 F Range
I also use spring water in BIAB.

Interesting...I might try something like a lower temp infusion to get a little more attenuation but I bet it's quite good at those numbers. The wheat (I assume malted) is a bit of an outlier but it can give a good strong "clean" malt flavor contribution.
I'll look at this for a little bigger dark beer when I get my dry stout running (I keep it in the <4.5% range).

 

[Sandy Feet]

I used to add a little wheat to everything when I bottled. Yes, malted. I kept it in there for that beer, and since I liked it, I didn't change anything between the versions except the alcohol level. The version I made in the 4.8% range was also good and a crowd pleaser. I just wanted to bring it up just a little bit.
It seemed like the last version had the right amount of malty, roasty, and bitterness.
Using Munich with Chocolate and some C120 is a great combination.

 

[Brew Cat]

I used to add a little wheat to everything when I bottled. Yes, malted. I kept it in there for that beer, and since I liked it, I didn't change anything between the versions except the alcohol level. The version I made in the 4.8% range was also good and a crowd pleaser. I just wanted to bring it up just a little bit.
It seemed like the last version had the right amount of malty, roasty, and bitterness.
Using Munich with Chocolate and some C120 is a great combination.

How much wheat malt can you add at bottling with out an explosion. I know it's done but at a level that wouldn't affect flavor

 

[J A]

I used to add a little wheat to everything when I bottled. Yes, malted. I kept it in there for that beer, and since I liked it, I didn't change anything between the versions except the alcohol level. The version I made in the 4.8% range was also good and a crowd pleaser. I just wanted to bring it up just a little bit.
It seemed like the last version had the right amount of malty, roasty, and bitterness.
Using Munich with Chocolate and some C120 is a great combination.

I tend to use the similar malts for dark beers. Munich goes into anything that's not a blond, helles, pilsner or cream ale. I use both C60 and C120 in combination when the beer needs to be more malty than roasty. I like using Pale Chocolate (220L) because I can build up color with more chocolate flavor notes and less bitter roast flavor. I usually throw in a pinch of Roasted Barley for that deep, dark, bitter roast flavor in beers where it's appropriate. I feel like it's easier to control that way.

 

[Brew Cat]

No Victory?

 

[J A]

No Victory?

I use 5 to 10 percent Victory in most recipes that aren't lager-like. I don't use it for color in darker beers but in amber beers it can add a nice layer of caramel color. I think the flavor gets lost in really roasty beers but anything up to around 15-20 SRM, I like the nutty, toasty flavor.

 

[Brew Cat]

I use 5 to 10 percent Victory in most recipes that aren't lager-like. I don't use it for color in darker beers but in amber beers it can add a nice layer of caramel color. I think the flavor gets lost in really roasty beers but anything up to around 15-20 SRM, I like the nutty, toasty flavor.

I find it does bring out the flavor

 

[Donoroto]

i love german styles so i currently have on a Dunkel(that has rye), Schwarzbier, fest bier, and essentially a helles/pils bastard golden lager. just brewed an oyster stout

Think the rednecks would buy a hefeweitzen? Needs special yeast, but fairly German, an old-school hazy. Just don’t let them serve it with fruit.

 

[J A]

Think the rednecks would buy a hefeweitzen? Needs special yeast, but fairly German, an old-school hazy. Just don’t let them serve it with fruit.

There are a couple of popular hefe beers around here. One is from one of the original area craft brewers that's been around for years and one is from a local German-style brewery. One or the other is on tap at probably half the places that feature any decent variety of beers. They seem to go pretty well year-round.

 

[Brew Cat]

There are a couple of popular hefe beers around here. One is from one of the original area craft brewers that's been around for years and one is from a local German-style brewery. One or the other is on tap at probably half the places that feature any decent variety of beers. They seem to go pretty well year-round.

It's a very approachable style

 

[J A]

I'm always tempted to have a hefe or Belgian wit on tap but if it's just the immediate household, it won't get used up very quickly. If I'm having a party, it's definitely in the mix and usually gets hit pretty hard.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I remember when Guinness and Tucher were about the only craft beer you could get. Tucher gave me a great appreciation for a Hefe at an early age. I'm not as crazy about Wits. I love Belgian beer, but if I'm drinking wheat, I want the German yeast unless it is a shitload of wheat with a Saison yeast.

 

[J A]

I remember when Guinness and Tucher were about the only craft beer you could get. Tucher gave me a great appreciation for a Hefe at an early age. I'm not as crazy about Wits. I love Belgian beer, but if I'm drinking wheat, I want the German yeast unless it is a shitload of wheat with a Saison yeast.

Before there was any American craft beer there were imports!
I remember in the mid-80s when the beer market was going through big changes. I was in Chicago then and there were 2 kinds of places...the basic bar with a few different national brands on tap and maybe a regional lager or two and the Yuppie-leaning spot with an impressive list of imports, almost exclusively from UK or Germany.
A favorite hang was a place that had quite a nice selection of German imports and I spent many an evening in the company of Hacker-Pshorr, Spaten, Paulaner and others. Hefeweizen and dunkel/bock styles were in heavy rotation. I'll still reflexively order a hefeweizen when visiting Chicago if I see that that Paulaner tap handle sticking up behind the bar.

 

[Sandy Feet]

I got caught up with the laws changing the drinking age, so I couldn't legally drink until very late in the 80s. I do remember a place in Altamonte Springs north of Orlando that I believe had close to 100 beers on tap. I think you got your picture taken or something like that when you had all of them.
I couldn't legally drink earlier, but back then, if you weren't being an asshole, you could sneak a keg on the beach and have a picnic

 

[Sandy Feet]

Didn't see Brew Cat's comment yesterday. I used to add wheat to everything for head retention when I bottled. It isn't as necessary with the keg. It was in the recipe. Not for carbonation. I carbonated with corn sugar back then.
You wouldn't want to do that for a lager, but until I got the keg, I didn't want to do a lager. That keg opened up entirely new worlds for me.
In the overall giving a shit, I still don't care as much about clarity in a lager, but it would be nice without adding any chemicals.

 

[Brew Cat]

Didn't see Brew Cat's comment yesterday. I used to add wheat to everything for head retention when I bottled. It isn't as necessary with the keg. It was in the recipe. Not for carbonation. I carbonated with corn sugar back then.
You wouldn't want to do that for a lager, but until I got the keg, I didn't want to do a lager. That keg opened up entirely new worlds for me.
In the overall giving a shit, I still don't care as much about clarity in a lager, but it would be nice without adding any chemicals.

I would do that as well in my German styles. Not enough really to keep the beer from being clear
I think the wheat beer yeast is more involved staying in suspension. Case in point American Wheat beer is extremely clear usually

 

[Bigbre04]

Think the rednecks would buy a hefeweitzen? Needs special yeast, but fairly German, an old-school hazy. Just don’t let them serve it with fruit.

they would probably, but i refuse to make those styles because they are never as good for the customer as they are fresh off the tank.

I made a very good belgian wit for years in a previous life, we shipped the kegs upside down. that beer was so damn good off the tanks and in the draft room, but once it sat at the distributor and at the bars the haze would fall out and it would crystal clear. just not the same beer when its clear.

plus my stupid system would be a huge pain in the ass if i tried for that much wheat/oats.

Crashing my "using up grain belgian single" right now. it is gonna be a fucking hit. 5.9% 84% attenuation. dry! started at 12.85p and is down to 2.0p...in 5 days...

 

[Sandy Feet]

Maybe a single and 9 tenths at that level