Oktoberfest?

[Thomas]

Untitled Recipe
3-B Oktoberfest/Märzen
Author: Thomas
Date: 11-11-15



Size: 5.25 gal
Efficiency: 75.0%
Attenuation: 75.0%
Calories: 193.4 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.058 (1.050 - 1.057)
|==========================#=====|
Terminal Gravity: 1.015 (1.012 - 1.016)
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Color: 11.7 (7.0 - 14.0)
|==================#=============|
Alcohol: 5.71% (4.8% - 5.7%)
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Bitterness: 29.9 (20.0 - 28.0)
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Ingredients:
4.0 lb Pilsner Malt (Organic)
3.25 lb Vienna Malt
4.0 lb Munich Malt Type 1 (Organic)
0.50 lb Caramunich® TYPE II
0.25 lb Cara-Pils® Malt
1.75 oz Hallertau (3.9%) - added during boil, boiled 60.0 min
1 oz Hallertau (3.9%) - added during boil, boiled 10.0 min
1.0 ea WYeast 2565 Kolsch

Schedule:
Ambient Air: 70.0 °F
Source Water: 60.0 °F
Elevation: 0.0 m

00:03:00 Beta mash - Liquor: 3.0 gal; Strike: 153.82 °F; Target: 140 °F
00:33:00 Beta mash rest - Rest: 30.0 min; Final: 140.0 °F
00:34:00 Alpha mash - Water: 1.96 gal; Temperature: 168.2 °F; Target: 150 °F
01:04:00 Alpha mash rest - Rest: 30 min; Final: 150.0 °F
01:24:00 Batch sparge - First runnings: 0.0 gal sparge @ 168.0 °F, 5 min; Sparge : 3.14 gal sparge @ 205.0 °F, 15.0 min; Total Runoff: 6.86 gal

Results generated by BeerTools Pro 1.5.12

Once again, this was made using the Caramunich I got from Dave, so Kyle may want to be cautious about drinking this beer. Im not trying to keep you from drinking my beers Kyle I swear! haha

[brew]

Been thinking about an Oktoberfest - the Cara-pils doesn't really add flavor right? Just smoothes it out and provides head retention?

[Richard]

I think Cara-anything adds a caramel note, but Cara-pils is the lightest of these.

See: http://www.brew365.com/malt_carapils.php

a malt that, while adding the good effects of the dextrins to your beer (mouthfeel, head retention), does not add much else in the way of color, flavor, or fermentables.

He goes on to say

Use in the mash is generally up to 5% of the total grain bill. I do not know what more than that would do, personally, but it just seems like a generally bad idea to use more.

Now I've used a pound of Cara-foam in a beer (Punched in the Eye) which consituted just over 5%, and it definitely added a weird caramel flavour alongside what I'd expect from the 1lb of Caramunich that went in there. Cara-foam and Cara-pils are very similar in terms of what they contribute (http://www.barleynvine.com/3110.html), but the latter needs to be mashed where the former does not.(c.f. previous two links). Since you're AG that distinction probably doesn't matter