Marzen/Festbier compromise

[Sandy Feet]

Drinking what I have on hand right now, but I am toying with a idea for the holidays. I want to make something between a Marzen and a Festbier. I want some malty, but I don't want overkill malty. Do any of y'all have some percentages that you like to use for Vienna, Pils, and Munich I to put me in middle somewhere? Also, have any of y'all tried using Saaz for that style?

 

[Josh Hughes]

Festbier is all pilsner with enough Munich to hit 5 srm

Marzen I like 50/50 Vienna/dark Munich with maybe 3-5% caramunich.

not used saaz but not sure why it wouldn’t work well. Most of the hopping is at the front with little aroma anyway

 

[Josh Hughes]

Should have read better….. A good compromise would be be 50/50 pils and Munich

 

[Zefram]

How about equal parts Pilsner, Vienna, and light Munich?

 

[dmtaylor]

Roughly I would aim for about 40% Pils, 40% Vienna, and 20% Munich, something around there for a nice in-between. Maybe even 50% Pils and slightly less of the others. Saaz is a good hop but I reserve that one for Czech styles. For Bavarian style, stick with real German hops, any will do but Mittelfruh or Tradition are awesome.

 

[Sandy Feet]

Thanks. The recipes online are all over the place. My pumpkin base is 1/3 of each, but I have always used spice in that version. I have never done the combo without spice, and I have never tried with a lager yeast.
We have a local brewery that turns all the taps over to all pumpkin/festbiers one Saturday in October. I really enjoyed some of the lighter styles last year and was trying to incorporate some of that into a recipe without losing too much maltiness.
I have something set-up to look at numbers that is 42.3 Pils, 30.8 Munich, 23.1 Vienna, and 3.8 Caramunich. I might lose the Caramunich or not, but I think that puts me close to an Oktoberfest style Marzen, but maybe a tad lighter. I'm still playing and learning.