October Fest

Beyond that, producing a good Oktoberfest is all fermentation control. Start cool at about 50°F (10°C), and hold there for the first forty-eight hours. For every day thereafter, increase your temperature by 1°F (about 0.5°C) for ten days. After it’s been in the fermentor for twelve days, it should be at a steady 60°F (15.5°C). Activity in the airlock should be low (but not absent). At that point, I let that sucker free rise to the warmest temperature I can find in my brewery. Why? To ensure that my yeast goes back and does a healthy diacetyl cleanup and scrounges up all remaining fermentable sugars. I give the beer an additional nine days (now we’re at three weeks in the fermentor), then cold-crash to near-freezing to begin the clearing process. What remains should be a fully attenuated, malt-complex, fairly bitter, drinkable dry beer. All it needs now is carbonation and time.