Bavarian Marzen #1

                                   Bohemian Marzen #1<br />
                                         <br />
                        (from a recipe in &quot;Brewing Classic Styles&quot;)<br />
                                        <br />

                                       7.5 Gallons<br />
                                                <br />

Boiled wort on 01/01/19


Followed 10 gallon recipe, except divided everything by 80% - for 8 gallons

Boiled for about 30 minutes, then added first hops

All hops boiled for an extra 10-15 minutes, especially the first group
Last hop bag boiled about 25 minutes, instead of 15 minutes.
All hops left in wort, while cooling. Removed and squeezed at removal time, to get all the malt
out of them, as well as hop flavour.

RECIPE:

1.6 lbs Dextrin Malt grain
14.0 Lbs extra light malt syrup
9 oz. Czech Saaz (fresh) Hops
1 package IMPERIAL "Harvest" Lager yeast
Used bottled spring water from Walmart. (Purchased 8 gallons)

• Heated water slowly, with Dextrin malted barley in the water, over the course of a few hours.
  Stayed at 160-163 F. for 1 hour. Then the temp was increased, and when wort reached low boil, malt extract was added (14.0 Lbs Steinbarts Bulk LME malt extract syrup).
  Then it was brought to boil for about 30 minutes. Then the first hops were added, then after 30 more minutes, the 2nd hop bag was added. Then, 20 min later, the third hop bag. Then, 10 minutes later, the heat was turned off, and the last hop bag was added.
  
  Total boiling time - 90 minutes.
  Total hop time - 60 minutes.
  The wort was placed in a bath of cold water, still in the wort kettle, and left to cool to 50 degrees.
  Then 5 more gallons of refrigerated spring water was added, and the yeast was added and the wort stirred well.
  The lid was placed and sealed on the primary fermenter, and the airlock was sterilized, rinsed, filled half
  full of tap water and put into place.
  
  During fermentation, the temp was kept as low as possible by changing out the bath water at least 2, if not
  3 times per day, to keep it as close to 50 F. and steady. The water would come out of the tap at 49-50 F.
  even in a cool room with the window open, the bath temp would rise to 54-55 F within a half a day.
  
  
  
  LOGS
  
  01/01/19: Boiled malt, hops, and added to primary 8 gallon container by around 5 PM.
  By 7 PM, after adding cooled water, temp was around 49 F, so liquid yeast was added.
  
  01/02/19: Fermenation started within 12-16 hours time.
  Foaming had started within 36 hours.
  
  01/03/19: Within 48 hours, wort foam is entering into the airlock.
  
  01/05/19: Most of the head of the wort has fallen off. Then re-sterilized airlock & components,
  and added a minimal amount of tap water to air lock.
  
  01/08/19: Airlock, with the very minimum amount of water in it, shows a burp of air every 6-7 seconds.
  Fermentation is still quite active. This was at 12:05 PM.
  
  Water temp after about 8-10 hours, is around 53 F on average.
  Water is replaced every 12 hours, with water at 49.5 F, to keep the wort as cool as possible.
  This batch has more sugar content and malt solids to ferment (per gallon) than any beer I have made
  before.
  
  01/09/19: At 7 AM - Airlock piston moving about every 7-8 seconds
  
  01/10/19: At 7 AM - Airlock piston moving about every 7-8 seconds
  
  01/11/19: At 7 AM, water was 55 F. Drained water and replaced water with 50.5 F. Water - Airlock piston is
  still moving about every 8-9 seconds
  
  01/12/19: It got near freezing outside last night. At 9 AM, bathroom air temp was around 50.0 F and water was changed out at 7 AM and at 7:30 AM was about 51.5 F.
  Airlock is producing a bubble about every 12-13 seconds. Slowing down a bit.
  
  01/13/19: Water temp seems a couple of degrees warmer than the other one, as well as it being nearly impossible to keep the front bathroom cold.
  I will be changing the water 3-4 times per day, to keep the wort temp as low and constant as possible.
  So much for conserving water...
  01/13/19: The time between bubbles in the air lock was checked again at 6:00 PM and the time was measured
  3 times in a row at 20 seconds between times. This is quite active, even after 12 days.
  
  01/14/19: Still fairly active, around 45-60 seconds per bubble.
  
  01/18/19: 7 AM - Fermentation active, but is slowing down. Between 2:20 and 2:30 min per bubble, on average. 52-53 F average temp. @7 PM - 2:00 per bubble
  
  01/20/19: 8 AM - Fermentation active, bubble time about 2:45 Min @ 52-53 F.
  
  01/23/19: 9 AM - Fermentation active, slowed down to 4:00 to 4:30 per bubble @ 52-53 F.
  
  01/24/19: 9 AM - Fermentation active - bubble @ 4:20 minutes - 4:30 PM - bubble @ 4:30 minutes
  
  01/25/19: 9 AM - Fermentation active - bubble @ 4:20 minutes, tested a 2nd time - @ 5:45 Minutes
  
  01/27/19: Tested airlock activity around 9 AM - 6:30 Minutes. BOTTLED TODAY.
  
  
  • On first day the wort was boiled with a lesser amount of water than it should have had for that volume of malt,
    so the malt became slightly thickened. (around 4.5 gallons water) Due to the amount of sryup in the water,
    the malt underwent considerable carmelizing effect, and the beer turned out a reddish-color.
    Nice malty taste, but mellow hop flavour, with no bitterness present, and still has a mild yeasty taste.
    Should be around 6.5% ABV
    
    (Sugar added to 2 cups of wort for 7.50 gallons: 121 grams dextrose.)
    
    BOTTLED 01/27/19
    
    Tasted on 02/08/19 - still not quite carbonated. Had some life to it, but not really visible bubbles.
    It will be under carbonated anyway, since that is how I wanted it because of the style (Marzen oktoberfest) but leaving it in a colder room didn't help get it carbonated.
    02/08 - moved to the kitchen, at around 70 F.
    Very reddish-brown colour, but quite transparent. Definite malt carmalization effect during boiling, due to low water volume and 14 lbs of malt syrup boiling done in 21 quart canning pot.