I know, I know... it's too late to be brewing an Oktoberfest beer. But, I love the style, and the first time I made the beer it was fantastic. So, I decided to make it again.
I'm going off of the NB ingredient list, but purchasing from my local store.
Overall, brew day went well yesterday. My only concern (if I can even call it that) is that my efficiency was lower than I've seen from my BIAB brewing to date. I ended up around 61% efficiency. In the past, I've gotten as high as 85% efficiency using the BIAB method. I'm thinking I just needed to rinse my grains better to capture more of the sugars.
Anyway, because I was low on efficiency, I undershot my OG a bit. It was 1.052 instead of 1.058. No biggie.
I made a starter ahead of time, stepping up twice to hit 3L total volume so I'd have plenty of yeast cells. I pitched my yeast starter of Wyeast Oktoberfest 2633 around 64°F. Then into the chest freezer it went, set to 50°F. I plan to let it sit for 2 weeks. Then I'll bump it up for a few days to room temp for a diacetyl rest before I rack it to a secondary and begin lower the temperature over a week or two down to 35°F or so to lager for 10-12 weeks.
I was going to ask if I needed to bother with the diacetyl rest, but I think I'll do what I can to avoid the butter beer flavoring.
Anywho, I guess this is more of a log or journal entry than asking any questions. But, if anyone has advice, feel free to chime in.
I'm going off of the NB ingredient list, but purchasing from my local store.
Overall, brew day went well yesterday. My only concern (if I can even call it that) is that my efficiency was lower than I've seen from my BIAB brewing to date. I ended up around 61% efficiency. In the past, I've gotten as high as 85% efficiency using the BIAB method. I'm thinking I just needed to rinse my grains better to capture more of the sugars.
Anyway, because I was low on efficiency, I undershot my OG a bit. It was 1.052 instead of 1.058. No biggie.
I made a starter ahead of time, stepping up twice to hit 3L total volume so I'd have plenty of yeast cells. I pitched my yeast starter of Wyeast Oktoberfest 2633 around 64°F. Then into the chest freezer it went, set to 50°F. I plan to let it sit for 2 weeks. Then I'll bump it up for a few days to room temp for a diacetyl rest before I rack it to a secondary and begin lower the temperature over a week or two down to 35°F or so to lager for 10-12 weeks.
I was going to ask if I needed to bother with the diacetyl rest, but I think I'll do what I can to avoid the butter beer flavoring.
Anywho, I guess this is more of a log or journal entry than asking any questions. But, if anyone has advice, feel free to chime in.
