What's your favorite recipe using Vienna?

[Tom R]

My LHBS had a sack of Vienna they ordered by mistake, and were selling it at their cost. I couldn't resist, so now I have 55# on hand.

Any thoughts on what to do with it? Maybe you have a suitable SMaSH recipe you like?
Or anything that uses it as a base malt?

 

[Bilsch]

The obvious choice is Vienna lager but you can use it anywhere you would pale ale malt.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Great for a kolsch. 70% pilsner, 30% Vienna (you could go even go 50/50). Mash at 153. Shoot for about 1.052 OG. 16 IBU's of spalt or saaz at 60 minutes, 4 IBU's at 5 minutes. Giga-021 yeast. Ferment it at 60F, d-rest it for a few days, then cold crashed for a few weeks. Simple, clean, refreshing.

 

[Beernik]

Dampfbier, it’s a non-wheat beer fermented with Hefeweizen yeast.

I used 3.5lb Munich, 3.5lb Vienna, 3.5lb Pilsen, 8oz Carapils.

Then I used 0.4oz of Columbus for 1 hour to try to give it a wild hop characteristic (without buying a bunch of comet specially for this beer).

 

[rhys333]

Most light easy drinking beers, really. Right now it's a rye pseudo-kölsch I have on tap that includes 15% vienna.

 

[dmtaylor]

Vienna is excellent as a base malt for a SMASH. Or, maybe try this, it's won me an award or two. But Note: This is for 2.5 gallons at 92% brewhouse efficiency. You'll likely find you need to use 3 times as much ingredients for a bigger batch with standard efficiency.

 

[Soulshine2]

My LHBS had a sack of Vienna they ordered by mistake, and were selling it at their cost. I couldn't resist, so now I have 55# on hand.

Any thoughts on what to do with it? Maybe you have a suitable SMaSH recipe you like?
Or anything that uses it as a base malt?

send me 5 lbs of it !!
You'll need other malts but,Make a Maerzen!!

 

[eulipion2]

I've seen a few people on here in the past suggest a Vienna/Cascade SMaSH. Naturally you could just do a straight Vienna lager -- probably my favorite style to drink. If you're feeling adventurous, I smoked my own Vienna for a rauchbier (instead of using store-bought smoked malt) that turned out amazing.

 

[dchmela]

I'd also consider an all Vienna Saison, make it a SMASH with either all SAAZ or all Citra. Mash at 150, ferment with 3711 yeast. Awesome summer brew.

 

[Miraculix]

+1 for the Vienna/cascade smash.

Or anything noble plus Vienna in a lager.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

I'd also consider an all Vienna Saison, make it a SMASH with either all SAAZ or all Citra. Mash at 150, ferment with 3711 yeast. Awesome summer brew.

That sounds tasty! I'm not a fan of Citra for bittering, but i've done saisons with late addition citra that turned out fantastic. Consider 147 or 148 on the mash to dry it out more. Citra also works really well with a bit of ginger in the boil. I also prefer to go 50/50 with WLP566 and 3711. Great attenuation with a bit more saison "funk"

 

[skw]

For 20L:
4kg Vienna, target 12°P
15g CTZ @60min
30g CTZ @30 min
ferment with WLP 940 @10°C

I'm drinking it right now, it's delicious.

 

[Tom R]

Wow! Thanks for all the ideas guys. It's not easy to choose which to do first, but I've never tried a saison, and this looks like a great opportunity to make a summertime refresher.

Adding a bit of ginger sounds really good, but how much would you use in a 10G batch?

 

[Miraculix]

Wow! Thanks for all the ideas guys. It's not easy to choose which to do first, but I've never tried a saison, and this looks like a great opportunity to make a summertime refresher.

Adding a bit of ginger sounds really good, but how much would you use in a 10G batch?

Very little. Ginger is really potent and you only want it to contribute only a little something to accompany the yeasts flavour contribution. At least this is what I would want it to do.

 

[SoCal-Doug]

Saison's can be super easy. Especially in the summer. In many cases you can just toss the fermenter in the garage or back room and let-r-rip. 70F, 80F, 90F is all good but will make for different yeast esters.

Keep in mind what a saison is. It means "seasonal" and was brewed in the fall to provide the farm workers for the spring planting. Then brewed in the summer for the fall harvest. Each farm brewed with whatever they had. Some didnt even have hops, and used spices instead. They didnt have fermentation chambers or expensive equipment. They traded yeast slurry, grains, spices and fruits.

Highly attenuated. Dry. Refreshing. Flavored or unflavored however you like. Generally lower IBU's. Cloudy or clear. Typically kind of "yeast funky". There's not many rules about saisons.

Ginger: Maybe an ounce fresh chopped up in the boil for 5 gallons. Adjust from there. Lemon peel or lemongrass works well also (.5 to 1 ounce). I've even tried a version with juniper berry and sage (still cant decide if I liked it, it was very different and wierd).

Happy brewing!

 

[Tom R]

I ended up making a 5G saison with 100% Vienna, 24 IBU of saaz, and 1/2 oz of ginger (last 12 min). Mashed @ 150F, pitched WY3711 @ 65F for two days, then ramped up to 77F.

Has an overpowering ginger taste right now. Its been fermenting four days, I'm hoping it mellows as it ages...

 

[AzOr]

I ended up making a 5G saison with 100% Vienna, 24 IBU of saaz, and 1/2 oz of ginger (last 12 min). Mashed @ 150F, pitched WY3711 @ 65F for two days, then ramped up to 77F.

Has an overpowering ginger taste right now. Its been fermenting four days, I'm hoping it mellows as it ages...

Tom R- was that fresh or dried ginger? Btw- your recipe sounds delicious.

 

[Tom R]

It was fresh. Peeled, then cut into thin slices. Might be easier to skip peeling and just grate it next time.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

 

[thehaze]

95% Vienna
5% Biscuit
W-34/70 or Nottingham ( both not higher than 64-66F )
65% Brewers Gold ( German grown )
35% Comet ( German grown )
Mash low, no dry hopping, but do an excessive whirlpool with around 2 oz Comet and 3-4 oz Brewers Gold. Very good, hoppy Vienna Lager/Golden Ale.