Since I am making a braggot with the style of Oktoberfest in mind, I thought it would be a good idea to briefly review some of the BJCP Guidelines for Oktoberfest.

First off, Oktoberfest is a sub-category of the European Amber Lager category. That’s right, Oktoberfest is a lager (which refers to the yeast that is used during fermentation). The aroma should have “a light to moderate toasted malt aroma. Clean lager aroma with no fruity esters or diacetyl. No hop aroma. Caramel aroma is inappropriate.” This indicates that hops should not be used in the end process for aromatic effects; rather, hops should be added in the beginning when mashing the malts.

The taste works in tandem with aroma, and the BJCP stipulates the taste should be “initial malty sweetness, but finish is moderately dry. Distinctive and complex maltiness often includes a toasted aspect. Hop bitterness is moderate, and noble hop flavor is low to none. Balance is toward malt, though the finish is not sweet. Noticeable caramel or roasted flavors are inappropriate. Clean lager character with no diacetyl or fruity esters.” This style of beer is heavy on the malty goodness, and light on the bold hops flavor. Also, notice that they mention “noble hop flavor,” and I’ll cover that a little more in a moment.

For the most part, I’m sticking to the Reinheitsgebot (German Purity Law). This law was originally put into place in 1516 to set the standards for brewing beer and sales of beer. Interestingly, yeast wasn’t actually mentioned in the original document because as we all know, Louis Pasteur did not discover that bacteria was the cause of fermentation and contamination until the 1800s. In the spirit of Reinheitsgebot, this braggot will contain simply water, malt, hops, and yeast.  Well, maybe I’ll bend the rule for loads of honey.

I found a cool little website called www.localharvest.org , which has put me in touch with a beekeeper directly for buckwheat honey. Some times I like to help out the little guy, plus getting the honey directly from the beekeeper tingles my hippy senses.

Recipe:

8.5 lbs of Buckwheat Honey

5 lbs of Vienna Malt

1 lb of Pilsner Malt

.25 oz of Tettanger whole leaf hops

White labs Oktoberfest yeast

A quick distinction between mead and beer (aside from the obvious), before one adds yeast to a batch of mead it is called a “must,” and before you pitch yeast to beer it is called a “wort” (pronounced wert [I have no idea why this is]). So, must becomes mead through the yeast processing the sugars into ethanol and carbon dioxide, and wort becomes beer through the same process.

I briefly discussed why I was using buckwheat honey in the previous post. In all actuality, I had 5 lbs of buckwheat from a previous order that was lying around. I was thinking and plotting on some sort of braggot that would utilize the buckwheat. I have not seen many (if any) recipes that use buckwheat honey. I thought it would be a fun and interesting adventure, although, if this turns out crappy, I wasted quite a bit of money.

There are many different types of malts that can be added into an Oktoberfest beer, but some the best ones I have read are exclusively made with Vienna Malt or the main barley is Vienna malt. There is some debate and discussion on using exclusively Vienna, and if it actually achieves the authentic taste for Oktoberfest beers. Since I am making a braggot, I have decided to use Vienna with a touch of Pilsner malt to impress upon the taste buds a sense of Oktoberfest beer. Vienna and Munich malts have a tendency to create heaviness to the beers, so adding 15 to 20 percent of Pilsner malt to the total amount. If I was making a beer, I would use other varietal malts.

The hops in an Oktoberfest are of the noble variety. This includes hallertau, saaz, spalt, and tettnanger. Noble hops are low in bitterness and high in aroma.There is no good reason for me using whole leaf hops, I just wanted to use them . Most recipes for Oktoberfest utilize hallertau hops, but the company I normally purchase from were out, so tettnanger is taking its place. I’m also using a very small amount of hops, only .25 ounces. Food scales are great for beer brewing so as to measure out these exact weights, since suppliers provide by the ounce, usually 1 oz, 5 oz, and a piss load of hops. Interestingly hops are part of the cannabis family, and at St. James Gate in Ireland, workers would often take breaks due to hops soporific effect.

I feel everything up to this point have been well thought out decision based on research and practice, yet the one ingredient that caused me headaches was the yeast. The yeast was my greatest point of contention. I have never made a braggot, nor did I have a wealth of recipes to look through. I wanted something that would help produce the right notes, be able to handle the higher alcohol level, and help with the malty taste. I ruled out sweet mead yeast, as it has a tendency to produce fruit notes and tastes. I researched the Oktoberfest from white labs and believe that it would do the trick. It can handle medium to high alcohol levels, and all the exact notes I wanted were developed specifically for Oktoberfest beer, which was part of the meads character. It seems obvious, but since these is such an uncharted territory for me, the need to be sure and have some sound reasoning for my choices of ingredients and the amounts was necessary. The draw back is that the yeast strand is a lager, which means it works best in very cold temperatures- optimal temperatures is 58 degrees Fahrenheit. I have a plan on how to deal with and will discuss it in a later post.

Be sure to check for updates, as brew day is coming soon, and I will be chronicling the events leading up to and on the day of brewing my braggot.

Don’t forget I’m looking for a name for this Braggot. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, please post a comment at the bottom.

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Posted by admin on October 27th, 2009 :: Filed under Braggot, homebrewing
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