Narziss' advice on Marzen
Posted: Tue Oct 27, 2015 10:28 pm
OG: 13-14 Plato
Color: 9-12 EBC for modern varieties, 18-30 EBC for traditional.
Bitterness: 20-26
Recipe guidelines:
He says that the paler, modern version is essentially a "richer" export/helles but does not elaborate much. He gives more in the way of guidelines for the traditional, amber version.
Water: Variable. 2-10 dH residual alkalinity works well. He says to try to hit a mash pH of 5.6. He doesn't mention boiling acidification, but I assume that it might be a good idea to drop it to below 5.4 as you go into the boil.
There are two approaches to designing a grist:
1) Heavy on Munich malt, lighter on caramel malt.
2) Light on Munich malt, heavier on caramel malt.
For both cases, he recommends using the 15 EBC Munich malt, aka light Munich malt. If you're going with option 1), use between 50% and 80% Munich malt, and if you're going with option 2), use 33% Munich malt. For caramalts, he gives a range of 3-6% for carahell, and/or 2-5% for caramunich. Melanoidin malt can also be substituted for a portion of the caramunich, but he only mentions this in the context of option 2). Option 1) should stick to the lower end of these ranges (or omit the caramunich alltogether), whereas option 2) should emphasize the caramunich. Of course, finding the right balance of the caramalts for your taste is up to you.
For option 1), he suggests doughing in at 35C and immediately heating to 55-57C. He then recommends a double decoction with rests at 55C, 68C, and 77C. Option 2) can use the same double decoction but with the 35C rest removed. He recommends a mash thickness of 1:3 (I assume kilogram:liter), and a final attenutation not below 78%.
Source: Die Bierbrauerei volume 2, chapter 3
My thoughts: It's interesting that there is no mention of Vienna malt, given that most homebrew recipes emphasize Vienna. These tips may reflect Narziss' personal tastes for the style - is it possible that there are German breweries who do use Vienna in their marzens? I don't know.
Color: 9-12 EBC for modern varieties, 18-30 EBC for traditional.
Bitterness: 20-26
Recipe guidelines:
He says that the paler, modern version is essentially a "richer" export/helles but does not elaborate much. He gives more in the way of guidelines for the traditional, amber version.
Water: Variable. 2-10 dH residual alkalinity works well. He says to try to hit a mash pH of 5.6. He doesn't mention boiling acidification, but I assume that it might be a good idea to drop it to below 5.4 as you go into the boil.
There are two approaches to designing a grist:
1) Heavy on Munich malt, lighter on caramel malt.
2) Light on Munich malt, heavier on caramel malt.
For both cases, he recommends using the 15 EBC Munich malt, aka light Munich malt. If you're going with option 1), use between 50% and 80% Munich malt, and if you're going with option 2), use 33% Munich malt. For caramalts, he gives a range of 3-6% for carahell, and/or 2-5% for caramunich. Melanoidin malt can also be substituted for a portion of the caramunich, but he only mentions this in the context of option 2). Option 1) should stick to the lower end of these ranges (or omit the caramunich alltogether), whereas option 2) should emphasize the caramunich. Of course, finding the right balance of the caramalts for your taste is up to you.
For option 1), he suggests doughing in at 35C and immediately heating to 55-57C. He then recommends a double decoction with rests at 55C, 68C, and 77C. Option 2) can use the same double decoction but with the 35C rest removed. He recommends a mash thickness of 1:3 (I assume kilogram:liter), and a final attenutation not below 78%.
Source: Die Bierbrauerei volume 2, chapter 3
My thoughts: It's interesting that there is no mention of Vienna malt, given that most homebrew recipes emphasize Vienna. These tips may reflect Narziss' personal tastes for the style - is it possible that there are German breweries who do use Vienna in their marzens? I don't know.