Dunkel Bock :: Can U Guys Check This Recipe?

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shaunl

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Hi Guys
My Dad and I have a good deal - I choose the recipes and supervise the brewing, he buys the ingredients. We both drink and enjoy! Works well :)

Normally what I do is find a recipe and send to the local brew store - the owner then goes through it and modifies to match style and budget (around $35.00 per brew).

However this time round Dad went in and the store had changed hands. Both my Dad and the store owner being none the wiser they bought ingredients as per the recipe .... total cost was $65.00!! Well out of budget.

So ... here is the recipe and I would appreciate it if you guys with some knowledge would be able to modify so that it's cheaper for the next time we brew it!



Dunkel Bock

2.9 Kg Amber malt extract ($23)
900 Grams Dark dry malt extract ($7.50)
450 Grams Crystal Malt (80L) ($4)
226 Grams Munich malt ($2.50
56 grams Chocolate malt $1.50
56 grams Black patent malt $1.50
28 grams Perle hops (bittering) $6.50
15 grams Halleratuer hops (flavor) $2.95
15 grams Halleratuer hops (aroma) $2.95
1 Pack Pilsen lager yeast $5.50
1 cups Dry malt extract priming $5.95

thanks
Shaun l
 
Should produce a tasty dark beer but suggestions:

You have spent over $12 on 60g of hops, were those teabags? For that sort of money you can get two or three times more hops from a sponsor at the top of the page.

Rather than the dark dried malt extract, which can turn out a bit muddy, I would have used light dried malt extract as you have heaps of dark malt grains in the recipe and you are going for something copper coloured, I take it, rather than almost stout like.

Also the six bucks for priming sugar sounds a bit OTT, personally I would just use dextrose as it's only for the fizz.

Apart from that (trying to save you money not being smartarse :) ) Sounds ok, and I would drink it fairly young - extract / steeped grains that I have done often taste best after a few weeks in the bottle but can lose their freshness with longer storage.
 
Shaun
I have bugger all experience with extract brews, but I would look at getting 4kg of munich extract (if such a thing exists) instead of adding all those steeped specialty malts (only for the sake of saving money). Thats a saving of $9.50 right there. Maybe leave out the flavour and aroma additions of hops? There's another $6. And use sugar to prime, instead of $6 worth of malt extract - it really makes very little difference whether you prime with malt or sugar - honest.
There's a potential saving of over $20, but you will be sacrificing some complexity and hop presence.
OR, you could (excuse me for being so blunt) just sack up, and spend $2 a longneck on a 7% odd alcohol, complex malty beer. My opinion is you can make cheap beer, or you can make good beer, but you can rarely make both at the same time. More alcohol means more malt, which usually means more hops to balance, and more yeast to ferment properly. Bigger beers (which a bock is by definition) unfortunately require more money, but I can understand that trying to fit brewing into a budget can be necessary.
Hope that helps a little, but I have a feeling that if you brew it again next time more cheaply, you will decide it is better to spend the extra. I hope that others can offer a little more advice for you.
All the best, and welcome to the forum
Trent
EDIT forgot to add me name.... how rude
 
I was thinking the same thing Razz. Especially given there's almost a kilogram earlier in the list for $7.50.
 
Hi Guys,
First up - thanks kindly for taking the time to help.

The great thing about the previous owner of the store was he took our recipes and put the pen through it to come up with what were still great beers ... your comments however have confirmed my thoughts that this guy was more interesting in a quick cash hit rather than a long-term customer ... so I will be finding a new HBS.

For now:
1. use dextrose and use the dry malt extract for a future brew if it can be used? Frankly I should have spotted this (... I haven't brewed in a while :( )
2. Proceed with the recipe as is .... after all we do have the ingredients.
3. Enjoy what is hopefully a fine drop.
4. Get some recipes from this board in future!

Cheers and have a nice xmas.
 
shaunl

welcome to the forum
1. fill out your location so we can help.
2. yeh you got ripped off. the prices are highway robbery. thats why its so expensive.
3. full Extract brewing is more expensive than K&K and AG. but if you buy malt extract in bulk its not too bad. look at one of the sponsors of another hbs.
4. so you can get a brew on, just use what youve got and put ti down to a leason learnt.
5. dont use malt for priming. no need. just plain sugar or dex is fine and what 90% brewers use.
 
I have bugger all experience with extract brews, but I would look at getting 4kg of munich extract (if such a thing exists) instead

I would probably still be making extract beers if we could get some of the "specialty extract" they have in the US. I've seen it mentioned in lots of US sites, recipe pages, brew shop websites and forums, but never seen it for sale in Aus. There must be a market for it here, surely? I think extract brewers are less common over here, possibly for this very reason. If you want a munich flavour in an extract beer, you need to mini mash some munich. Not much different to going the whole hog and mashing your base malts as well.

Check it out:

malt-extract.jpg


Welcome to AHB shaunl. Here begins your journey into the obsession that is making great beer.
 
hey pomo check out craftbrewer he has just started to stock some
 
hey pomo check out craftbrewer he has just started to stock some

Well, f&(* me drunk. Ross does it again. Anyone know what size those $50 buckets are? (EDIT: 4kg... ouch! I'll stick to mashing it myself.)
 
The problem is that German dunkels include a high percentage of munich malt. Amber malt is usually light malt plus crystal - not really the same thing but munich extract is hard to come by.
Actually I don't know if anyone still produces a munich malt extract apart from the Weyermann kits that Craftbrewer sells.
I see you have included some munich malt in your recipe. I assume you realised it needs to be mashed?

Try the following:
3kg dry light malt extract
500g Munich malt (mash for 30 mins at ~65C)
200g Cararoma (dark crystal)
100g Carafa Special III

Your hops were fine (assuming that the Perle is ~7% AA)
so keep them them the same (but yes, you can get them a LOT cheaper).

If you feel comfortable mashing more grain - replace some of the light malt extract with more munich malt. It will be cheaper too :)

Depending on where you get your ingredients you should save a good $20 or so on the recipe.
 
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