So ive been recruited to provide the kegs for a backyard Oktoberfest..

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

The good people at work have 'commissioned' me to brew up 3 or so kegs of different beer for an Oktoberfest themed party towards the end of the year. assuming the bulk of the 15 or so attendees will be megaswill drinkers with tastes for the usual commercial lagers and mass produced stuff you can get at any pub in Aus, im at a loss as to what i should make?...

So i put it to you, the good people of AHB, what should i brew?
Im thinking something Corona-esque for the ladies in one keg, But i want to try and fill at least one of the three kegs with something like what youd actually find at a German Oktoberfest, any suggestions for that and the other remaining keg?

Havnt had a succesful crack at lagers since i lack temp control to that degree due to the fact im a uni student still living under the parents roof, but ill have winter on my side midway through the year which means i might be able to get away fermenting at the ambient temps then?

Nathan

 

[dent]

Don't bother with the lager yeast if you're not set up for it.

There is no need to brew with a lager yeast to satisfy the tastes of your average drinker.

Stick with what you know you can brew well for now, rather than serving up some dodgy fruity VDK laden lager ferment which sucks.

 

[Black n Tan]

Agree with Dent about not brewing a lager with no temp control. May be something like Tony's (?) LC Bright Ale clone and a kolsch (at least its german) which can be brewed at 15-16C although does benefit from a few weeks storage in keg or bottle at 4C. And the third beer should be something you like and think you brew well. That should keep most people happy.

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

Don't bother with the lager yeast if you're not set up for it.

VDK?

Yeah im definately wary of trying a lager after my early attempt years ago making a k&k coopers european lager ended up with more of an apple juice taste than a heinekin haha

Im thinking a cream ale with a fair wack of flaked corn and rice and hallertau hops easy on the IBU's and a cool ferment with US05 for the swill drinkers out there

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Do a Koslch.

 

[manticle]

Do a slightly different version of similar beer using clean ale yeasts at low temps.
Vary the hops but use noble hops for 2 and something slightly new worldy for a third.

For example

Beer 1 - pils/pale malt, nottingham, saaz hop to 35 ibu with 10 ibu coming from 10 min addition.

2. pils +vienna (50/50) + 30 ibu tettnanger (10 i u at 10)

3.pils +munich or pils (or a blend of the two) + 25 ibu using northrrn brewer and nelson sauvin (10 ibu nelson at 10 mins or after).

 

[manticle]

Don't do lager.
Vdk - vicinal diketones. Diacetyl is a major one of these.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Pale ale ...

 

[angus_grant]

Yep pale ale. Or a couple of pale ales.
For my little boys 1st b'day I put on 2 kegs of APA. One a very lightly dry hopped lower ABV version of Lord Raja's Lord Nelson and 2nd keg was full dry-hopped lord Nelson (galaxy + citra boil hops and then cascade + citra keg hops). My younger brother was died in the wool "beer drinker and then swap to bundy" man. Halfway through the afternoon he bailed me up and said "can I taste passion fruit in this beer?" (Full Nelson version at this stage) I replied "I'd be offended if you couldn't". And he loved it!
So now apparently he is best mates with owner of spotted cow in 'woomba and is on his own beer odyssey. Tread softly at first but give them something adventurous to step up to after 6 "normal" beers, they will be more accepting of something a bit outside their comfort zones.

 

[Weizguy]

My opinion: start with a lightly hopped American wheat beer, then a Malt Liquor, then an Oktoberfest (with an ale yeast - saw this in BYO mag a fe years back; maybe 10 yrs)..
I'm sue I can rustle up a few recipes if you want, but that's probabaly how I'd run with it.

Or just make it all Oktoberfest ale and take all the leftovers home for personal consumption.

* edit: maybe a few practice batches in the interim and some test tastings with a few selected individuals?

 

[mxd]

if it's an Oktoberfest party then something like a german pils (shouldn't offend the vb drinker too much) then a nice malty German beer (muich dunkel or bock) then a nice hoppy APA (or what ever is your fav)

 

[carniebrew]

I will second the Kolsch, I did one recently for fantasy footy draft day for the few guys attending that are devout Becks/Stella type drinkers (they think it's craft). It went down a treat with them.

Secondly a hefeweizen, I also had this going on draft day, with the 3rd beer being a hop hog style iPA. Both the hop heads and the german lager drinkers alike enjoyed it, and in the end it was the most smashed of all 3 kegs on the day.

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

Do a Koslch.

Whats everyones thoughts on this as a Kolsch catering for the less adventurous palates it will be served to?

3.2kg Pils
1.15 wheat
Mash at 66*

Good long 90min dms reducing boil
1 oz Perle 7.8% AA for 60 minutes
1/2 oz. Tettnanger 4.4% AA for 15
1/2 oz. Tettnanger 4.4% AA for 5

Good kolsch yeast like WLP029 at 18*c-20*c

As well as the cream ale mentioned previously and a hoppier beer like my house Nelson Sauvin APA.
Could always chuck a few bottles my more diverse beers in a tub of ice for anyone interested as well i guess

 

[manticle]

I'd be wary of kolsch - I don't think it's that easy to get right and a kolsch that tastes not quite right is um...................

Needs decent cold conditioning time. For trad German go Hefe. 50/50 pils, wheat, hallertauer mitt to 17 ibu, 3068 at 17 degrees. Ready to drink in a bit over a week, popular with mainstream lager drinkers.

 

[carniebrew]

Manticle's spot on, it took a couple of weeks of cold conditioning before my Kolsch stopped tasting like Corona and smelling like baby spew. It's now 5 weeks old though and is really enjoyable, even if the first mouthful still throws me back to my megaswill days just a little. But that kinda sounds like what you're looking for, and given you have a very long time before you need to make this, you can allow for plenty of cold conditioning.

My Kolsch was really simple, I think it's out of/based on Brewing Classic Styles:

23l batch, OG/FG: 1050/1010
4.7kg Bestmalz Pilsner
250gm Bestmalz Vienna
45gm Hallertauer Mit (6.8%) @ 60m (29 IBU)
Wyeast 2565 (starter), fermented at 16C

Fermented in primary for 11 days, crash chilled for 2 days, then kegged onto gelatin. Let lager (cold) for about a month before drinking.

 

[manticle]

From what I read he doesn't have the means to CC.

If you do Nathan, then yes - extended CC and drop as much of that yeast out as you can and you should do an alright kolsch.

 

[carniebrew]

Ah, sorry Manticle I missed the bit about not having temp control. Going to be hard to do a great hef without the ability to keep it at 17, or cold crashing a Kolsch, yes.

I saw that he was talking kegs and figured a kegerator or keezer must be involved somewhere, which can always be used as a ferment fridge and a place to cold crash.

Nathan where are you getting the "3 or so" kegs to put beer in?

 

[manticle]

During cooler months, getting a hef to and keeping it at 17 using a water bath is not such an issue. Getting something sub 4 degrees for 4 weeks is though.

 

[mb-squared]

this one is just about impossible to mess up and it is always a hit with everyone from the VB swill crowd to the ones with more 'refined' tastes (i.e. those looking for hopped up APAs).

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centennial-blonde-simple-4-all-grain-5-10-gall-42841/

but if you can't cold crash it, then leave yourself at least a month for conditioning. It really comes into its own around 3+ weeks.

best of luck!

matto

 

[nathanvonbeerenstein]

Ah, sorry Manticle I missed the bit about not having temp control. Going to be hard to do a great hef without the ability to keep it at 17, or cold crashing a Kolsch, yes.

I saw that he was talking kegs and figured a kegerator or keezer must be involved somewhere, which can always be used as a ferment fridge and a place to cold crash.

Nathan where are you getting the "3 or so" kegs to put beer in?

Avoiding cold conditioning if possible
Im running a couple of 9L kegs in the beer fridge outside currently but have inherited 4x19L cornies that i plan to keg the batches up in before i eventually get a keezer set up and wack them in there a few months before the event
Bit of a stinker of a situation in the mean time but its the best i can do, otherwise to the bottles they'll go!

Might whip up some 5L batches of some of the brews reccomended here and do some market research, i think friends will be happy to volunteer