Maltose Falcons
Home Brewing Society
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Brew Style of the Month: Amber Lager

by L. Grand Hydro

(Published in the July 1996 Brews and News)

BEER MARCHES ON

It's not too early to be thinking about Oktoberfest and the beer style that now bears its name. The A.H.A. has a club-only competition coming up in, of course, Oktober, and since most Fest beers are lager styles they take some time to set up. So, read on and get brewing!

Here are the A.H.A. descriptions of the styles involved in the competition:

17. Vienna/Marzen/Oktoberfest.

a. Vienna: Beers in this category are reddish-brown or copper colored. They are light to medium in body. The beer is characterized by malty aroma, slight malt sweetness and clean hop bitterness. Noble hop aromas and flavors should be low to medium. Fruity esters, diacetyl and chill haze should not be perceived. O.G. 1.048-56 (12-14 Plato). F.G. 1.012-18 (3-4.5 Plato). Alcohol 3.8-4.3% by weight, 4.8-5.4% by volume. IBU 22-28. Color 8-12 SRM, 16-30 EBC.

b. Marzen/Oktoberfest: Marzens are characterized by a medium body and broad range of color. Oktoberfests can range from golden to reddish-brown. Sweet maltiness should dominate slightly over a clean, hop bitterness. Malt character should be toasted rather than strongly caramel. Hop aroma and flavor should be low but notable. Fruity esters are minimal, if perceived at all. Diacetyl and chill haze should not be perceived. O.G. 1.050-56 (12.5-14 Plato). F.G. 1.012-20 (3-5 Plato). Alcohol

4-4.7% by weight, 5.3-5.9% by volume. IBU 22-28. Color 4-15 SRM, 10-35 EBC.

An excellent reference on these styles is "Vienna, Marzen, Oktoberfest" by George and Laurie Fix (Brewers Publications, Classic Beer Style Series).

The history of these styles is most interesting, and dates back to the days when even commercial brewers could not brew very successfully during the warm months of April through September, since refrigeration equipment hadn't yet been invented. Marzen was the name given to the last beer brewed during the cool season, since this is the German name for the month of March, and the beer was made a bit bigger in order to help it last through the summer. The Oktoberfest, originally a royal wedding celebration, evolved into a harvest festival at which time any remaining Marzen beer was consumed. Brewmasters Anton Dreher in Vienna and Gabriel Sedlmayr at the Spaten Brewery in Munich corresponded with each other in the 1800's and together did much to develop these amber lager styles. Spaten still claims to have the "original" Marzen product.

My own impressions are that these days we think of Vienna as a bit lower-gravity style than Marzen/Oktoberfest, although as the Fixes point out there may be no real historical support for this idea. Regardless, the Vienna may feature the drier, grainier, toastier aspect of the complex malt character of these styles, while the Marzen may be a bit more caramel-like in character. Suffice it to say that you need to strike a balance between the caramelly sweetness and the dry-edged grainy-toasty factors. Examples I have tasted from Germany, for example, tend to reflect the preference for drier, sharper beers in the north and rounder, sweeter beers in Bavaria in the south. A number of interesting amber-colored malts could figure in the formulation, including Vienna malt Munich malt, 40 L. caramel malt, Caravienne malt, even Biscuit malt for some of that toastiness if used carefully. As you'll see in some of the following recipes, you can also toast your own malt in the oven to hype the effect. The malt character will dominate the palate, rather than yeast or hops, and you're looking for intensity, complexity, and balance.

Water for these beers is not truly critical. Most lager beers, with notable exceptions, are brewed with fairly soft water. However, Vienna water was historically rather high in total hardness, and Munich water had a bit of the temporary or carbonate hardness. A Good-tasting drinking water with a touch of chloride ion added (as from salt or calcium chloride) may provide additional smoothness and fullness to highlight the malt.

For those not set up for cold lager fermenting, try an amber lager recipe with a bit more bittering hops (25 to 35 IBU?) and use a Kolsch or Altbier ale yeast, to make a Fest Altbier. It won't be appropriate for the Best of Fest contest, but you can sure bring some to our club's Oktoberfest!

Time to brew some gruesome Festbier. Here is the First Place recipe from the 1993 Mayfaire competition:

"Danube Dream" Vienna Lager, by Charles Baird, Fresno, CA

For 5 gallons:

Grains:

10 pounds pale malt

2 pounds Munich malt, toasted 30 min. at 280 F.

1 pound cara pils malt

2 Tablespoons uncrushed Black Patent malt (added to boil)

Hops:

1. 1.5 oz. Tettnanger pellets, 3.3% A.A., boiled 60 min. 18.47 IBU
2. 0.75 oz. Tettnanger pellets, boiled 30 min. 4.09 IBU

Yeast: Wyeast #2308 Munich Lager

Water: 1/2 teaspoon salt added

Procedure: Mash at 154 F. for 70 min., sparge slowly to 7 gallons. Total boil time 60 min. Ferment 3 weeks in primary at 50 F., 1 month in secondary at 47 F. Prime with 3/4 cup corn sugar at bottling. O.G. 1.046, F.G. 1.009.

For a look at how Mr. Fix himself brews a Vienna, here's his Third Place recipe from the 1995 Mayfaire:

"Rosenkavalier" Vienna Lager, by George Fix

For 13.5 gallons (50 liters):

Grains:

15 pounds Durst (German) Pils malt

5 pounds Durst Munich malt

2.5 pounds DeWolf-Cosyns Caravienne malt

0.5 pounds DeWolf-Cosyns Special B malt

Hops:

2 oz. Hallertau Traditional, whole, boiled 45 min.

2 oz. Spalt Select, whole, boiled 30 min.

1 oz. Liberty, whole, boiled 15 min.

Yeast: "W-206" (Wyeast #2206?)

Water: amended with 1 oz. Calcium Chloride.

Procedure: Mash 50 C., 30 min., 6 gallons; 60 C., 30 min., 8 gallons; 70 C., 30 min., 9 gallons. Sparge 8 gallons water at 75C. Ferment primary 10 days at 10 C., age 7 weeks at 2 C. O.G. 1.056, F.G. 1.014.

For the extract malt-minded, here's the Second Place recipe from the 1993 Mayfaire, yet another Vienna:

Vienna Lager, by Dave Zimmerman, Rohnert Park, CA

For 5 gallons:

Grains:

2 pounds toasted Klages (American Pale malt)

Extracts:

5 pounds amber dry malt

Hops:

0.65 oz. Northern Brewer

2 oz. Hallertauer

Yeast: Wyeast Bavarian

Water: Municipal source, no treatment

Procedure: Mash toasted grains for 45 min. at 155 F. Total boil time 90 min. Ferment primary 9 days at 48 F., then secondary lagering for 1 month. O.G. 1.050, F.G. 1.015

Bring your entries into our club's taste-off to the club Oktoberfest, so the Board can determine our club's entry.