10/4/2020:
When I first sampled the first festbier, I noticed it was pretty fruity. I wondered if it was due to a fermentation issue or the hops. In doing research, I think the fruitiness came from the Tettnanger hops. I did not desire or anticipate such a fruity flavor, so I decided I would brew another version.
This one has slightly more grain and no melanoidin. And it has Hersbrucker hops. And just a touch of Galena to up the bitterness.
The actual brewing went very smoothly, but I missed my numbers. First, I had just a bit over 5 gallons of wort post-boil. I attribute this to my propane running low midway through the boil. So at least for a few minutes it was not actually boiling. Second, I believe I saw a fair amount of uncrushed grain. This is the second of two sacks of grain I bought at the same time at the same shop. The first beer had that issue as well.
So, instead of 1.058, I ended up at 1.052. This festbier will likely be a helles instead. That's not a big problem, since I love helles, but I don't like not achieving what I set out to do. Beautiful beer though. Nice golden, clear wort. Should make for a tasty helles or festbier or whatever I want to call it!
I also kegged the club Oktoberfest today and added gelatin. It is now in the fridge conditioning.
3/23/2021:
This second festbier has been in the keg for several months now. Not sure what went wrong, but it just doesn't have the delicious grainy, bready flavor I associate with pilsner malt. I used Avangard pils this time instead of Weyermann. There are a few different possibilities. Either Avangard pils is not as I remember it, there was a fermentation issue, or I was given the wrong malt. I tend to think I was given pale malt instead, since this beer doesn't really have any off flavors and based on other blog posts, Avangard pilsner malt has a similar flavor to Weyermann's.
8/4/2021:
This beer is still hanging around nearly a year later, which says something about what I think of it. It looks good and smells pretty good, a kind of sweet, bready, malty aroma. But it just doesn't taste that good. It's bland and maybe overly bitter too. On the plus side, it looks great in my new Bierstadt glass that I just got over the weekend in Denver!
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