Franconian Beer Message Board
Homebrewing |
| Posted by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-06 12:26:47 |
| "Not so sure there's that much lagering involved around here. 2 months, okay, but do brewers here really do 3 months? " I'd be curious to know this as well. My personal experience with lagering homebrewed bocks is that 2-3 months produces a better beer than 1-2 months. I've done it both ways. I've done batches where I've lagered 5 gallons for 1-2 months and the other 5 gallons 2-3. I think the extra 1-2 months improves it in my personal experience. I don't know how long the commercial breweries over there do it but they have financial concerns that a homebrewer like me doesn't have. I don't lose money by keeping my batch in the tank an extra month. "Decoction mash?" I've gotten the impression that some breweries over there still do it but it has become far less common but I don't have any statistical proof. Some lager breweries in the US (like Moat Mountain in NH and even Victory) use it as well. My personal experience from homebrewing various lager styles for now going on 10 years is that decoction mashing is a pain in the arse. It isn't necessary. But, you can make a better bock beer (for instance) by doing it. This annual Maibock that I do and have been doing consistently for about 8 years now is the only batch during the year that I insist on doing a decoction mashing process. I have done it both ways (single infusion vs. decoction) in the past and I personally prefer the end result of the decoction mashed version. Again, as a homebrewer I'm not concerned about cost and not always concerned about time. I'm not trying to get my product to market and don't have to meet payroll. So sometimes I'm just trying to make the best possible beer I can without any other consideration. I've heard and read both sides of this argument from many different sources including this forum where I believe this topic has come up once or twice over the years. At this point I've simply reached my own conclusions from years spent in my driveway doing trial and error. Others may and probably have come to different conclusions the same way. I know this much. By the end of 2013 I will probably have done some lagers with decoction, some with single infusion, and some with step mash process that doesn't use a decoction. I'm always experimenting. I'm always testing my previous conclusions on things like this. Some day I may decide I like a single infusion bock beer just as well. Who knows? |
| Followups: |
 Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-06 13:05:06 |
| Homebrewing by barry on 2013-02-06 13:34:20 |
| Homebrewing by TreinJan on 2013-02-06 15:08:58 |
| Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-06 17:59:20 |
| Homebrewing by Nick B. on 2013-02-07 00:47:46 |
| Homebrewing by TreinJan on 2013-02-07 00:49:36 |
| Homebrewing by Nick B. on 2013-02-07 00:48:04 |
| Homebrewing by Nick B. on 2013-02-07 00:48:04 |
| Homebrewing by barry on 2013-02-07 01:41:50 |
| Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-07 07:01:29 |
| Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-07 07:09:00 |
| Homebrewing by Fred Waltman on 2013-02-07 09:17:11 |
| Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-07 10:45:33 |
| Homebrewing by Nick B. on 2013-02-08 00:47:26 |
| Homebrewing by barry on 2013-02-08 06:40:28 |
| Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-08 08:57:54 |
| Homebrewing by barry on 2013-02-08 09:25:14 |
| Homebrewing by TreinJan on 2013-02-08 09:53:50 |
| Homebrewing by Mark Andersen on 2013-02-08 10:05:53 |