Chop & Brew – Episode 13: Brewing Aletoberfest

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‘Tis the season for Oktoberfest! But not everyone has the temperature-controlled facilities to produce a truly and traditionally lagered Marzen-style beer. That’s okay. Chop & Brew found a workaround thanks to mother/son brew team Judi & Ryan Schenian. They had the great idea to brew an Oktoberfest beer, but to ferment it with a German Ale yeast. Come along for the brewday and tasting notes that will have you wanting to brew your own Aletoberfest (or Mocktoberfest, Altoberfest, Fauxtoberfest, etc.). [Original postdate: September 18, 2013]

Related Links
Aletoberfest Homebrew Recipe
Judi’s Saurkraut Recipe
Two Potato Recipes from Ryan
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12 Comments

  1. Ryan

    Great episode! Just kegged an Oktoberfest that used the bohemian lager strain Ryan mentioned. Had the dry finish you expect from a lager, though it did still have a noticeable haze. Could be partially (if not all) my fault though. I kegged after only four weeks split between primary and secondary. I had room in the kegerator and saw an fg of 1012, so that beer was done! haha

    You’re the man Chip! Give me a shout if you’re ever in the Dubuque area and want to do some BIAB!

  2. Dave Watson

    I’m throwing an Oktoberfest party this weekend, and I think I’m going to steal the sauerkraut recipe and possibly one of the potato recipes as well. They look killer!

    I’ve made a Vienna lager using US05, and it was definitely lacking that certain quality. If I were to make another lager-as-ale, I’d try some type of German ale yeast, like a Kolsch or Alt, since I think those tend to mesh better flavor-wise with the German malts than the American or British yeasts.

    I brewed my Oktoberfest July 21st, fermented 2 weeks slowly ramping from 45-55, then lagered a month and bottled September 1. It’s really nice, but came out a little more alcoholic than I was planning for, as I ended up at the very high end of the style.

    Here’s my recipe, in case anyone is curious:

    5.25lb Durst Vienna
    4lb Durst Pils
    2lb Durst Dark Munich
    12oz Caramunich
    2oz Carapils

    1.3oz Mt Hood 5.5% @75 minutes
    .5oz Hallertau 6.3% @20
    .25oz Hallertau @5
    Mashed at 148, ended up with 1.058 OG, 1.012 FG, using WLP838.

  3. tonyc318

    This reminded me of the BTV episode with Dawson using us-05 and the bohemian lager at ale temps. I just made an octoberfest on labor day with the San Fran yeast

  4. Tony

    These guys are heaps cool! Definitely get them back some time. And I’ll be brewing this for sure. Have been balking about lagering something, so this might be a good alternative.

    So thanks, Chip. Great to see word is spreading about Chop and Brew.

      • kleinjeep

        If you are ever in Watertonw SD look us up. There is a new brewery in Brooking South Dakota. Wooden Legs Brewing. Seth is the Brewer/Owner. Great Beer and concept for a small brewery. Maybe there is an episode in there somewhere.

  6. harpdog

    June Cleaver aint got NOTHIN on Judi! My new favorite TV mom! Shirley Partridge wishes she was like Judi!

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