Altbier Recipe?

[MrAverageGuy]

Does anyone have a solid Altbier recipe that is tried and true? There's one from Jamil Zainasheff showing up on BeerSmith that I'm looking at, but I haven't locked down on anything.

All tips welcomed.

Jim

[CurtisG]

I haven't brewed these yet, but there are two recipes in Gordon Strong's "Modern Homebrew Recipes"

Literally every recipe in that book is amazing, Highly recommend it.

[CurtisG]

Whoops, pages are labelled correctly but uploaded backwards. Don't mix em together lol

[MrAverageGuy]

Big thanks! If I scale this to a little batch, I can actually do the step mashing with my primitive gear...

[CurtisG]

Big thanks! If I scale this to a little batch, I can actually do the step mashing with my primitive gear...

You can always just do a single infusion haha. I normally skip the decoction/steps in the book. I've always heard with today's malts it is unnecessary, but that is up for debate.

I do recommend adding the dark grains in at vorlauf or at the end of your mash though. Cuts back on the harsh crystal taste. I do that for all my recipes now.

[MrAverageGuy]

Big thanks! If I scale this to a little batch, I can actually do the step mashing with my primitive gear...

Cuts back on the harsh crystal taste. I do that for all my recipes now.

Upping the pH to 5.4 - 5.5 should also help in that way, no?

[CurtisG]

I'm not too sure about that. I'm not too knowledgeable about pH though. I just go 5.1-5.2 for 'crisp' and 5.4-5.5 for 'thick'

It might be because of my thin mashes from BIAB, but I always find darker grain overpowering in my beers. Adding them at the end of the mash helps a bunch with removing the acrid taste, and with porters I'm now doing overnight steeps to cut back even more.

Adding them late could help your Alt bier stay balanced and malty without going too far towards the amber/brown flavors.

[Megastout]

Yes, have done several Gordon Strong recipes and found them to be good
DT