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Recipe: Bent Brewstillery Black Josef 15° Tmavý Speciál
Kristen England is head brewer at Bent Brewstillery in Roseville, Minnesota—and a longtime homebrewer and BJCP Grand Master Beer Judge. Here is his recipe for a rich-but-quaffable Czech-style dark lager, including a straightforward single-decoction mash.
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.015
IBUs: 40
ABV: 6.1%
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ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.061
FG: 1.015
IBUs: 40
ABV: 6.1%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
4.2 lb (1.9 kg) floor-malted Bohemian pilsner
4.2 lb (1.9 kg) German pilsner
1.4 lb (636 g) Caramunich III
11 oz (312 g) Caramunich II
7.5 oz (213 g) Weyermann CaraBohemian
3.5 oz (99 g) Carafa I
3.5 oz (99 g) Carafa II
3.5 oz (99 g) Carafa III
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.9 oz (26 g) Kazbek [6.5% AA], first-wort hops
2.7 oz (48 g) Kazbek [6.5% AA] at whirlpool for 20 minutes
YEAST
Budvar strain (Wyeast 2000 PC Budvar Lager or White Labs WLP802 Czech Budejovice Lager) or other Czech lager strain
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash in at 122°F (50°C) for a protein rest of 10 minutes. Raise the temperature to 143°F (62°C) and rest 5 minutes. Separate a thick one-third of the mash and boil 25 minutes while holding the rest of the mash at about 143°F (62°C). Reunite the mash to bring it to about 162°F (72°C), rest 30 minutes, then mash out. Boil 90 minutes then whirlpool, adding hops according to the schedule. Chill to 50°F (10°C), aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 52°F (11°C). No diacetyl rest. When fermentation is complete, cold crash and lager at near freezing for 6 weeks.
BREWER’S NOTES
One more little tidbit of fun: Take the exact same recipe, hops and all, increase the gravity to 19°P (1.079), and you’ve got yourself a Czech porter. I find that when I write recipes for homebrewers, they all like to play around with stuff to make it their own. For example, you can swap out the hops (and you can use really any lagery hops in this). Or in this case, you can simply increase the gravity. And yes, I’ve made this beer as a Czech porter, and it’s stupid dangerous.
Photo: Joe Stange
