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Recipe: Counter Weight Fest Bier
Following the golden path of modern festbier, this homebrew-scale recipe is closely based on Counter Weight’s GABF gold medal winner.
Courtesy of Matt Westfall, founder and brewer of Counter Weight Brewing in Hamden, Connecticut, this homebrew-scale recipe is closely based on the beer that won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2020, in the category for Dortmunder and German-Style Oktoberfest.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.010
IBUs: 22
ABV: 5.9%
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Courtesy of Matt Westfall, founder and brewer of Counter Weight Brewing in Hamden, Connecticut, this homebrew-scale recipe is closely based on the beer that won gold at the Great American Beer Festival in 2020, in the category for Dortmunder and German-Style Oktoberfest.
ALL-GRAIN
Batch size: 5 gallons (19 liters)
Brewhouse efficiency: 72%
OG: 1.055
FG: 1.010
IBUs: 22
ABV: 5.9%
[PAYWALL]
MALT/GRAIN BILL
7.4 lb (3.4 kg) IREKS pilsner
2.1 lb (953 g) IREKS Vienna
10 oz (283 g) IREKS Munich (10 SRM)
3 oz (85 g) IREKS sour (acidulated) malt
HOPS SCHEDULE
0.36 oz (10 g) Hallertauer Magnum at 60 minutes [17 IBUs]
1 oz (28 g) Hallertauer Mittelfrüh at 10 minutes [5 IBUs]
YEAST
White Labs WLP830 German Lager or Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager
DIRECTIONS
Mill the grains and mash at 152°F (67°C) for 1 hour. Vorlauf until the runnings are clear, then run off into the kettle. Sparge and top up as necessary to get about 6.5 gallons (25 liters) of wort—or more, depending on your evaporation rate. Boil for 90 minutes, adding hops according to the schedule. Chill to 50°F (10°C), aerate well, and pitch plenty of healthy yeast. Ferment at 52°F (11°C) until the gravity has dropped to about 1.017, then gradually allow the temperature to rise to 60°F (16°C) and hold there a few days for a diacetyl rest. Steadily drop the temperature over 3–4 days to 35°F (2°C), then lager for at least 6 weeks. Package and carbonate to about 2.6 volumes.
BREWER’S NOTES
We use acidulated malt to ensure we hit a mash pH of 5.25–5.3, and we’ll adjust pH further in the kettle if necessary to target a knockout pH below 5.2. (We almost always end up with it at about 5.18, without any lactic-acid adjustment necessary.)
