Barry Arnson [dot] com

Ingredients:
6 lbs Munton’s Extra Light Malt
3 lbs Munton’s Light Malt
1 lbs Crystal Grain 20L
0.5 lbs Crystal Grain 60L
0.5 lbs Vienna Grain
1 oz German Perle Hops
1 oz Tatthanger Hops
8 oz Malto Dextrin
1 tsp Irish Moss
German Ale/Kolsh Yeast

Phase 1: Steeping Grains & Boiling Wort
One pound of American Crystal 20L, a half pound of American Crystal 60L and a half pound of German Vienna were added to a hop bag and allowed to steep in three gallons of water that was between 154-160 degrees F for 20-30 minutes. This produced a nice slightly dark wort. Brought the 3 gallons to a boil (which took a long time on the stove top) and added Extra Light Malt, Light Malt and Malto Dextrin. Also added the German Perle hops (7.0% AA) to the beginning of the boil. Allowed the wort to boil for an hour. Added 1 tsp of Irish Moss with 15 minutes left in boil. Added 1 oz Tettnanger hops (4.7% AA) with five minutes left in the boil to add aroma. These hops smelled fantastic and they were whole hops instead of hop pellets which I normally use.

Phase 2: Primary Fermentation
Strained wort (because of the whole hops) into the primary fermentor bucket. Added about 10 lbs of ice and 1 gallon of cold water to the bucket to chill the wort down and bring total gallons to about 5.5 gallons. Original gravity of wort was 1.083 @ 70 degrees F. Bitterness should be around 27 IBU. Will ferment beer in primary for at least two weeks before moving to a secondary fermentor. We are already five days into the primary fermentation and yeast activity is still quite lively with the air lock bubbling once every couple seconds.

Phase 3: Racking
Transferred brew from primary fermentor bucket to secondary fermentor glass carboy after 13 days. Bubbling had slowed done to once every 30 seconds or so. Will continue to ferment in secondary for an additional 2-4 weeks. Mostly will bottle first or second week in August so that it can be enjoyed mid-September.

Phase 4: Bottling
Bottled the brew on 8/12/08 (after 27 days in the secondary) and the measured final gravity was 1.024.  This means that the brew was 8.0% APV.  Will enjoy in 4 weeks time.  Might taste after two weeks in bottle.

Final Verdict:
Definitely will have to brew next time in a traditional Oktoberfest time frame (brew at the end of March and enjoy end of September). Eight ounces of Malto Dextrin might have been a little much. Probably will cut that in half as the brew did taste a little heavy/full several weeks after bottling. Still have a few bottles left as of 11/22/08 and it definitely ages well in the bottle. Suggestion for next year will be to brew earlier and age in bottles over late summer. Might grab the 22 oz bottles for this one as well.