Brauhaus Faust-Miltenberger: Faust Schwarzviertler clone

Brauhaus Faust-Miltenberger: Faust Schwarzviertler clone

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.052 FG = 1.013
IBU = 23 SRM = 27 ABV = 5.2%

This dark brown amber lager features a solid caramel flavor and a great mouthfeel.

Ingredients
7 lb. 15 oz. (3.6 kg) Munich I malt
2 lb. 10 oz. (1.2 kg) Pilsner malt
9.1 oz. (0.26 kg) Weyermann® Rauchmalz (smoked malt)
2.9 oz. (82 g) Weyermann® (dehusked) Carafa® I Spezial
0.64 fl. oz. (19 mL) SINAMAR®
5.9 AAU Perle hops (60 min.) (0.9 oz./27 g at 6.5% alpha acids)
0.1 oz. (2 g) Perle hops (10 min.)
Bavarian-style lager yeast (your choice) (4 qt./4 L yeast starter)
3/4 cup (150 g) dextrose (if priming)

Step by Step
Two or three days before you brew, make a 1-gallon (~4 L) yeast starter. On brew day, to approximate the mash conditions (and lautering process) used by the brewery, mash in so that you use around 20 qts. (19 L) of brewing liquor — this is a mash thickness of about 1.8 qts./lb. (3.7 L/kg), thinner than a typical homebrew mash. Mash in to 113 °F (45 °C), and give the mash an initial hydration rest of about 30 minutes. Slowly heat the mash to raise the temperature to 149 °F (65 °C). A rate of just over 1 °F (~0.5 °C) every minute will mean the temperature ramp will take about a half hour. Rest at 149 °F (65 °C) of 20 minutes. Then repeat the temperature increase, this time to 154 °F (68 °C) for a 5-minute rest. The next rest is at 162 °F (72 °C) for about 10 minutes. To raise the temperature for the mash out, you have two options. Heat the mash as before or boil a decoction, as is done at Faust. For the decoction, draw about one-quarter of the mash (a little over a gallon/4 L) into a large pot and bring it to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes, then return the decoction to the main mash for a temperature increase to 169 °F (76 °C). Recirculate for about 15 minutes before you collect your wort. Collect all the wort from the grain bed, without sparging. When all the wort is in the kettle, measure the volume. Subtract this from your target pre-boil volume. (The boil is 70 minutes, so 6.2 gallons/23 L of pre-boil wort would work if you typically boil off a gallon an hour.) This is the volume of sparge water you will use. Divide this into three aliquots and sparge with each, taking about 30 minutes to rinse the grain bed and collect the wort each time. (If you collected 4 gallons/15 L of wort, you would need 2.2 gallons/8.3 L of sparge water separated into three 2.9 qt./2.7 L aliquots, to reach 6.2 gallons/23 L of pre-boil wort.) Your sparge water should be 169 °F (76 °C) or hotter if your grain bed temperature has dropped below 169 °F (76 °C). The boiling time is 70 minutes. Add hops as indicated and the SINAMAR® about 10 minutes before shut-down. Whirlpool the wort for up to 20 minutes, then chill to the temperature range of your selected yeast, usually to about 50–59 °F (10–15 °C) for most Bavarian lager strains.

Ferment the brew like a typical German lager. After primary fermentation (and a diacetyl rest, if needed), rack the beer off the yeast and lager it for 4–6 weeks. The optimal lagering temperature would be 28 °F (-2 °C), but refrigerator temperature (around 40 °F/4.4 °C) will work.

Partial mash option:
Reduce the Munich I malt to 1 lb. 4 oz. (0.57 kg) and Rauchmalz to 9.1 oz. (0.26 kg). Replace the Pilsner malt with 6 lbs. 10 oz. (3 kg) Munich liquid malt extract. Steep the grains at 149 °F (65 °C) for 45 minutes in 3 qts. (2.8 L) of water. Add water to make at least 3 gallons (11 L), add half the extract and boil for 70 minutes. Follow the remaining portion of the all-grain recipe.