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recipe

Old Timer’s Bock

This recipe is our attempt of brewing an American bock similar to that of Hartmann Brewing Co.’s 1904 version.

Old Timer’s Bock, all-grain recipe

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)
OG = 1.060  FG = 1.010
IBU = 35  SRM = 13  ABV = 6.6%

Ingredients

8.2 lbs. (3.7 kg) Simpsons Best Pale Ale malt
1.5 lbs. (0.68 kg) Simpsons medium crystal malt (65 °L)
3 lbs. (1.4 kg) flaked corn
9.2 AAU Huell Melon hops (60 min.) (1.5 oz./43 g at 6.1% alpha acids)
SafLager S-23 or White Labs WLP820 (Oktoberfest/Märzen Lager) or Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) yeast
2⁄3 cup corn sugar (if priming)

Step by Step

Mix the grains and flaked corn with 5 gallons (19 L) of water to give a mash temperature of 153 °F (67 °C) and hold for one hour. Run off and sparge to collect 5.5–6 gallons (21–23 L) of wort. Add the hops (and any salts, if needed, to give concentrations of 96 ppm Na+ and 148 ppm Cl) and boil for 60 minutes. 

Cool to 52 °F (11 °C) and pitch two packets of the yeast or an adequately-sized starter if using liquid yeast. Keep at 50–52 °F (10–11 °C) for two weeks, by which time the gravity should be down to 1.010. Then raise the temperature to 60–65 °F (16–18 °C) for two days for a diacetyl rest (not something Hartmann would have done). Then allow to cool gradually to 31 °F (-0.6 °C) for 20 days and put into the serving tank. Keg or bottle in the usual manner.

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