Fall makes me think of delicious malt forward brews. A couple weeks ago I decided try my hand at brewing a traditional bock. I drew heavily from the recipe found in “Brewing Classic Styles” by Palmer and Zainasheff. I like to use this book as guide. I always end up improvising a bit but the recipes still turn out great. It can be a challenge to get ingredients in the middle-of-nowhere China. I also have a surplus of random ingredients from a brewpub in town that went under less than a year back and I’m keen to use those up as well.
My buddy Pete tried the final product and declared it so good that it was worthy of a name like: “Spock’s Bock”. Its been on tap for about two weeks now and my five gallons is almost gone. I’m lamenting this fact and am already planning a rebrew. I’m not sure if I’ve ever rebrewed a beer at home. I always tweak it. And I probably will again on the next iteration. I just ran out of Special B.
Recipe
Fermentables
- Munich Malt 4.650 kg (10 lbs 3 ounces)
- Pilsner 2 kg (4 lbs 6 ounces)
- CaraBohemian 250g (8 ounces)
- Special B (8 ounces)
- Melanoiden Malt (3.5 ounces)
- Carafa I 75g (2.5 ounces)
*Estimated OG 1.067 with 70% efficiency
Hops
- Saaz (USA) 3.8% AA 90 grams at 60 minutes for 22.8 estimated IBUs
*I use a hop utilization rate of 80% because I live at higher than sea level elevation. I have a ton of Saaz hops so I started throwing them in pretty much everything.
Yeast
- SafLager 34/70 (slurry 2nd pitch)
Water
- 100% reverse osmosis (RO)
- CaCl 4g
- CaSO4 2g
- MgSO4 2g
*Balanced profile
Process
- Mashed at 68° C (155.4° F) for 60 minutes. Mash pH was 5.52.
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Boiled for 60 minutes. Chilled to 17° C (62.6° F).
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Fermentation chamber set at 18° C (64.4° F)
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Temperature control probe taped to the side of the fermentor with a cloth over the probe for a bit of insulation.
- Diacetyl rest for 3 days at 20° C (68° F)
- After a week of fermentation I kegged it, let it get cold, and fined with gelatin.
Gravity and Efficiency
OG: 1.056
FG: 1.016
ABV: 5.7%
*I’ve been missing my volumes lately after switching brewing software again. I ended up with quite a bit more volume at the end of the boil hence the lower OG.
Tasting
Malty: Biscuit and toast. A bit of caramel and dark fruit. Plum and raisin
Hops: Not a lot getting in the way here.
The search for bock has ended.
Comments are welcome!