This beer has been in the making for quite some time. It started back in August when I was inspired to do a bock style beer by the upcoming Reddit homebrew competition for 2013. I did some research on the style and decided I wanted to take a stab at creating my own recipe from scratch. With the help of Brewing Classic Styles, the BJCP style guidelines, and various recipes I found online I created the recipe found below.
Though I did not brew this beer in time for the homebrew competition, I found it to be a good exercise in crafting recipes from scratch. I’ve since received a copy of Designing Great Beers from my buddy, Dan, and his wife, Nikki, and have a much greater hold on how to draft and fine tune recipes.
NernBock, a Traditional Bock
Brew date: 11/02/2013
Racked to secondary
Bottle date: 02/02/2014
Boil Time: 90 min
Batch Size: 5.5 gal
Target OG: 1.062
Target FG: 1.013
Estimated Conversion Efficiency: 65%
Actual OG: 1.054
Actual FG: 1.009
Actual Conversion Efficiency: 55.9% (Yikes! Off by nearly 10%!)
ABV: 5.91%Fermentables:
56.5% Munich 10 (8.5 lb)
39.9% Vienna (6 lb)
2.3% CaraMunich (5.5 oz)
1.4% Caraffa II (3.3 oz)Hops:
1 oz – Hallertau Hersbrucker pellet hops, AA: 4.3% (60 min)
0.7 oz – Hallertau Hersbrucker pellet hops, AA: 4.3% (30 min)Yeast:
Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager Yeast
Directions
Mash at 154F for 60 minutes. Mash out and batch sparge to collect about 6 gallons of wort. Boil for 90 minutes. Cool and pitch yeast and ferment at optimum temperature. For the last week of lagering, increase temperature to 60F for a diacetyl rest.
Taste Notes
This beer’s aroma is sweet and malty, with notes of caramel and toffee. The hop aroma is almost non-existent, which works well for this style. The beer’s color is a deep copper to brown, with red hues — perhaps a little too dark for the style at around 34 SRM. The low carbonation on this beer begins with a small head, but does not have enough dissolved gas to sustain. Upon the first sip there’s an immediate roastyness followed by full malty backbone. Notes of caramel and coffee shine through, with a clean aftertaste from the Bavarian lager yeast.
Overall, this beer is very enjoyable. Arguably one of the best I’ve made so far! As a side note, this beer pairs GREAT with sushi!
To make this beer better next time, I would would work harder to ensure I hit my efficiency. First, I would make sure I have a better crush on my grain. Secondly, as I used less-modified malts in this beer, I’d like to try a multi-step decoction mash. Next, I would work to ensure the beer is carbonated well enough. I used corn syrup rather than dextrose in this batch, so I will be sure to use dextrose next time.