Decided to brew this beer for myself. Made a few adjustments for my system’s efficiency, but this turned out great! Thanks Apartment Brewer for the recipe!
Looks fantastic great job! Loving the spices used, beer looks so nice wish I had my own to try! Smashed it! Big big fan of the bow on it! Lovely background music use too!
Thank you! Really enjoyed the process of making this beer more than many of the others I've done this year and the end result was very enjoyable! Thanks for watching!
Merry Christmas Trent, its been a great year and I'm glad to have worked with you during it. I can't wait to check out the Christmas video in a bit, cheers!
Now i wish i made something like this for christmas! it makes my mouth water, and reminds me of the time i made a dunkelweizen that i thourogly enjoyed. But instead I decided to make a Vienna lager after i saw your video, figured it would fit very well with the swedish christmas table and a picky family that normally opt for light lagers. But i stumbled upon a problem though, and maybe you have some input to share. after the Vienna Lager was done, kegged and carbonated i had a lovely flavour profile. light, highly drinkable but yet bready, nutty, lightly toasted and had notes of biscuit. lovely aroma of malt sweetness reminding me of honey, a hint of toffee and a faint wiff of espresso. But i thought it was slightly undercarbonated, so i decided to crank up the pressure on the keg for a few hours. i got busy, forgot about and left it like that for 48 hours. when i realised i panicked(naturally), and instantly lowered the pressure to 0 to decarb the beer. Pulled a sample, and it was crazily overcarbonated. After a few days of venting, i finally got it down to an acceptable level of carbonation, but to my dismay, the subtle flavour profile seems to be ruined. the carbonic acid seems to have lowered the pH a bit, making it slightly tart(but no way in the range of sour beer, just noticably lower than before). i can still smell and taste some of the previously described flavours, but they've mostly been masked by an unpleasant flavour i can only describe as metallic, probably due to the carbonic acid. considering that the flavour profile from the start is very light and subtle, this makes the beer very bland. The closest comparison i can use is that of carbonated water that has gone flat. it doesn't taste like pure water any more, and you can taste the residual flavour of the carbonation. I've never overcarbonated a beer before in the 6 years i've been brewing, and this came to me as a shock. the flavour and lowered pH from the overcarbonation seems to be permanent. i bottled it with my beer gun, but it still has the same problem, and it made me a bit sad as i loved the beer to begin with. Have you(or anyone reading this comment9 ever accidentally done this? the carbonic acid(which i'm suspecting is the culprit) created from the Co2 seems to be here to stay.
@@TheApartmentBrewer incredibly disappointing! But oh well, you live and you learn. It part of the hobby :) but I'll definitely be making the Vienna lager again. But I agree with your reflection, that it could use a bit of melanoidin to give it the extra complexity.
Glad I found your channel. Very informative and helpful for sure. Im am literally just getting started with Home brewing. (My beginner Extract setup just showed up to my house) Ive been called a mad scientist by friends with many other things I have done over the years so I figured Beer and cider would be a natural thing. I plan to play it safe at first and do recipe kits to star with but your channel has gotten me thinking about the future and what could be possible. I absolutely fell in love with a "Weihenstephaner Vitus" but its has been hard to find around me. It would be nice in the future to figure out how to make this and maybe a red version of it as well. Thanks again for the great information.
Its always a good feeling when you take on a challenge and then succeed. Looks like you nailed it! I was enjoying my Italian Pilsner from your Pilsner series as I watched. Have a Merry Christmas Steve!
That sounds really really good! Dang now I have another spiced holiday beer to choose from for next year. You TH-cam brewers are killing me! Too many awesome choices. LOL Thanks for the content and free recipes. Love your channel.
This looks like a great recipe! We've been eyeing either a dopplebock or dunkel (and doing a rauchbier version) but now you've provided me with a third option, lol. Also, great advice on the spices. We, too, have made many a mistake by going overboard or too dry.
We just made a similar beer 5 weeks ago and are loving the flavour. Only problem we have is head retention. Yours seems a bit weak too. You think some Carapils would help here?
I hesitate to use carapils in a beer like this. There's plenty of wheat in the to provide protein structure for the head retention. I think in my case it just needed a few more weeks in the bottle to fully bottle condition
@@TheApartmentBrewer same here, head retention. I think lagering the bottles at 23C+ straight after bottling for 2 weeks or so helps a lot. I today tried mine vs Aventinus and am very very happy with my results.
I made it too 2 weeks ago very similar recipe But i've used 3% for caramel malt 65 ebc,special b and chocolate malt Do you think Is inappropriate the chocolate malt?
Think I might try this beer for Christmas 2023. However, Dark Wheat Malt is not available where I live (South Africa), so I intend to use ordinary Wheat Malt to replace it and adjust the EBC with the other dark malts. So what was the EBC of this beer? so I can figure out my recipe on Brewfather? Any suggestions for which of the other dark malts I should play with to match your EBC?
Not sure of EBC since I work in SRM, but this is a light brown so probably around 18-20 SRM. If it's just color you're after a handful of carafa added at the end of the mash should help get you there
Another great video. I am curious about pressure fermentation since you advised against it. There is some debate online whether pressure really does suppress intended esters (like a Hefe) that much. I realize pressure is useful to suppress them during warm lager fermentations. Any chance you have compared pressure vs traditional using high ester producing yeasts?
Hi ApartmentBrewer, thanks for these great videos. I'm a new brewer and enjoying this format immensely. However, I have a question about your water profile. I am an analytical chemist and I have two comments/questions as I try to understand your methods: 1) You have an error in your description of Calcium Chloride, which is CaCl2, not CaCl. I'm not sure if this is only a typo or if it impacts the actual values and math, but based on the recipe provided (and using CaCl2) I am calculating 101.18ppm Calcium in this batch, but you are claiming 51ppm (assuming starting from zero). Is your CaCl2 not 100% pure, or is it a hydrate perhaps? I calculate 1.45g of Ca from 4g CaCl2, and 0.465g of Ca from the gypsum (CaSO4*2H2O). 2) The other question I have is how the numbers are displayed. Are these values your final DESIRED values taking into account source water, or are you just assuming zero source water (confirmed ever, ICPMS?)? I use RODI ultrapure water for my brews and would like to start copying your recipes as exactly as possible, thanks!
So I am not a chemist. As far as I know, the calcium chloride I use is a dihydrate, and I have always used online brewing calculators to determine my desired ppm. I use distilled water to start.
You have a typo on the recipe for the Melanoidin (it is 0.25 lb, not 0.5). btw, I have fallen in love with the Weyermann Dark Wheat malt, I am using some of that in almost every beer I make these days, except for the palest/lightest (which I rarely brew or drink anyway). Spices aside, this is fairly similar to a dunkelweizen recipe I have developed. (Except for the Special B, which I have decided I don't want to use anymore, so my top end caramel in something like this is a C77.) I'm trying to remember if you have used Mecca Grade Malts in any of your recipes; any of Metolius Munich, Opal 22, and Opal 44 could each find a place in this sort of recipe. Have you tried them yet?
Glad you enjoyed the video, and thanks for catching the typo. I haven't used mecca grade malts but they are quite interesting and I would like to eventually check them out
I think at 62 you're below the low spec for the yeast; I would try next time starting by 70 ambient. Let it take off. Then if you want to go in the sixties move it there.
I've used this yeast a good 5 times at various temperatures and it has zero issues kicking off fermentation at those temps. I like to start lower and ramp as it keeps the fermentation from stalling. That being said if you prefer extra banana esters then your fermentation schedule works great, it's all personal preference
I’m a fan of low alpha acid hops, even noble hops even for bittering, because as homebrewers..we can..! We aren’t bittering a million gallons, so..why not use beautifully flavored hops as well?
@@TheApartmentBrewer yes, and I tend to brew Kolsch, ales, fairly low hopped stuff..I wasn’t considering more volume and high hopping rates..I have seen some interesting new hops though w great acid profiles..
During the pour segment I felt like one of Pavlov’s dogs. It looks delicious! Merry Christmas and Hoppy New Year!🎅
Thanks! Merry Christmas to you as well!
Thats a beer you can feel happy about handing out as a gift. Nice work
Thanks! I only wish I had more of it!
I made this recipe. Its been in the fermenter now for 2 weeks. The tasting samples have me excited.
Still one of my favorite Christmas beers of all time!
Another great video........wish you Merry Christmas and happy holidays.....cheers.....have fun.....
Merry Christmas!
Wow sounds intense! Finishing off the year strong! Great job looks delicious, cheers!
It's one of my favorites of the whole year, good one to end with indeed. Thanks for watching!
Decided to brew this beer for myself. Made a few adjustments for my system’s efficiency, but this turned out great! Thanks Apartment Brewer for the recipe!
Awesome!! It was a super fun project
This was a good information for the Weisbeer fermentation an yeast temp , quantity and fermentation. History is also much appreciated 👍
Glad you found it useful!
Just moved back to the states from England. Looking forward to start brewing again, videos like this give me ideas!
Welcome back!
Damn that beer sounds good and heavy...merry Christmas and whatever anyone else celebrates
It was a tasty beer for sure. Cheers!
Merry Christmas Steve!!!!
Merry Christmas to you too!
Just brewed this today can’t wait for Christmas to taste it.
Thanks for all your content 👍
Looks fantastic great job! Loving the spices used, beer looks so nice wish I had my own to try! Smashed it! Big big fan of the bow on it! Lovely background music use too!
Thank you! Really enjoyed the process of making this beer more than many of the others I've done this year and the end result was very enjoyable! Thanks for watching!
@@TheApartmentBrewer I think that’s definitely translated into both the flavour of the beer itself as well as the video, you genuinely seem thrilled!
Merry Christmas Steve. A great end to a great year. Excited to see what you bring to the table in 2022!
Merry Christmas Trent, its been a great year and I'm glad to have worked with you during it. I can't wait to check out the Christmas video in a bit, cheers!
dang, thats purty....good stuff man.
Thanks for watching, cheers!
Now i wish i made something like this for christmas! it makes my mouth water, and reminds me of the time i made a dunkelweizen that i thourogly enjoyed. But instead I decided to make a Vienna lager after i saw your video, figured it would fit very well with the swedish christmas table and a picky family that normally opt for light lagers.
But i stumbled upon a problem though, and maybe you have some input to share.
after the Vienna Lager was done, kegged and carbonated i had a lovely flavour profile. light, highly drinkable but yet bready, nutty, lightly toasted and had notes of biscuit. lovely aroma of malt sweetness reminding me of honey, a hint of toffee and a faint wiff of espresso. But i thought it was slightly undercarbonated, so i decided to crank up the pressure on the keg for a few hours. i got busy, forgot about and left it like that for 48 hours. when i realised i panicked(naturally), and instantly lowered the pressure to 0 to decarb the beer. Pulled a sample, and it was crazily overcarbonated. After a few days of venting, i finally got it down to an acceptable level of carbonation, but to my dismay, the subtle flavour profile seems to be ruined. the carbonic acid seems to have lowered the pH a bit, making it slightly tart(but no way in the range of sour beer, just noticably lower than before). i can still smell and taste some of the previously described flavours, but they've mostly been masked by an unpleasant flavour i can only describe as metallic, probably due to the carbonic acid. considering that the flavour profile from the start is very light and subtle, this makes the beer very bland. The closest comparison i can use is that of carbonated water that has gone flat. it doesn't taste like pure water any more, and you can taste the residual flavour of the carbonation. I've never overcarbonated a beer before in the 6 years i've been brewing, and this came to me as a shock. the flavour and lowered pH from the overcarbonation seems to be permanent. i bottled it with my beer gun, but it still has the same problem, and it made me a bit sad as i loved the beer to begin with. Have you(or anyone reading this comment9 ever accidentally done this? the carbonic acid(which i'm suspecting is the culprit) created from the Co2 seems to be here to stay.
Yup that has happened to me before. Excess carbonation will lead to flavor changes due to the acid
@@TheApartmentBrewer incredibly disappointing! But oh well, you live and you learn. It part of the hobby :) but I'll definitely be making the Vienna lager again. But I agree with your reflection, that it could use a bit of melanoidin to give it the extra complexity.
Really super video, Steve! I really loved how your glass tilted all by itself on your porch railing as you poured. Happy Holidays!
It's the magic of Christmas lol. Thanks for watching!
Glad I found your channel. Very informative and helpful for sure. Im am literally just getting started with Home brewing. (My beginner Extract setup just showed up to my house) Ive been called a mad scientist by friends with many other things I have done over the years so I figured Beer and cider would be a natural thing. I plan to play it safe at first and do recipe kits to star with but your channel has gotten me thinking about the future and what could be possible. I absolutely fell in love with a "Weihenstephaner Vitus" but its has been hard to find around me. It would be nice in the future to figure out how to make this and maybe a red version of it as well. Thanks again for the great information.
Thats a very good christmas beer enjoy cheers to good health.
Merry Christmas! Glad you enjoyed it!
Just brewed this, minus the spices, today. If it comes out like Aventinus I'll be very happy.
Let me know!
Great video mate! Brilliant explanation as always - love these interesting beer instalments.
Cheers! Thanks for watching!
Sweet Sweater Steve. Good video. Merry Christmas my friend!
Merry Christmas Curt!!
Cheers. This beer looks very good. Merry Christmas.
Thanks! It was delicious!
You should do a video of the top 5 brews you did this year in your opinion!
Got something like that coming up next week!
Merry Christmas dude. Thanks for the great videos over the last year. Bring on 2022 and some amazing clean beers, thanks to finding Isinglass
Its always a good feeling when you take on a challenge and then succeed. Looks like you nailed it! I was enjoying my Italian Pilsner from your Pilsner series as I watched. Have a Merry Christmas Steve!
Merry Christmas Gerard! I'm so glad that Italian pils worked out for you!
Love all your content mate. Merry Christmas to you and yours!!!
Merry Christmas!
That sounds really really good! Dang now I have another spiced holiday beer to choose from for next year. You TH-cam brewers are killing me! Too many awesome choices. LOL Thanks for the content and free recipes. Love your channel.
Glad you enjoyed the video! It's a great community to be a part of!
Nice dress.. merry Christmas
Merry Christmas!
I did read it as Santa's Reserve, now I see it's Revenge 😝. Merry Christmas Steve ☃️🎄
Damn, that would have been a much better name! Merry Christmas!
How did you get the priming sugar into the bottles evenly?
Make a priming sugar solution with water in a separate container then pour equal measures into each bottle after sanitizing but before filling
Love the recipe and the video!
Thanks, happy holidays!
This looks like a great recipe! We've been eyeing either a dopplebock or dunkel (and doing a rauchbier version) but now you've provided me with a third option, lol. Also, great advice on the spices. We, too, have made many a mistake by going overboard or too dry.
I'd love to see what you do with a doppelbock! I'm going to probably come back and brew a non spiced version of this at some point though. Cheers!
Very cool, looks soooooo good!!
👍🏻👍🏻🍺🍺
Cheers Tom, merry Christmas!
We just made a similar beer 5 weeks ago and are loving the flavour. Only problem we have is head retention. Yours seems a bit weak too. You think some Carapils would help here?
I hesitate to use carapils in a beer like this. There's plenty of wheat in the to provide protein structure for the head retention. I think in my case it just needed a few more weeks in the bottle to fully bottle condition
@@TheApartmentBrewer same here, head retention. I think lagering the bottles at 23C+ straight after bottling for 2 weeks or so helps a lot. I today tried mine vs Aventinus and am very very happy with my results.
I made it too 2 weeks ago very similar recipe
But i've used 3% for caramel malt 65 ebc,special b and chocolate malt
Do you think Is inappropriate the chocolate malt?
As long as it doesn't impart any significant roast flavor I wouldn't say its inappropriate
Damn, it looks SO good! I'm dying to try it 😄 I'll pay for the beer plus shipping!
I wish! All of these have a name on them already though!
Think I might try this beer for Christmas 2023. However, Dark Wheat Malt is not available where I live (South Africa), so I intend to use ordinary Wheat Malt to replace it and adjust the EBC with the other dark malts. So what was the EBC of this beer? so I can figure out my recipe on Brewfather? Any suggestions for which of the other dark malts I should play with to match your EBC?
Not sure of EBC since I work in SRM, but this is a light brown so probably around 18-20 SRM. If it's just color you're after a handful of carafa added at the end of the mash should help get you there
Thx for the help buddy
Another great video. I am curious about pressure fermentation since you advised against it. There is some debate online whether pressure really does suppress intended esters (like a Hefe) that much. I realize pressure is useful to suppress them during warm lager fermentations. Any chance you have compared pressure vs traditional using high ester producing yeasts?
I have not actually, but that would be a good experiment to run
How did you ground your nutmeg ,it broke my blender blade🤣
I used a cheese grater actually
Hi ApartmentBrewer, thanks for these great videos. I'm a new brewer and enjoying this format immensely. However, I have a question about your water profile. I am an analytical chemist and I have two comments/questions as I try to understand your methods: 1) You have an error in your description of Calcium Chloride, which is CaCl2, not CaCl. I'm not sure if this is only a typo or if it impacts the actual values and math, but based on the recipe provided (and using CaCl2) I am calculating 101.18ppm Calcium in this batch, but you are claiming 51ppm (assuming starting from zero). Is your CaCl2 not 100% pure, or is it a hydrate perhaps? I calculate 1.45g of Ca from 4g CaCl2, and 0.465g of Ca from the gypsum (CaSO4*2H2O). 2) The other question I have is how the numbers are displayed. Are these values your final DESIRED values taking into account source water, or are you just assuming zero source water (confirmed ever, ICPMS?)? I use RODI ultrapure water for my brews and would like to start copying your recipes as exactly as possible, thanks!
So I am not a chemist. As far as I know, the calcium chloride I use is a dihydrate, and I have always used online brewing calculators to determine my desired ppm. I use distilled water to start.
Looks delicious! FYI, the SO4 and Cl levels in the video description are swapped.
Good catch, thank you! Fixed now
you should try Imperial Yeast - Stefon
Imperial has some great strains that I love using, although I'm 99% sure Stefon is the exact same strain, the Weihen"stefon" weizen.
You have a typo on the recipe for the Melanoidin (it is 0.25 lb, not 0.5).
btw, I have fallen in love with the Weyermann Dark Wheat malt, I am using some of that in almost every beer I make these days, except for the palest/lightest (which I rarely brew or drink anyway).
Spices aside, this is fairly similar to a dunkelweizen recipe I have developed. (Except for the Special B, which I have decided I don't want to use anymore, so my top end caramel in something like this is a C77.)
I'm trying to remember if you have used Mecca Grade Malts in any of your recipes; any of Metolius Munich, Opal 22, and Opal 44 could each find a place in this sort of recipe. Have you tried them yet?
No!!!! Not more Special B!! ;-)
Glad you enjoyed the video, and thanks for catching the typo. I haven't used mecca grade malts but they are quite interesting and I would like to eventually check them out
Sounds great but too late to brew for this Christmas 😞
Sadly true, but it doesn't need to necessarily be a Christmas beer!
I think at 62 you're below the low spec for the yeast; I would try next time starting by 70 ambient. Let it take off. Then if you want to go in the sixties move it there.
I've used this yeast a good 5 times at various temperatures and it has zero issues kicking off fermentation at those temps. I like to start lower and ramp as it keeps the fermentation from stalling. That being said if you prefer extra banana esters then your fermentation schedule works great, it's all personal preference
@@TheApartmentBrewer Interesting! I always figured the risk of stalling would be higher if you don't provide the temps the manufacturer recommends.
I’m a fan of low alpha acid hops, even noble hops even for bittering, because as homebrewers..we can..! We aren’t bittering a million gallons, so..why not use beautifully flavored hops as well?
They are good but sometimes the huge amount of plant material can be a bit difficult to work with. Cheers!
@@TheApartmentBrewer yes, and I tend to brew Kolsch, ales, fairly low hopped stuff..I wasn’t considering more volume and high hopping rates..I have seen some interesting new hops though w great acid profiles..
Dude, send me a bottle :D
Ha, if only I had enough to distribute to everyone!
👍👍😋😋😋😋🥳
Cheers!
So a Speizenbock? Ok I'll see myself out.
Haha love it!! Merry Christmas!