That is the question, is it?  Inspired by this year’s Miketoberfest, I snagged a promising recipe via email from Brew Your Own (BYO) magazine. Once October came around, I brewed it, kegged it, and now after about a week in the keg, we’re ready to see how it turned out.

The recipe’s named “Festbier Is the Best Beer” and it has a straightforward malt bill. Let’s take you through the recipe, brewing procedures, and how it turned out.

The Recipe

This beer is billed as “a traditional festbier to be enjoyed by the liter during Oktoberfest or any fall festivities.”

Batch size: is 5 gallons/19 L with an all grain bill

Water
Spring water from the store – no additions

Grains
It’s 50/50 Pilsner and Light Munich malt.
6 pounds (2.7 kg) of Pilsner malt – I used the fancy floor malted stuff.
6 pounds (2.7 kg) of German Munich I malt (6 ºL) – check the Lovibond, you want the light stuff

Hops
1 ounce (28 g) of Perle hops – added at 60 minutes to go in the boil.
1 ounce (28 g) of Hallertauer Tradition hops – added at 10 minutes to go in the boil.

Yeast
1 packet of  SafLager W-34/70 dry yeast

Procedures
Mashed at 150 °F (~66 °C) for 60 minutes. Boiled for 60 minutes.
Added Whirlfloc tablet at 10 minutes to go in the boil.
Chilled to 65°F (18°C) and let it ferment at basement temperatures for 2 weeks. The ambient temps of the space were around the same as the chill temperature.

Outcomes
Original Gravity: 1.056
Final Gravity: 1.010
IBUs: 28
SRM: 7 (I think a Festbier should be more like a 4)
ABV: 5.9%

Final Thoughts

So after letting it sit in-keg for about a week and pouring a sample with Mike, here’s our take: visually it’s slightly darker than I’d expected for a true pale festbier. I would rather see a deep yellow to deep gold than this light amber but that’s cosmetic.

With the aroma, you get a nice subtle spice and floral-noble hop note from the Hallertau, underlying bread and light toast from the Munich malt.

Tasting the beer, we think it turned out to be super drinkable: dry finish, light but solid malt impression with no cloying sweetness.

The carbonation is good and the clarity will improve. I’m confident the beer will sharpen further given a few more weeks. If I were to dial it in next time, I would swing the malt ratio to 75% Pilsner / 25% Munich to pull a little more of the pale gold color and lighten the malt character slightly as Mike suggested.

Ultimately though, this recipe delivered so if you’re looking for a fall lager that hits nicely without going too heavy, give this one a shot.

BREW ON!