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It’s interesting how some beer styles seem to get so much attention and others languish on the sidelines. These days with the prevalence of big, bold beers, everyday normal gravity beers like Altbier are often overlooked.
This is a shame, because this is a supremely delicious and drinkable classic style of beer. Hailing from the Düsseldorf area of Germany, Altbier is a copper to brown colored beer with a firm malt presence and anywhere from a noticeable to a generous hopping rate. It is also a great drinking beer; one you can have a few of, unlike some extreme beers. Altbier is also a great house beer for homebrewers. This is a beer that everyone will love to drink when they come to your house, even if they are not familiar with the style.
Although Altbier is fermented with ale yeast, it has the clean fresh flavor of a good German lager, but without the finicky fermentation of one. This is imparted by using a special alt yeast that ferments at cooler temperatures, for a cleaner fermentation, and a period of lagering or cold aging. The best Altbiers have a pleasing toasty and bready maltiness tempered with enough fine hop bitterness to deliciously balance the dry malt flavor. Hop aroma can be low to medium, combining with the delicious malt aroma from Munich malt, and hop flavor is low.
Some classic German examples are Zum Uerige, Im Fuschen, Schlosser, and Frankheim. Domestic examples include Southampton Secret (in Düsseldorf some breweries produce a seasonal stronger Altbier called a “Sticke” which means secret), Otter Creek Copper Ale, and Widmer Ur-Alt.
To brew the best possible example of this style of beer, it is necessary to use authentic ingredients. That means German pilsner and Munich malts, and German noble hops, like Spalt, the classic alt hop (although the various Hallertau varieties will also work). An authentic German alt yeast culture is also important to achieve the true depth of flavor that a real Altbier has.
These yeasts ferment at lower than normal temperatures for ale yeasts, typically in the 60-64 range, which will result in the clean, crisp flavor these beers are known for. If you ferment in a carboy, you will get to see the beautiful huge rocky krausen that is characteristic of these yeasts. Definitely plan on lagering the finished beer for a few weeks at as close to freezing temperature as you can. This will clean up and meld the flavors together beautifully. WYeast 1007 German ale yeast is a classic choice, as are White Labs WLP029 and WLP036.
Altbier: all grain recipe
Ingredients:
6 lbs. German two row pilsner malt
3 lbs. German Munich malt
.5 lb. German crystal malt
7 AAU’s German noble hop pellets-70 minutes
2 AAU’s German noble hop pellets-25 minutes
2 oz. German noble hop pellets-0 minutes
German ale yeast slurry
Method:
Heat 14 quarts brewing water to 164°. Mash in crushed grain to reach 150°. Hold for 60 minutes. Stir in about 3 to 4 quarts boiling water to raise temp. to 168°. Recirculate gently until runoff appears clear, then sparge with 168° water to collect 6 gallons. Boil for 70 minutes, adding hops as indicated. Cool to 62° and pitch yeast starter. Aerate thoroughly. O.G. = 1.052.
Altbier: extract recipe
Ingredients:
6 lbs dry German malt extract
2 lbs. German Munich malt
.5 lb. German crystal malt
7 AAU’s German noble hoppellets-70 minutes
2 AAU’s German noble hop pellets-25 minutes
2 oz. German noble hop pellets-0 minutes
German ale yeast slurry
Method:
Heat 6 gallons of brewing water (use two pots if necessary). Steep the crushed grains in a grain bag. When the water reaches 160°, hold for 30 minutes and then remove the grain bag. Remove the pot from heat source and stir in malt extract into the brewing water until completely dissolved, then boil for 70 minutes, adding hops as indicated. Cool to 60° and pitch yeast starter. Aerate thoroughly. O.G. = 1052.
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