Report on U-boat Marzen Oktoberfest:

Hello gang, just a quick report on the U-boat Oktoberfest 10 gal batch. The beer has been fermenting nicely at the frigged temperature of 45 degrees for the past 3 weeks. I decided to pull the beer from the fridge to do a diacetyl rest. After 24 hours I took a Specific Gravity reading on Sunday, and it was at 1.020 about half way from the starting gravity. I think I will let it go another week or two to see if we can get the gravity down near 1.007-1.013. After taking the reading I decided to do a taste test, and WOW let me tell you it was very much like a light German Lager if there ever was one. Still a bit sweet but it still has some fermenting to do! There is a light hint of hop aroma and some bitterness, but that should age out once it has been in the bottles a while.

After we get near the target ending gravity, I will rack to carboys, and begin the long temperature lowering Lagering phase till we get to 33 degrees F. in about a month, then we will bottle.

I am debating on bottling with priming sugar or creating a Kräusen to add to the brew to do bottle conditioning. If I decide to do a Kräusen then I will make a stronger batch of Oktoberfest at 11.5 gallons because I will use approx 1.5 gal to add to the current batch of beer. This way I will have the second batch hopefully at the target OG of 1.056-1.060, and will have a batch in bottles as another batch is fermenting. I don’t expect the current batch to last long after tasting it last night.

Well until next week, peace and Happy brewing!