Looking for a Kellerbier Recipe

[SternBrew]

A friend of mine just moved back home after being stationed in Germany. He has talked to me a couple times about enjoying Kellerbier, among many others, while he was there. I've been looking for a recipe, or even a hint as to the ingredients used, to no avail.

So far, here's what I've found. If anyone has additional insight, please post up. Thanks.

-Amber colored, malty pilsner, although it seems a helles version of the style might also be made.
-High hop flavor and aroma, low carbonation (traditionally served from a loosely bunged cask) - as opposed to Zwickelbier, which shares a similar malt profile, but is less hoppy and carbonated.
-Weyermann malting company lists their smoke malt as being an ingredient in the style, but in the few descriptions I've read, I haven't heard that it has a noticable smoke flavor.
-Weyermann also lists their rye malt as a kellerbier ingredient.

[SternBrew]

After I said I couldn't find a recipe, I ran across this today. Any comments from someone whose had a commercial example of this beer?



5 US gallons
All temperatures are in degrees farenheit

All Grain Recipe
Ingredients
8.00 lbs Weyerman Bavarian Pils malt
3.75 lbs Briess Munich malt
2 cups French oak chips (light toast)
2.0 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh or Hersbrucker hops for bittering (8 AAU)
1.5 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrueh or Hersbrucker hops for flavor/aroma
your choice of yeast:
- Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager)
- Wyeast 2308 (Munich Lager)
- White Labs WLP838 (Southern German Lager)
- White Labs WLP920 (Old Bavarian Lager)
Step By Step

The day before brewing, make a tea out of the oak chips. The tea will be used at pitching time:
- toast them on a cookie sheet at 250 degrees for about an hour
- put 2 cups oak chips in 180 degree water
- seal this in a jar, let it cool, and put it in the fridge overnight

Use a traditional step infusion mash:
- dough-in at 122 degrees
- let rest for about 30 minutes
- infuse with hot water to reach temp of 148 degrees
- hold temp for 15 minutes
- raise temp to 156 degrees
- hold temp for 15 minutes
- sparge slowly with near-boiling water until mash is at 170 degrees
- lower sparge water temp to keep mash at or slightly below 170 degrees
- finish sparging with kettle gravity of about 1.050

Boil wort for 90 minutes.
Add bittering hops with 75 minutes left in the boil.
At flame-off, add the flavor/aroma hops.
Cool wort to as close as you can to the fermetation temp (48 degrees).
Rack to carboy.
Add oak-chip tea.
Pitch yeast.

Ferment at 48 degrees to completion (perhaps 3 weeks).
Rack to secondary and allow to warm to room temp for a 2-day diacetyl rest.
Rack to tertiary and allow to age for about 2 months at 50 to 55 degrees.
Bottle or keg, but do not prime it.

[Sent From My iPhone]

The Oak tea idea is interesting, is that common for Kellerbiers? Why not just throw 1-2 oz into the fermentor?

[one_dead_soul]

i had one that the harpoon brewery made about 1 and a half years ago. i remember it being really really good.. but thats all i remember.. i know thats no help but i'll tell ya i'm gonna make that recipe you posted. if its at all close it'll be great

tom

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

Hmm..oak? Isn't a keller beer normally just an unfiltered light german lager?

The Brooklyn keller beer that was released in NYC was a real hit. Very easy to drink. If I were going to try it, I'd just take something like Jamil's helles recipe, maybe throw in some munich, and some small additions of late hops.

If you want the slightly cloudy appearance you normally get with these beers, maybe you could throw in some wheat or a half ounce of dry hops. I'd leave the oak out.

[Motor]

HopMonk, a beautiful pub recently opened by the Biersch in Gordon-Biersch, brews a Kellerbier.

http://www.hopmonk.com/ourbeer.html

It's really great, as is EVERYTHING about the pub. Before it became HopMonk, it was another brewpub, Powerhouse, with the best wings ever. It's located in Sebastapol, in the Beer Country, about 15 minutes from Russian River and 30 minutes from Bear Republic. Went to both HopMonk and Russian River on a day-trip last weekend and continue to be impressed with how great they are.

Next time Dan Gordon is on the show, ask him about Dean's beer. He should know.

-Motor