Wyeast for doppelbock?

[NikoBrew]

I plan on brewing a doppelbock with mostly munich malt. I want this to attenuate as much as possible and I'm showing wyeast's site with some lager yeast witha a 9% tolerance though I'm planning on it being about 10% so I don't know if this would be pushing it with their bohemian, bavarian or munich yeast. Any suggestions? Would making a starter make it stronger to eat more than that 9%?

I plan on brewing to finish with about 4 1/5 gallons, bottle conditioning 24 bottles of it and diluting the rest with distilled water to turn into a bock (if it turns out that way). Any suggestions? Thanks.

[NikoBrew]

Okay now I'm reading about yeast washing. It look wayyy easier than I thought.

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

Honestly I think almost all of them could go that high if you treat them right. The WLP 830 / Wyeast 2124 is a pretty solid workhorse strain, and I haven't used many other lager strains.

The important thing is making another lager first, or you're going to have to do like a 3-4 gallon starter just to get enough yeast. Just baby the shit out of every aspect of fermentation, and it will probably work out great.

I am in the camp of not yeast washing. I just make sure not to get too much crap into the fermenter so the yeast harvest is fairly clean. Most homebrewers don't repitch more than a couple times and I don't think there is enough build up of trub or dead yeast in that time to make it worthwhile.

[NikoBrew]

Honestly I think almost all of them could go that high if you treat them right. The WLP 830 / Wyeast 2124 is a pretty solid workhorse strain, and I haven't used many other lager strains.

The important thing is making another lager first, or you're going to have to do like a 3-4 gallon starter just to get enough yeast. Just baby the shit out of every aspect of fermentation, and it will probably work out great.

I am in the camp of not yeast washing. I just make sure not to get too much crap into the fermenter so the yeast harvest is fairly clean. Most homebrewers don't repitch more than a couple times and I don't think there is enough build up of trub or dead yeast in that time to make it worthwhile.

Thanks for the tip and good call on how big the starter would need to be. The main reason I was thinking of washing is because the beer that's fermenting now is a CDA being lagered Lots of hops and a slightly higher gravity than what I've read you should pitch on top of (that part isn't WHY I was thinking of washing it). The hops being the main thing, not that I mind hops in general, this will be the least hoppy beer of all I've ever made.

[Chupa LaHomebrew]

In that case, I could see washing it a bit.

[NikoBrew]

In that case, I could see washing it a bit.

Yeah should be a fun beer to drink, a lagered cda, I haven't lagered before and this is a beer a friend brewed at our club's group brew. I usually try to fit about a half pound of hops in my 5 gallon beers, it's going t o be strange brewing a doppelbock I think I'll toy with some iso extract too when its done.

[Westco]

I agree 100% with making a 5 gallon batch of whatever then repitching that yeast. It always turns out better then making a 3 gallon starter plus you have more beer that way!

I highly suggest the Bavarian strain. I just brewed a series with it. German pils 5 gallon. Then 10 gallons of Ofest. And 10 gallons of doppelbock is at TG right now. That is the ultimate strain for malty German beers! Plus it's attenuation is 75%. Perfect for dry beers with lots of malt flavor.

[Hewy]

I am a big fan of 2308 for the german styles... lovely and malty.

Just be sure to pitch enough healthy yeast and you should be ok.