Windytown Dusseldörf Altbier

Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.046 SG
Original Gravity: 1.051 SG
Final Gravity: 1.013 SG
ABV: 5.0 %
IBU: 50 IBU
Colour: 25 EBC
BU:GU Ratio: 0.9

Mash water: 20L
Sparge water: 13L

Grain (total: 5.95kg):
Pilsner Malt 4.100kg (68.9%)
Munich Malt 1.000kg (16.8%)
Aromatic Malt 500g (8.4%)
CaraMunich I 250g (4.2%)
Carafa Special II 100 g (1.7%)

Hops:
30g Green Bullet 12.6% (40 IBU) @ 60min
15 g German Tettnang 3.1 % @ 15min

Mash at 67°C for 60 mins.

Sparge and boil for 60 mins.

Ferment at 16°C with White Labs WLP036-Dusseldorf Alt yeast. I made a starter. You’ll need to give it a couple of weeks or use Marshall Schott’s hybrid schedule on your upgraded STC-1000

I really love this beer. It’s a beautiful, crisp, malty German-tasting brew. It’s halfway between a lager and an ale, although it’s closer to a lager than an ale. There is no fruitiness or other ‘ale’ flavours, but the yeast does do a great job of accentuating the malt character. I think the Mangrove Jack’s M44 (US West Coast) yeast fermented at similar temperatures would do a good job too, but I have yet to give that a go.

I based this recipe on the one from Jamil Zainasheff’s excellent book Brewing Classic Styles.