I picked an Original Gravity for the beer of 1.057 which is in the middle of the range for this style. So even though I used it I’m not 100% convinced it was needed in this case. This is a technique I’ve tried before with good results, though in a podcast discussion with Gordon Strong last year, he recommended against using Melanoidin. The idea is that the Melanoidin malt provided a bit of soft maltiness, (not toasty) to give it a bit more character. I’m reluctant to add any other malts to a great base, but in this case I did add a small amount of Melanoidin (4%) malt to get a bit more of the decoction character. The specific malt is also important so I purchased actual German Pilsner and Munich malt as the base. To get the character out of the malt, I’m going to use a 50% Munich malt base, and the balance of the malt bill will be German Pilsner malt. Traditional Marzens are made with a mix of just Munich and Pilsner malt, so it makes sense to stick with that approach. All Marzens have a heavy emphasis on Munich malt and this base malt is really the backbone of the style. The Malt Bill for MarzenĪs is my habit, I start first with the malt bill. I’m hoping to create something that is authentic to the Marzen style. It is described as “An amber, malty German lager with a clean, rich, toasty, bready malt flavor, restrained bitterness, and a well-attenuated finish.” It is different from the slightly lighter Oktoberfest style which is better described as a Festbier. In this case I’m shooting for a well defined beer style – Marzen is category 6A in the 2021 BJCP style guide. This beer was inspired by a trip to Germany I made a few years back. Designing a Marzen Beerīefore I start a new beer, I sit down and describe what I’m trying to accomplish. Along the way I describe my thought processes as I work through creating and brewing a new recipe. This week I present a design case study for developing a Marzen beer recipe.

Beersmith 3 reviews