Oktoberfest Amber Lager
The backbone of this recipe — 100% sorghum malt grist with gypsum, the mash methods, the enzyme discipline, the bitterness architecture with its tetra swap, the cool clean fermentation with a diacetyl rest — is the practice already documented across this site's brewing pages, assembled here into one recipe. The Oktoberfest steering (roast level, noble hop choice) is guidance consistent with our field experience that German recipes suit sorghum malt, marked where it appears. Nothing else is invented.
The recipe (5 gallons)
| Component | Amount | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Sorghum malt, Vienna-roast (house-standard roast) | 10 lb | Documented grist: 100% sorghum malt; roast level is style guidance |
| Gypsum | ~1 tsp in the grist | Documented practice — gypsum in the grist at ~0.2% |
| Rice hulls | 0.5 lb at mash-out | Documented practice |
| Bittering hops | Clean high-alpha (e.g. CTZ family), 60 min, ~9 IBU | Documented architecture, halved for style — see bitterness note |
| Character hops | Noble German (Hallertau family), 15 min, ~4 IBU | Guidance backed by precedent — Bard's brewed this style with Tettnang and Hallertau (Craig's recall); Sterling is the later flagship's documented character hop |
| Tetra hop extract | ~5 IBU equivalent, for foam | Documented — the 5 IBU rule |
| Yeast | Clean lager strain cold, or a clean ale strain at the bottom of its range | Clean ale yeast at 20.5°C with a diacetyl rest is the documented practice; true lager fermentation is style guidance |
| Yeast nutrient (verified gluten-free) | Per supplier | Documented standard practice — why |
| Target OG | ~13–14°P (1.053–1.057) | Style guidance — Märzen strength; the documented practices above were built at lighter gravity, so expect to mash bigger |
| Bitterness | ~18 IBU total including the tetra | Documented practice, and right for the style: malt leads |
The mash: pick your route
Two documented routes to the wort, both published in full:
- MP1 at Homebrew Scale — the standard: 190°F liquefaction, 145°F conversion, 180°F mash-out. Glucose-forward wort, reliably dry.
- Method 1: Old Traditional Bard's — the older route: low rest, boil, then fungal-alpha at 132°F for exactly 100 minutes. Maltose-leaning wort — arguably the better match for a malt-forward style, and an open research question either way.
Running both routes on the same recipe and comparing the beers would be one of the most useful reports this site could receive.
Fermentation
Ferment clean and cool (ale strain at 20.5°C / 69°F, or lager cold per your strain), with a diacetyl rest when gravity nears terminal (the documented practice: at 5°P, raise to 22°C), then crash — the full fermentation discipline is here. An Oktoberfest lives or dies on clean fermentation — there's no hop cover for a buttery lager. And the ale-strain route isn't hypothetical: the Oktoberfest-style lager Bard's brewed ran at ale temperatures (Craig's recall).
Why this beer, this way
This recipe is Stop Hiding Behind the Hops made drinkable: a style where the malt is the point, bitterness stays restrained (~18 IBU, five of them from foam-positive tetra), and the sorghum has to actually taste like something. If the malt foundation is weak, this beer will tell you. That's the point.
Report back
Gravity, fermentation curve, which mash route you ran, and what the malt character actually delivered — Research Asks and contact. A side-by-side of the two mash routes earns a page update with credit.
Related
- Mash Methods at Homebrew Scale
- Tavern Ale, Version A — the other recipe in the family
- Hops and Yeast for Sorghum Malt
- The Sugar Bible
Source and Validation Notes
The grist composition, gypsum use, enzyme discipline, bitterness architecture including the tetra swap, fermentation temperatures, and diacetyl-rest practice are the practices documented on this site's brewing-process pages, assembled here into one recipe. Style steering toward Märzen (roast level, noble hop selection, higher gravity) is editorial guidance and marked as such in the table. This exact recipe as printed has not been brewed and measured — brew it and report back.