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Blockhead Bob's Brewing

Homebrew Recipe

Bent Brewstillery Black Josef 15 Tmavy Special

Method:
All Grain
Style:
Czech Dark Lager
Boil Time:
90 min.
Batch Size:
5 gal.
Boil Size:
6.5 gal.
Efficiency:
72
Rating:
Source:
Craft Beer and Brewing
Source Notes:
June-July 2020 page 70. Kristen England, besides being one of the country's most accomplished homebrewers and a BJCP Grant Master Beer Judge, is head brewer at Bent Brewstillery in Roseville, Minnesota. This is his recipe for a rich-but-quaffable Czech-style dark lager, including a straightforward single-decoction mash. One more little tidbit of fun: Take the exact same recipe, hops and all, increase the gravity to 19P, and you've got yourself a Czech porter. I find that when I write recipes for homebrewers, they all like to play around with stuff to make it their own. For example, you can swap out the hops (and you can use really any lagery hops in this). Or in this case, you can simply increase the gravity. And yes, I've made this beer as a Czech porter, and it's stupid dangerous.
Notes:
Mill the grains and mash in at 122F for a protein rest of 10 minutes. Raise the temperature to 143F and rest 5 minutes. Separate a thick one-third of the mash and boil 25 minutes while holding the rest of the mash at about 143F. Reunite the mash to bring it to about 162F, rest 30 minutes, then mash out. Boil 90 minutes then whirlpool, adding hops according to the schedule. Chill to 50F, aerate the wort, and pitch the yeast. Ferment at 52F. No diacetyl rest. When fermentation is complete, cold crash and lager at near freezing for 6 weeks.

Brew Numbers

OG FG ABV SRM IBU
1.0611.0156.1040

Fermentables

NameAmount% Grain Bill
Lager or Pilsner Malt8.4 lbs.72.34
Notes: 4.2 lbs. floor-malted Bohemian pilsner & 4.2 lbs. German pilsner.
CaraMunich III1.4 lbs.12.06
CaraMunich II0.6875 lbs.5.92
Notes: Calls for 11 oz.
Crystal Malt 800.46875 lbs.4.04
Notes: Calls for 7.5 oz. Weyermann CaraBohemian
Pale Chocolate Malt0.21875 lbs.1.88
Notes: Calls for 3.5 oz. Carafa I
Chocolate Malt0.21875 lbs.1.88
Notes: Calls for 3.5 oz. Carafa II
Black "Patent" Malt0.21875 lbs.1.88
Notes: Calls for 3.5 oz. Carafa III
Total: 11.61 lbs.

Hops

Hop Shopping List


NameAmountBoil TimeUseAA
Kazbek0.9 oz.90Boil6.5
Notes: First-wort hops.
Kazbek2.7 oz.0Steep6.5
Notes: At whirlpool for 20 minutes.
NameAmount
Kazbek3.6 oz.

Yeast

NameLabProduct
Budvar LagerWyeast2000 PC
Czech Budejovice LagerWhite LabsWLP802

Mash Steps

StepNameTempTimeType
1Protein Rest12210All Grain
2Step Mash1435All Grain
3Single Decoction21225All Grain
Notes: Separate a thick one-third of the mash and boil 25 minutes while holding the rest of the mash at about 143F
4Step Mash16230All Grain
Notes: Reunite the mash to bring it to about 162F, rest 30 minutes, then mash out.