Brautag / Brew Day 2025/26 (Non-BC Holiday Post)

Non-BC Holiday Post... 

This year I was glad to join Schlicki, Michi, Zwergi, and Harri for the brewing day. Here is a rough summary of the events of the day.

The crew assembled: Schlicki, Andy, Zwergi, and Harri; Michi & others joined a bit later throughout the day. Schlicki and Micki have been perfecting this together for many years, I first joined them for a brautag experience 10 years ago back in the winter of 2015/16!

Schlicki, Andy, Zwergi, Harri

Michi, co-founder of Michischlickibräu

Mashing 

The main vessel was filled with 80 L of water and brought up to 61°C. While we waited for the water to heat, the malt was ground. The grain bill for this batch was:

Malt Bill: Pilsner: 5.22 kg, Wiener: 11.48 kg, Münchner: 7.83 kg, Caramel: 1.57 kg

Once the water reached 61°C the malt was added and the mash left to rest for 10 mins. The temperature was then raised to 63°C before resting again for 45 min. Followed by another period of heating, this time to 72°C and a further rest of 45 min. 

Why is the Mashing Process multiple steps?

The Basic Goal: Extract fermentable sugars from the grain, but the grain contains complex starches that need to be broken down by enzymes naturally present in the malt.

Why Different Temperatures?

Different enzymes work best at different temperatures, and they produce different results:

61°C - Initial Rest (10 minutes)

• This is the protein rest zone
• Breaks down proteins in the malt
• Improves clarity and head retention in the final beer
• Creates free amino nitrogen that yeast will need during fermentation

63°C - First Main Rest (45 minutes)

• This activates beta-amylase enzymes
• These enzymes create more fermentable sugars (maltose)
• Results in a drier beer with higher alcohol potential
• Works slowly but creates sugars that yeast can easily consume

72°C - Second Main Rest (45 minutes)

• This activates alpha-amylase enzymes
• These enzymes create less fermentable sugars (dextrins)
• These sugars add body, mouthfeel, and sweetness to the final beer
• Works faster than beta-amylase

Why Not Just One Temperature?

By using multiple temperature steps, you control the balance between:

• Fermentable sugars (higher alcohol, drier finish) vs non-fermentable sugars (body, sweetness, mouthfeel)
• This gives you precise control over the final beer's character

For a Märzen, this step mash creates a beer with good body and mouthfeel while still having enough fermentable sugars for a proper alcohol content - exactly what the style demands!

Stirring the mash is vital during the mashing!

Steffi joined the crew also! You can see the Braupaddel is high-tech with added temperature monitoring..

Extra task #1: Drinking

While we waited for the mash to come up to temp, we tested the Fass (keg) setup from a previous batch.

Eventually some beer came out...

Brewing materials continued...

Water: - Hauptguss (Main mash water): 78 L - Nachguss (Sparge water): 81 L

Hops: - Tettnanger 4.4% Vorderwürze: 104.35 g - Magnum/Taurus 13 - nach Würzebruch: 39.13 g

About the Hops

Tettnanger 4.4% - Vorderwürze: 104.35 g

• Tettnanger is a traditional German noble hop variety - mild, floral, and spicy
• 4.4% is the alpha acid content (relatively low = less bitterness)
• Vorderwürze means "first wort" - these hops are added to the wort before or at the very start of the boil
• First wort hopping creates a smoother, more integrated bitterness
• The large quantity (104g) provides the base bitterness and aroma for the Märzen

Magnum/Taurus 13 - nach Würzebruch: 39.13 g

• Magnum is a high alpha acid bittering hop
• 13% alpha acid content (high = strong bittering power)
• nach Würzebruch means "after the hot break", which is a stage of the cooking process
• Added part way through the boil, after the hot break, for clean, efficient bittering
• Smaller quantity needed due to higher alpha acid content

Why Different Hops? Using two hop varieties gives you both efficient bittering (Magnum) and the traditional noble character (Tettnanger) that defines a Märzen. It created a deeper more complex and interesting flavour than using just one variety.

Extra Task #2: Weißwurst Frühstück

A very important part of the Brautag is the Weißwurst Frühstück. While we waited for things to get up to temperature there was time for a traditional Bayerisch breakfast of Weißwurst and Brezn.

Sparge Water (Nachguss)

Why 81 L of Sparge Water at 78°C?

After mashing, we transfer the wort to a filter vessel and the spent malt grain bed acts like a filter with lots of sugar-rich liquid trapped in it. The sparge water:

• Rinses the remaining sugars from the grain bed
• Brings the total wort volume up to the target (we started with 78 L, added 81 L = 159 L total, which boils down to about  120 L final volume)
• 78°C temperature stops enzyme activity and helps the sugars flow more easily without extracting harsh tannins from the grain husks

Without sparging, we would leave a lot of valuable sugars behind in the spent grain!

3 vessels, the main cooking tank, filter tank and collection tank. The use of a forklift and naturally occurring gravity aid the process!

The initial filtrate, which is very cloudy, is added back to the pot to filter again

Zwergi paying carful attention to the washing process

The Boil

Some of the hops that were added during the boil

A modified 4-headed gas burner was used to heat the vessel

The vessel was kept just below boiling for 90 mins

Transfer to fermentation vessel 

After the 90-minute boil is complete, the wort should be cooled and transferred to a fermentation vessel. 

In our setup, we use the same vessel that we started with for the initial mash - which was thoroughly cleaned and prepared while the boil was finishing.

For this batch we allowed the wort to cool gradually overnight, to save messing about with the copper cooling manifold. This saved a lot of water at least!

Cooling the Wort

Normally the hot wort needs rapid cooling from around 97°C after the boil, as yeast can only survive and work at much lower temperatures (typically 18-22°C for ale yeast). Rapid cooling is preferred for several reasons:

• Prevents contamination - the danger zone for bacteria is between 30-50°C, so ideally we want to pass through this range as quickly as possible
• Allows yeast to be pitched sooner - yeast will die if added to hot wort
• Improves clarity - rapid cooling helps proteins coagulate and settle out (called "cold break")

However, for this batch we opted for the slower overnight cooling method, which still produces good results with less equipment and water usage. We will add the yeast in the morning.

For the transfer to fermentation vessel we also filter one last time with a sterilised filter sock to improve clarity of the final product

Fermentation

Once in the fermentation vessel, yeast is added (pitched) and the vessel is sealed with an airlock. The yeast will now convert the fermentable sugars into alcohol and CO₂ over the next few weeks. Our Märzen will ferment for approximately 6-10 weeks before it's ready for the next stage.

When the yeast has stopped working, as determined by taking hydrometer readings over several days showing no change in specific gravity, the beer is ready for kegging. At this point, most of the fermentable sugars have been converted to alcohol, and the yeast has settled to the bottom of the vessel.

The finished beer is then transferred to a series of 50 L Fässer (kegs) and carbonated with CO₂. This is a point of difference from past brautag where bottle conditioning was used. The keg approach gives us more control over carbonation levels and makes serving much easier - no bottles to clean, fill, cap, or store!

The kegged beer will then need a few more weeks to carbonate and mature before it's ready to serve.

Prost!

Stefi made some Treberbrot from the spent barley malt generated earlier the same day, the rest went for the chickens!

A new brewing log book

It does help that the handwriting is half decent!

The observed cooling speed was not far off this - so it was shown to be a half decent estimation