This was my take on an Alt beer. I can honestly say that I have nothing commercial to compare it to, but it ended up being a pretty solid lager-esque brew. For those of you that don't know (I didn't before I brewed it), an Alt is simply a lager that is brewed with top-fermenting ale yeast. If it was good enough for the Germans years ago, I thought it would certainly be worth my efforts now.
Alt Baumbier - Brewed on 3/14/2010 - 1 can Mr Beer Octoberfest Vienna Lager - 1 lb. of Sparkling Amber DME - 1/3 pouch of MB Booster - 1/2 oz. Hallertau hop pellets - 1/2 oz. Sterling hop pellets - standard MB yeast
I added the Booster and 1/4 lb. of the DME to about 6 cups of water and brought it to a boil. I added 1/4 oz of each hop type for 18 minutes (for flavor extracting) and the other 1/4 oz. for 6 minutes (aroma). After killing the flame on the stove, I mixed in the OVL and remaining DME pitched the yeast after cooling the wort to about 70*
fermented until 3/28/2010 and then bottled Carbonated until 4/11/2010 Left to warm condition through 4/28/2010 then put a few bottles into the fridge 1st test bottle was drank on 5/7/2010 - it still tasted young, hoppy, and had a slight burnt/roasted nut presence *6/25/2010 update* all of the goodness has come together! patience is the key to a good home brew, and my Alt certainly is a prime example. The hops and malt blended quite nicely, and this turned into a very drinkable beer. One thing that I definitely took away from this one is to stir the malt more frequently during the boil to prevent any potential scorching. While I don't believe this batch scorched, it is an aspect that is easy enough to stay on top of since my batches are small and done on a stovetop. Plus I can't imagine that it hurts anything in the long run to get a few extra stirs in during the boil.