Any good ideas for Vienna Malt?

[HighHops]

I bought a kilo of munich and a kilo of vienna for a change and to add a bit of depth. I used some of the munich in my latest Abbot ale clone, but any ideas what to do with the vienna?

Although I don't think I've ever tried it I know they are used in Oktoberfests. Does this need lager or ale yeast and what does it taste like?

[colonial]

I make this beer very often using some Vienna: http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/centenn ... all-42841/.

It adds a nice maltiness to this beer. I use double the hops, though. A lovely summer ale.

Also, you could do what's called a SMaSH - Single malt and single hop. Munich and Vienna can be used for the entire grain bill.

[HighHops]

Thanks for the link Col. This has got me thinking. A mid-summer quaffer. This could bump it's way up to the top of my list. I've got no centennial hops though, but might try amarillo / cascade. I've got some bramling cross there as well. Never used them before. Whaddya think?

[colonial]

Cascade or Amarillo would be fine, IMO. I'd use the higher alpha hops for the bittering or just more of the lower, though. A nice bitter backbone makes this beer really refreshing. I doubled the hops in the recipe since I found the malt a bit too forward for my tastes in a lighter bodied ale - seems to have made it more balanced without making it too hoppy. I dry hop it too with 14g of Cascade or Centennial, and use Wyeast 1056.

Why not try the Brambling Cross as finishing hops. They'd take this into a bit of a different direction aroma-wise, but that's what this hobby is all about.

Let us know how things go. Cheers.

[coatesg]

Vienna lager & Marzen are two styles that come to mind (both need lager style ferments) - though you can use it as a lighter, slightly less malty replacement for munich (eg in adding a bit of malty body) in other beers (porter, bitters perhaps).
If you try it in a bitter, I'd go up to 20% replacement of pale malt, though you can use it as a base malt up to 100% - probably some really interesting additions to a bitter with that kind of amount.

[HighHops]

Vienna lager & Marzen are two styles that come to mind (both need lager style ferments) - though you can use it as a lighter, slightly less malty replacement for munich (eg in adding a bit of malty body) in other beers (porter, bitters perhaps).

Thanks for the pointers coatesg - I quite fancy having a go at vienna & marzen, but will have to wait until September / October before I start making lagers.

If you try it in a bitter, I'd go up to 20% replacement of pale malt, though you can use it as a base malt up to 100% - probably some really interesting additions to a bitter with that kind of amount.

I was thinking of adding 10% of grain bill in a bitter in my next brew. Do you think this is enough to notice or will it be too subtle? I'm also interested to know why would you limit it to 20% and what 100% vienna would be like as a base malt?

[coatesg]

I'd just give it a go to see what effect it had (without overwhelming any other flavours). St Austell use 100% munich (effectively) in Admirals Ale so there's not reason why you can't got that way with Vienna - it's just the results will probably be a lot different that's all. Probably not a bad thing at all though - it's all about experimenting