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Smoke on the Lager (Märzen-style Rauchbier)

(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain) OG = 1.057  FG = 1.014, IBU = 30  SRM = 14  ABV = 5.5%

Ingredients :

9.5 lbs. (4.3 kg) Weyermann rauchmalz
2.0 lbs. (0.91 kg) Weyermann Munich Type I malt (~6 °L)
0.5 lbs. (0.23 kg) Weyermann CaraMunich® III malt (~60 °L)
8 AAU Magnum hops (60 mins) (0.57 oz./16 g of 14% alpha acids)
Wyeast 2206 (Bavarian Lager) or White Labs WLP820 (Oktoberfest/Märzen) yeast
    (3 qts./3 L yeast starter)

Step by Step :

Ferment yeast starter at room temperature, then transfer to lagering fridge at beginning of brewday. Treat brewing water with one Campden tablet the night before brewday. For wort production, use a single decoction mash.

In your kettle, mash in to 131 °F (55 °C) with 17 qts. (16 L) of water. Pull first decoction, roughly the thickest one-third of the mash, and place it in a large kitchen pot. Heat decoction to 158 °F (70 °C) and hold for 5 minutes, then bring decoction to a boil. Boil decoction for 20 minutes, stirring constantly. Return decoction to main mash and add heat, if needed, to bring temperature to 152 °F (67 °C).

Hold for 45 minutes. Heat mash to 168 °F (76 °C), then transfer to lauter tun. (Try to minimize any splashing when you transfer it from the kettle to lauter tun.) Let grain bed set up for 5 minutes before you begin recirculating and running off the wort.

Keep sparge water heated so that the top of grain bed remains at 165–168 °F (74–76 °C) while you collect your wort. Collect 6.5 gallons (25 L) and boil for 90 minutes, expecting to yield 5.0 gallons (19 L) of wort after boil.  Cool wort to 54 °F (12 °C) and transfer to fermenter.

Aerate well, pitch chilled yeast from starter and let ferment at 54 °F (12 °C) until rate of fermentation slows greatly (usually after 10–14 days). Let temperature rise to 60 °F (16 °C) to finish off fermentation. Lager beer for 4–6 weeks, then keg.