Rhine Yard Altbier | All-grain Recipe Kit | 5 Gallons
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The short version before the full profile, ingredients, and process notes below.
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Rhine Yard Altbier | All-grain Recipe Kit | 5 Gallons
Rhine Yard Altbier is a 5 gallon German-style Altbier recipe kit for brewers who want a malt-forward beer with real structure: deep copper color, firm German bitterness, toasty Munich malt, restrained caramel, light spicy hop character, and a clean cool-fermented finish.
Companion version: This is the all-grain version of Rhine Yard Altbier, scaled to 5 gallons with a full malt mash. If you want a shorter brew day using malt extract plus a mini-mash, see the Rhine Yard Altbier extract recipe kit.
Altbier is not a brown ale and not a lager, but it borrows discipline from both worlds. Ferment it cool with Fermentis SafAle K-97, let the beer finish fully, then cold condition for a smoother Düsseldorf-style profile.
Beer Profile
- Style: Düsseldorf-style Altbier
- Batch Size: 5 gallons
- Estimated OG: ~1.052–1.056
- Estimated FG: ~1.011–1.014
- Estimated ABV: ~5.0–5.5%
- Bitterness: Firm, ~45–55 IBU depending hop AA
- Color: Deep copper / amber-brown
- Fermentation: Cool German ale fermentation + cold conditioning
Grain Milling
We automatically mill the grains included with SoCal Brewing Supply beer recipe kits so they are ready for brew day. If you want the grains left unmilled, please add that request in the shopping cart notes before checkout. We’ll do our best to support unmilled requests when packing your order.
Fermentation Requirements
Pitch Fermentis SafAle K-97 into well-aerated wort around 60–64°F. Hold the beer cool during active fermentation, let it finish around 64–68°F once activity slows, and confirm gravity is stable before packaging. Cold conditioning for 2–4 weeks is strongly recommended for a cleaner Altbier finish.
Detailed Kit Contents
- Weyermann® Pilsner Malt: 120 Ounces
- Weyermann® Munich Type 1 Malt: 21 Ounces
- Rahr Red Wheat Malt: 7 Ounces
- Weyermann® Melanoidin Malt: 10 Ounces
- Briess Caramel 60L Malt: 4 Ounces
- Weyermann® CARAFA® Special Type 1 Malt: 4 Ounces
- Perle Hops: 2 Ounces supplied; use 1.67 Ounces at 60 minutes and reserve the small remainder
- Spalt Select Hops: 1 Ounce supplied; use 0.42 Ounce at 10 minutes and 0.42 Ounce at flameout; reserve the small remainder
- Fermentis SafAle K-97 German Ale Dry Yeast: 1 Sachet
Recipe and Measuring Notes
This all-grain companion version is scaled from the same Altbier target into a 5 gallon full-mash recipe. The hop schedule uses the original bitterness and late-hop balance. The kit supplies full retail hop packs, and the instructions use most of each pack without forcing extra hops into the beer just to eliminate leftovers.
Flavor and Brewing Character
Expect toasted bread crust, light caramel, faint chocolate-like color contribution without stout-like roast, firm German bitterness, and a clean dry finish. Good fermentation control and cold conditioning are what keep the beer crisp instead of heavy.
Helpful Bottling & Kegging Add-Ons
Bottling this batch? Add powdered dextrose priming sugar and use our Priming Sugar Calculator for your actual packaged volume, beer temperature, and carbonation target.
Kegging instead? Use our Beer Carbonation Chart & Keg Serving Pressure Calculator to choose the right CO₂ pressure for your serving temperature and target carbonation.
Optional Clarity Add-On
For extra clarity, you can add Whirlfloc tablets and use one tablet during the final 10–15 minutes of the boil.
All-Grain Brew Day Upgrade
If you brew with a kettle-based brew-in-a-bag setup, add our BIAB grain bag for easier mash handling and cleanup.