Oh nice. What were your two first brews with the Augustiner strain? It's my first true lager (after 200+ batches I finally took the leap), and I'm way less intimidated by the process. Probably helps to have a full pipeline now and no sense of urgency for once, haha.
That's good to hear you're achieving those higher attenuation percentages with this strain. I was initially pretty surprised to see the yeast manufacturer quote 70% for a yeast that, in theory, should produce something that finishes a bit dry (the Helles). After starting this thread I listened to a Brulosophy podcast comparing two smash beers fermented with the same yeast strain (I think it was 2487--the Ayinger strain). One was 100% Vienna, and it finished in the low 1010s. The other was 100% Munich, and it finished around 1020. The hosts reported that they tasted and looked different, but the Munich beer didn't taste cloying, underattenuated or heavy.
So I guess with that in mind, and with your personal anecdote, I should just source a nice bock recipe regardless of what yeast it calls for and give it a go!
Perhaps I'll use
SpanishCastleAle's Award Winning Bock Recipe, sub in my L17 slurry and adjust grain weights for my efficiency, but keep everything else the same. I see that they mash that beer low at 149, so that might also be helpful with attenuation and keeping the body in check. I'm assuming a low and fairly balanced ion water profile is also desirable--something like:
CA: 50
Mg: 1
Na: 18
Cl: 40
SO4: 30
Mash pH: 5.3 - 5.4
Sound reasonable?