dogbar

Recipes 

I wouldn't sweat it. You could always try pitching a little bit of both pouches instead. Or pitch some from the fresher of the two, figuring that one will have a higher cell count anyway.

chichum

Recipes 

Well it's bottled and I've already drank about 15 of them. My god this beer is good (and strong! 9.2%). It's not exactly like the Curieux but it's pretty damn close. I made a mistake when I first brewed it and forgot to put 3lbs of the extract in. I ended up adding it about a week later and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. I'm still trying to figure out what's off about it. The sweetness is right and the amount of bourbon seems right. Regardless, this is, by far, my favorite beer that I've made to date. I have already brewed a new batch to get it on it's way. Thanks to everyone for their help!

dogbar

Recipes 

Looks fantastic. Great label too.

dibattista

Recipes 

Would you suggest converting this to an extract with sp. grains recipe? If so, what would that look like?

chichum

Recipes 

The one I made is an extract - the one I just brewed a few days ago was all grain. Here you go (all item numbers are for midwest supplies):


Allagash Curieux Clone
Note: this is for a half mash using malt extract. For a full mash, add the 13lbs. of Pilsner
Malt grains and 1lbs of Carapils and seep for 60 minutes.

Bring water to 149 degrees for the mash
Add the 0.5lbs of Carapils
Seep for 45-60 minutes at 149f
Remove the mash and bring the mixture to a boil
At first boil, add 9.3lbs malt extract
Bring to a rolling boil
At first boil, add 0.5oz tettnang and 1oz of hersbrucker
After 30 minutes, add 0.25oz of tettnang and 0.5oz of hersbrucker
After 45 minutes, add the 1lbs of corn sugar
After 50 minutes, add 0.25oz of tettnang and 0.5oz of hersbrucker
After 60 minutes, remove and cool

70 f for fermentation week 1
78 f for fermentation week 2
70 f for fermentation weeks 3,4

Put in the primary fermenter
Soak the cubes in Jim Beam for 1 month.
After 30 days, dump the JB from the container and put fresh Jim Beam in.
After 60 days, put the wort in the secondary
After 90 days, add 2.5oz oak cubes (discard the JB first) to secondary. Also, put new JB in
with the last 0.5oz chips.
After 111 days, add the last 0.5oz of cubes AND the JB it’s soaking in into the secondary.
After 120 days, bottle the beer

INGREDIENTS:
--------------
13 lbs pilsner malt [13lbs x 3315x]
1 lbs Carapils [1lbs x 3009B]
--------------
OR
--------------
9.3lbs Pilsner Malt Extract [9.3lbs x M3007]
0.5lbs Carapils [0.5lbs x 3009B]
--------------

1lbs corn sugar [1lbs 7553]
1oz tettnang [1 x 1556]
2oz hersbrucker [2 x 1523]
Yeast: 1 smackpack of Belgian Ardennes, and one of WLP550 [1 x ACT3522, 1 x WL550]
3oz of Hungarian medium toast oak cubes in Jim Beam [1 x 8244x]
5oz priming sugar [1 x 7540]

jabergess

Recipes 

Just a follow on to my post. Though my FG was extremely low at 1.000 and tasted rather dry at the time, now that I've bottled it and let it sit, it is delicious! One of the best Belgians I believe I've made! It has a nice complex flavor and has won over some people that normally are very picky about their beers. Yay! OG was 1.070 so that makes this a 9.15% beer. It is extremely clear and has that thicker mouth feel I associate with a Belgian. I'm not sure what I would do differently with this one...other than maybe get a higher OG and FG.



Oh just a side note...I took the yeast from this one and dumped a "Kitchen Sink Imperial Stout" on top. Tasted great out of primary and should just get better in secondary. I split a 10 gallon batch and put the other 5 gallons over Irish Ale yeast. It is very interesting to note the taste differences. The Belgian yeast mix is having a heyday with all of that sugar in the Imperial Stout. Beer is a good 4% higher than the one on the Irish Ale yeast (9% versus 13%!). If it turns out like I think it will, next time I make this Allagash Curieux Clone I'll follow it with the Imperial Stout again and dump all 10 gallons on top the yeast!

dogbar

Recipes 

Man, on the re-brew this was great going into secondary. Nice and dry after I made the recipe adjustments.

Unfortunately, my new LHBS doesn't sell oak cubes, just chips, and somewhere between two and three weeks I think the oak went over the top. It's still not carbed so we'll see how it develops, but ... ack.

jabergess

Recipes 

Oh man, that sucks! I hope with aging the oak will mellow some, it usually does. My opinion - stock up on oak cubes from Morebeer or Northern Brewer.

dogbar

Recipes 

Agreed on all counts. I was hoping to have this ready for a competition by the end of October. We'll see.

1Mainebrew

Recipes 

I need to brew this again myself!

__________________
Bucket: C-Hop Cream Ale
Carboy 1: Air
Carboy 2: Air
Carboy 3: Hard Organic Cider w/ 4184
Better Bottle: IPA (secondary)
Growler Fermenter:Pilsner
Keg 1: Crop Chopper PAL (left tap)
Keg 2: Summah Stout-(right tap)
Keg 3: Oktoberfest (lagering)
Keg 4: CO2
Bottles: Hard Cider, ESB

In the Works: Black IPA

Favorite Recipe #1: Kate the Great Clone
Favorite Recipe #2: Crop Chopper PAL
Favorite Recipe #3: Curieux Clone