Help me oh recipe gods!

Punx Clever · 05-08-2009, 05:07 PM

I've been tasked with producing a wedding present for my brother and his wonderful fiance (I mean really, she's damn cool). So the idea is to provide 15 gallons of homebrew for the wedding in august. 3 batches, 3 kegs.

I'm pretty set on the styles I want to make... but need recommendations for a recipe on one, and advice on how to do the other.

First brew, and this is dead set:
Klutch Grinder Apricot Koelsch
Fairly standard Koelsch with a large can of Oregon Apricot Puree thrown in secondary. Really delicious beer.

Second will be a stout/porter. Nothing terribly big or mean, just a common english stout/porter. Anyone have good recipies?

third is the kicker. We have a ranch in Northwest NM (Four corners) and one of the native trees is the Rocky Mountain Juniper. I want to use wood from the trees at the ranch to age a beer on. It has kind of a cedary smell to it and I'm not sure what would go well. Most wood-aged beers are big or dark to work with the oak... but this is a lighter more delicate wood. Any ideas would be GREAT... Maybee a Pale Ale of sorts?

This tree: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Juniper

thedude123 · 05-08-2009, 05:25 PM

For a stout you could just use a Guinness clone recipe and change it a little if you wanted to.

I like oaked IPAs you could use the Blind Pig clone recipe and substitute the oak chips for the one you want to use.

Both these recipes are on the message board just use the search.

Matt Up North · 05-08-2009, 08:02 PM

Good old dry stout of 70/20/10 pale malt/flaked barley/roasted barley

I would not put that wood into your beer. It isn't dried and aged and will taste like eating a piece of green tree. Take a sample limb and chew on it for a couple of minutes.

Oaking works because they dry the wood for an extended time

thedude123 · 05-08-2009, 08:39 PM

ya matt is right. I didn't think of that. You could also be introducing all sorts of bad bacteria and other bad things.

KingBrianI · 05-08-2009, 08:44 PM

You could harvest the new growth from the juniper tips this spring and use them as a flameout addition in a beer. That is how juniper is typically used in a beer.

EDIT: And as for style, I think a Belgian Pale Ale would be awesome with the juniper. Nothing to ostrong, as you need it to be aged by August.

Bob · 05-08-2009, 09:20 PM

My Coal Porter has been successful. Last time I took a keg to a party, it kicked in 2 hours.

Recipe is in my drop-down.

Bob

**Reno_eNVy** · 05-09-2009, 02:47 AM

Dude, I'm just about to huck some experimental stuff into a secondary of my BULLY! APA. Those ingredients happen to be sagebrush and juniper berries. Yeah, go for the berries, not the bark.

Here's what you do: collect about 0.5-1 ounces of juniper berries. Soak them for a week in (preferably) 100+ proof vodka or gin, maybe even scotch. Your call. This will eliminate bacterial infection and raise the %ABV a smidge.

Love the smell of the stuff too, good luck!

Punx Clever · 05-09-2009, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matt Up North

I would not put that wood into your beer. It isn't dried and aged and will taste like eating a piece of green tree. Take a sample limb and chew on it for a couple of minutes.

Oaking works because they dry the wood for an extended time

The extended drying time is no problem. We have regularly cut those trees for firewood and have a good stash of the wood around.

My original thoughts on it were to kiln-dry a handfull of chips or cubes in the oven at about 150*

anyone got any tips on kiln-ing wood?