Leftovers brew day!

If you have ADD, skip to the bold text halfway down.

A conversation I just had with SWMBO, referring to the fact that the 40 degree temps outside are perfect for storing my beer while I clean out the kegerator:

Me: It's a perfect temperature for beer outside!
SWMBO (ignorant of my reasons for liking the temp): So, why don't you brew?
Me: I don't have enough stuff.

Then I inventoried my "stuff." 12 lbs of 2-row, 3 lbs of flaked wheat, 4 lbs of white wheat malt, 3 lbs of chocolate malt, 3 lbs of crystal 60, 3 lbs of biscuit, 1 lb of Vienna, Goldings, Tettnang, Amarillo, Warrior, maybe some Cascade and Simcoe, and a variety of dry yeast.

Me (thinking): Damn, that's not enough for a batch.
2 minutes later...
Me (thinking smarter): It's plenty for a 5 gallon batch!

Long story short, here's the recipe du jour:

Leftovers Scotch Ale
Yuri's first ever 5 gallon AG batch

7 lbs 2-row
1 lb Vienna
.5 lbs Crystal 60
.5 lbs Biscuit
.33 lbs Chocolate
1.25 oz Goldings (60 min)
Whirlfloc tablet (5 mins)
S-04 dry yeast

OG: 1.054
SRM: 17.0
IBU: 22.1

Anybody have a better idea? I'm kegging 15 gallons of pale ale today, so I want to get away from the hoppy light stuff.

If you want to get away from the light, hoppy stuff, seems like you've got all you would need for a nice porter. No roasted barley, but plenty of chocolate (which I prefer in a porter, regardless). Hop it with the Goldings. You must have some S-04 kicking around, right? Something warm and smooth and malty and a bit roasty for those cold January/February nights.

What are you hopping the Scotch Ale with?

Oh yeah, I just kicked a keg of porter. So, porter is out as well. For the Scotch ale, I'd rather use some honey malt and a bit of Munich as suggested in BYO, but those aren't in my leftovers bin.

The answers to your questions are all in the recipe, bird...

Yuri_Rage said:

The answers to your questions are all in the recipe, bird...

Click to expand...

My eyes skipped right over that...

Damn!

You could also do a malty pale-ale like I did today, although I had some Munich for my batch. To overcome your lack of Munich, you could always do a small decoction. I know it's not common to do one with ales, but Glibbidy did one up at Yankee Ingenuity IV that, from what he says, sounds like it's adding a lot of great malty character to an APA without making it too sweet. I'm planning on a small decoction when I get around to doing my American Strong Ale. I know that's kinda out of left field, but why not? It's five gallons, do an experiment!

I might just do a decoction to achieve a mash out. Great idea!

Actually, a porter was my first thought as well, but I just brewed one a few months ago. I could probably brew an English bitter, ESB, brown, or mild, and I know I could easily do an American IPA or weizen. This one is probably going to be more of a brown ale anyway just due to the yeast choice. Unless anyone has any earth-shattering new ideas for me, I'm going to go start crushing grain!

Turns out I only had 1/2 lb of Crystal 60, so I used 1/2 lb of biscuit and increased the chocolate to 1/3 lb. Reflected above.

Decocting now - just about to mash out and start the sparge. 5 gallon brews are EASY!!! Despite the attitude that bigger brews are only slightly more work, dealing with 1/3 the amount of ingredients and water is certainly a bit easier and faster. And...I can decoct on the stovetop! Sweet!

Having a pint of Lake Walk Pale Ale right now. It's fantastic - is this beer ever green?

LOL, Poor Yuri had to step down to a 5 gallon! The world's gonna end! (jk!)

Yeah, I'm probably gonna call in sick to work tomorrow because I didn't wind up with time to brew even though it was a 4 day weekend... I'm making a similar bottom-scraping beer...


Unlike you, I'm sitting on 4 extra pounds of Honey Malt. Sorry!

Looks tasty, chriso! I love having leftovers around!

For a minute I was worried that you were going to toss in some leftover turkey and stuffing.

Kegged this one tonight. I just left it in the primary for the better part of 4 weeks and went straight to the keg. It's surprisingly clear, and it tastes very good - hardly green at all. I'm force carbing overnight, and I expect the keg to last less than a few hours tomorrow afternoon during some holiday festivities after work. I'm glad it'll be gone quickly - for some stupid reason, there was a lot of air getting into the siphon during kegging. Hopefully it wasn't enough to oxidize the beer overnight.

did hell freeze over? You are doing a measly 5 gallons?

adx said:

For a minute I was worried that you were going to toss in some leftover turkey and stuffing.

Click to expand...

something like the chicken ale recipe?

Did something a little similar but my left overs are much more humble. Had enough for a half gallon though. (looks down at he fermenter embarrassed)

I know its far too late. But your recipe looked much too planned and close to style.
Here's a 10gal batch that uses up a good bit more of your stock.

Leftover Dunkelweizen
17B. Wheat Beer, Bavarian Dunkelweizen All-grain
Color

Stats
OG 1.060
FG 1.015
IBU 16
ABV 5.8 %
SRM 17

Specifics
Boil Volume 12 gallons
Batch Size 10 gallons
Yeast 75% AA

Style Comparison
Low High
OG 1.040 1.060 1.056
FG 1.010 1.015 1.014
IBU 10 16 20
SRM 10 17 23
ABV 4.3 5.8 5.6
Fermentables
% Weight Weight (lbs) Grain Gravity Points Color
53.9 % 12.00 American Two-row Pale 33.3 2.2
13.5 % 3.00 Flaked Wheat 7.7 0.6
18.0 % 4.00 Wheat Malt 11.7 0.7
4.5 % 1.00 Vienna 2.3 0.4
4.5 % 1.00 Belgian Biscuit 2.3 2.3
3.4 % 0.75 American Chocolate 1.6 26.3
2.2 % 0.50 American Crystal 60L 1.3 3.0
22.25 60.1
Hops
% Wt Weight (oz) Hop Form AA% AAU Boil Time Utilization IBU
100.0 % 2.00 Tettnanger Whole/Plug 4.5 9.0 60 0.231 15.5

This beer was an incredible hit at the party Friday night! It was gone within an hour, and everyone that tried it went back to the tap at least once.

A couple I didn't know prior to Friday sought me out to tell me that they had tried homebrewing a few times and always made a drinkable product but they didn't know that homebrew could taste so good! I think I rekindled their interest in brewing.

SUCCESS!

I just may have to brew this ASAP or incorporate it into my upcoming 80/-. Massive props on the leftover brew day!

Now if my Honey Wheat would just mature up.... past tastings have been WAY too hoppy due to Saaz dry hop.