'Malt Liquor' recipe critique (seriously)

**oregone** · 11-04-2011, 05:56 PM

So maybe I've got too much time on my hands, but thinking I'm going to take a stab at this. Tried DFHead 'Liquor de Malt' and actually enjoyed it. Not a fan of the style in general, but thought that it would be a challange to take some of the basic tenents of the style and see if you could salvage a enjoyable beverage out of it.
My understanding: Big on adjuncts, low IBU's, lager yeast, big attenuation, etc.
So here's what I have so far:

6 Gallon Batch

13.5 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Ger
7 lbs Corn, Flaked
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine
2 lbs Candi Sugar, Clear
0.50 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] 11.8 IBUs (60 mins)
1.00 oz Nelson Sauvin [12.00 %] 5.2 IBUs (10 mins)
2L starter American Lager (Wyeast Labs #2035)
2L starter Super High Gravity Ale (White Labs #WLP099)

Est Original Gravity: 1.096 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG (this is in question...)
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 11.3 % (likewise...)
Bitterness: 16.9 IBUs

Protein Rest 122.0 30 min
Saccharification 146.0 F 45 min
Mash Step 148.0 F 60 min
Mash Step 150.0 F 20 min
Mash Out 168.0 F 10 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge

90 minute boil

Pitching the lager starter and running that process through. I'm assuming that the yeast will not be able to take this down to 1.012 (we'll see) even with the reeeediculous mash steps, so after lagering, I'm racking over, warming to 65, and pitching the high gravity yeast with freshly fed nutrient if necessary. I believe that this will ultimately attenuate past the predicted 1.012, and needs to do so to fit style guidelines I believe. If necessary, I can add some extra diluted candy syrup to secondary with the high gravity yeast to dry/thin it out a bit more.

Anyway, thoughts? I thought the Nelson hops would compliment the anticipated fruity fusel notes I find in high gravity malt liquor/lager, and the candy syrup would give this a more characterful flavor and complexity than simple sugar, likewise playing into the expected characteristics. It does deviate from the 6-row base malt as well, but I think the pils will complement the style as well, and allow the adjunts and fermentation character to show through. Planning on carbing this high.

And that's that. Am I crazy? Will this taste like crap? Salvageable?

dmckean44 · 11-04-2011, 06:21 PM

I don't think I'd use Nelson Sauvin in this recipe and if you do use them I'd use them with another hop, maybe Southern Cross to keep the New Zealand thing going? Along those same lines Motueka or Green Bullet would probably work well on their own.

**oregone** · 11-04-2011, 06:28 PM

Hmmm... Why anti-Nelson on this? I'm not familiar with the others. Reason for suggestions? What kind of character are you promoting/do they have?
I'll look into them more, and thanks for the advice!

Edit: Green Bullet definitly sounds like a good possibility. I may take your advice and give that a dominant role with a pinch of the NS. Wasn't familiar with that hop, but sounds interesting. Thanks again!

dmckean44 · 11-04-2011, 07:11 PM

Nelson on it's own could make the whole thing taste bland.

dmckean44 · 12-09-2011, 01:20 AM

I've given this some more thought and think warrior might be a good hop for this. Also, I think you should target 8% and not 11.5% ABV

dmckean44 · 02-08-2012, 05:06 PM

I ended up brewing a malt liquor with all Nelson hops because I was just too curious. It's pretty interesting and almost like a belgian in flavor. I missed my gravity a little but it ended up drying out and hitting over 8% anyway.

I like it better than 3floyd's Region Riot but Lightning Brewery's Ionizer Lager similar in style to me and a better beer. I'm not sure that I'd brew it again because I'm just used to a lot more hops and balance in my beers.

My recipe is here:

http://hopville.com/recipe/1031567/classic-american-pilsner-recipes/nelson-malt-liquor

ao125 · 02-08-2012, 05:11 PM

I've been pretty strong on the Nelson Sauvin bandwagon, but I'm leaning towards Falconer's Flight for my tropical tasting hop of choice now.

That said, I don't think I'd use either for a "malt liquor". I think I'd stay pretty true to traditional lager ingredients.

dmckean44 · 02-08-2012, 05:20 PM

I went with Nelson for my malt liquor after I read an article on it's history. It was orginally marketed towards the country club crowd as a substitute for champagne and was packaged in little 8 oz cans. Using Nelson definately succeeded in bringing out the white wine qualities.