yeoitsmatt

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Hello fellow brewers /brewmeisters.... it's that wonderful time of year again when the leaves turn lovely shades of gold and brown, the morning frost greets you when you go to get the paper, and the cool night air makes you reach for big beers that make you feel all warm inside.... I, my friends, have brewed one of the greats... Troegs Mad Elf Ale.... that's right. it's an ale... and it goes a little something like this:

Briess Golden Light --extract-- (7lbs)
Briess Sparkling Amber --extract-- (3lbs)
Weyerman Caramunich (2lbs)
Muntons Chocolate Malt (1/4 lb)
Crystal 20 (1/4 lb)
3lbs of Honey
5 lbs of Cherries (half sweet, half sour)-- secondary--

1oz. (German) Hallertaur (4.3%)
1oz. Czech Saaz (3%)

WLP 500- Trappist Ale Yeast


--steep grains--
103* @ 30min
152* @ 30 min
sparge

(90 minute boil)
1oz hallertaur - 60 min
0.5oz Saaz - 60 min
1 lb Honey - 0 min (flameout)

-- 2lbs Honey to primary--
--pitch yeast-- (for this i made a few starters to get almost 1 cup of slurry)

Pitched the yeast as the Eagles were losing to the Lions... what a way to lose...... it's been going crazy since then. Huge krausen... the blow off hose has yet to encounter the foam though. I ended with a little more than 5 gals, put into a 6.5 gal glass carboy... it's flirting with the hose but not committing... it's been 48 hours now so i'm not expecting too much more... although i did accidentally leave a window open in the basement and it got down to around 40* last night but it didn't appear to slow it down at all...
Happy fall everyone and thanks!

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iambeer

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Nice recipe. Since you steep grains for an hour, why not go to all grain? Just a thought.

J187

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Should be ready to drink by about March/April.

yeoitsmatt

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it's not a barley wine. it's an ale. 4 months at the most. February at the latest.

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J187

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Several people have cloned it on here and told me when I was about to brew it that it took 6 months.

jdgapc

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any update on this one, how did the primary fermentation go?

J187

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might still be in primary. Huge beer there.

J187

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All grain, albeit not too different in principle, is a pretty far cry from steeping grains. Say you are a partial boil, extract brewer with a single 4 gallon kettle. You could easily steep grains with no extra knowledge or equipment. You go AG, suddenly you need a mash tun, a bigger kettle - one with a ball valve, etc. You need to move from brewing inside on your stove to a propane burner, and you need to start worrying about water chemistry, mash PH, etc. Pretty big leap.

iambeer

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Good thoughts. I went almost directly to AG on my third brew and never looked back. I started with spring water but then decided it had to be city water. I don't think the upgrades have to be a big deal at first. They are more about convenience. I use BIAB in an unconverted 5g cooler; I even fly sparge that bad boy. It cost me peanuts and I'm getting acceptable gravity. I'm sure that if I upgrade/convert, I will be pleasantly surprised at what I've been missing. 5 gallon coolers are awesome. I will miss mine if I ever stop using it. The Home Depot five gallon strainers fit perfectly around the lip and 99% of stainless steel colanders fit perfectly at the top.

This is because I only make 3 gallon batches. Works for me.

kpr121

Recipes 

Sounds like a nice recipe, I agree this will not be at its best for a little while especially with all that honey and cherries. Whats your OG and/or expected ABV?

Also agree that theres not much point to steeping for an hour, waste of time IMHO. 15-25 minutes is good for specialty grains.

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Primary: Two Hearted Ale (3/31/13 - WLP029 and Bells Strain), Elin (Blonde Pale) (2/23 - US05), Brown Trout Stout (2/23)
Kegged: Elin (Blonde Pale) (2/23), Brown Trout Stout (2/23), Miller Lite Clone (1/18), Apfelwein (12/31/12), Pliny Clone (12/28),
Bottled: Brown Trout Stout (2/23), Blueberry Brandy (12/31), Sterling Cream (12/1/12), Baby Day Mead 2012, Amarone 2011
Bulk Aging: Amarone 2012 (11/6/12), Grape Mead (2/12/12)
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