Opinion on "Pliny The Mexican" Recipe

O.G. 1.082
F.G. ?
BU's 95 REAL BU's (270 calculated)
ABV 9%
Boil Time 90 Min / 5Gal


Fermentables
11.00 LBS LME Pale
1.00 LBS HB Pale Ale Malt/Maris Otter
0.25 LBS Great Western Crystal 40
0.75 LBS DWC Carapils
0.75 LBS Dextrose
350 ML Pure Agave Nectar (Organic Blue)

Pliny the elder hop schedule From Vinny himself
3.50 oz CTZ 90 min
0.75 oz CTZ 45 min
1.00 oz Simcoe 30 min
1.00 oz Centennial 0 min
2.50 oz Simcoe 0 min

1.00 oz CTZ 1st Dry Hop
1.00 oz Centennial 1st Dry Hop
1.00 oz Simcoe 1st Dry Hop

0.25 oz CTZ 2nd Dry Hop
0.25 oz Centennial 2nd Dry Hop
0.25 oz Simcoe 2nd Dry Hop



Its basically a Pliny the Elder recipe with 350 ML agave and some fermetables changed around. What do you think the agave will bring to the beer?

Ah, I was thinking you were just going to make an Elder clone and give it to Shawna Forde to shoot full of holes?

I like your idea a lot better.

BendBrewer said:

Ah, I was thinking you were just going to make an Elder clone and give it to Shawna Forde to shoot full of holes?

I like your idea a lot better.

Click to expand...

:cross:

You're basically subbing the agave in for the corn sugar, right? I imagine most of the agave will ferment out, the difference seems like it'd be really subtle if at all noticeable.

No the Agave is going in WITH the sugar... Im guessing its OG should hit around 1.08

I have herd that when the Agave is added at flame out it adds a bit of "something" to the beer. Almost like honey does. Its not a tequila flavor I'm looking for but just something a little extra.

The difference between ordinary and Extraordinary is just that little "extra"...

OG just hit 1.082 and Safale yeast has been pitched...

Ill let you guys know how this turns out!

In the oct/nov issue of beer mag there was a homebrew article about adding sugar (specifically blonde, agave and d2) to a wheat to see the different tastes added. He noted that the agave "made a drier beer that was light and fruity with flavors much like a belgium tripel."
Personally, i think with all those hops, you probably won't be able to taste the sugar, but i would be interested to see if you do. Subscribed

Get the darker agave nectar if you can. Not as fermentable and adds more flavor. I also suggest adding it a few days into fermentation (same with the table sugar) like after high krausen. Yeast tend to get lazy when they have simple sugars around to eat and end up being unable to eat the maltose. If you add the sugar right into the boil you could likely end up with an under attenuated beer..

skyewines said:

In the oct/nov issue of beer mag there was a homebrew article about adding sugar (specifically blonde, agave and d2) to a wheat to see the different tastes added. He noted that the agave "made a drier beer that was light and fruity with flavors much like a belgium tripel."
Personally, i think with all those hops, you probably won't be able to taste the sugar, but i would be interested to see if you do. Subscribed

Click to expand...

I just got that issue in the mail yesterday! :rockin:

Homebrewtastic said:

Get the darker agave nectar if you can. Not as fermentable and adds more flavor. I also suggest adding it a few days into fermentation (same with the table sugar) like after high krausen. Yeast tend to get lazy when they have simple sugars around to eat and end up being unable to eat the maltose. If you add the sugar right into the boil you could likely end up with an under attenuated beer..

Click to expand...

I have never had a problem with safale sleeping on the job. It normally pushes up a bit of krausen up the blowoff tube. I dont use table sugar, i use either dry extract or corn sugar and have never had a problem. Lets hope it doesnt get attenuated this time .

I do like the idea of adding a bit more agave nectar when i switch to secondary (and dry hop). But im not sure how much. I added about 12oz (a 350ml bottle) to the boil and my fermentation room already smells like agave...

UPDATE:

Gravity:
At one week in the Beer has been at 1.016 for 3 days. (a solid 8.7% abv)
I have added the first set of Dry hops.

Taste:
WOW, the agave did make a difference. While not a HUGE difference. But before the dry hops are added you can taste a dryer and slightly sweeter taste. A taste i would put more on the "Pliny the younger" side rather than the elder. I do think that most of the difference will be hidden with the dry hops. Im hoping that the dryer side will stay.

So far the beer is very balanced and im almost willing to bottle and as it is. I cant wait to see what happens after the dry hopping and 2 more weeks!!

Putting this beer in a few competitions to see what the judges have to say!
So far we have all been VERY surprised on how the agave changed the character of this IIPA.

Will post results when received!

Wow. This sounds crazy good. Subscribed

cheers