All-Grain - Cherry Beech Smokebeer

**passedpawn** · 01-18-2010, 07:57 PM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Bavarian Lager (Wyeast 2206)
Yeast Starter: Yes - 4L
Batch Size (Gallons): 12g
Original Gravity: 1.060
Final Gravity: 1.016
IBU: 25
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 12
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 21 @ 45
Additional Fermentation: 7 @ 30
Tasting Notes: Mmmm sweet smoke!

This is a very very good smokebeer / rauchbier. I combined two very different smoked malts (Briess Cherrywood and Weyermann Beechwood) to get this tasty tasty lager. Head is excellent on it and the aroma is heavenly (if you like smokebeers).

If you haven't run into this cherrywood malt, the smell is going to blow you away with it's sweet bacon smell; it is very different from the Weyermann beechwood malt. Its effect in the beer, however, is not overwelming and resulted in a much better smokebeer than my previous attempt.

You could probably brew this as an ale, but a clean lager fermentation will let the smoke stand on it's own. The munich and melanoiden give the beer a very nice malt backbone, and the patent leaves it with a perfect mahogany color.

Mostly, it is a Jamil recipe with my own "dual-smoke-malt" idea thrown in.

Recipe: Cherry Beech Smokebeer
Style: Classic Rauchbier
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Brewhouse Efficiency: 80.00 %

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb SB Pilsner (2 Row) Malteurop (1.7 SRM) Grain 26.97 %
6.50 lb SB Smoked Beechwood Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 29.21 %
5.00 lb SB Smoked Cherrywood Malt (5.0 SRM) Grain 22.47 %
3.50 lb SB Munich Malt (5.7 SRM) Grain 15.73 %
0.50 lb Caramunich Malt (80.0 SRM) Grain 2.25 %
0.50 lb SB Melanoiden Malt (28.0 SRM) Grain 2.25 %
0.25 lb SB Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.12 %
2.75 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (90 min) Hops 21.4 IBU
1.50 oz Williamette [4.80 %] (10 min) Hops 4.0 IBU
4L starter Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206)

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
90m mash @ 154. 90m boil.
Bottled at lagering temps to minimize haze-inducing elements.

Beer

Head Shot

the_Roqk · 01-19-2010, 12:39 AM

I recently picked up some cherrywood smoked malt (4 lbs) at my HBS (Southern Brewing Supplies) and haven't decided yet when to brew with it. I'm not sure how much to use and how smoky the flavor will be. Having never tried a smoked ale before it would be my first experince at brewing one too. I agree that the cherrywood smoked malt does have an aroma of bacon. Of course most everyone likes bacon!

How did this turn out? Was the smoky flavor overpowering? I suppose I should just pull the trigger and brew it up.

**passedpawn** · 01-19-2010, 05:08 AM

Nope, it is not too smokey. And it is not too light on the smoke, either. For me it is just right. I like a Schlenkerla Marzen - this is not that smokey.

I made a smoke about a year ago with 30% beechwood. The smoke malts make up 50% of the grist in this beer, so you'd expect it to be smokier. I think it is about the same. The reason (here comes the made up part) is I put more malt flavor in this one and it hides some of the smoke taste. It is a great mix though, and one of my best beers ever.

**Qeelin** · 02-05-2011, 12:32 AM

I'm very interested in brewing this beer but I only want to do a 5 gal batch. I've never cut a recipe down before but here it goes.

Code:

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 5.00 gal      
Boil Size: 5.72 gal
Estimated OG: 1.057 SG
Estimated Color: 14.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 22.7 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount        Item                                      Type         % or IBU      
3.00 lb       Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM)             Grain        28.8 %        
2.75 lb       Beechwood Smoked Malt (2.5 SRM)           Grain        26.4 %        
2.50 lb       Chery Smoked Malt (5.0 SRM)               Grain        24.0 %        
1.50 lb       Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)                     Grain        14.4 %        
0.25 lb       Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM)                Grain        2.4 %         
0.25 lb       Melanoiden Malt (20.0 SRM)                Grain        2.4 %         
0.15 lb       Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM)           Grain        1.4 %         
1.00 oz       Williamette [5.50%]  (60 min)             Hops         18.9 IBU      
1.00 oz       Williamette [5.50%]  (5 min)              Hops         3.8 IBU       
1 Pkgs        Bavarian Lager (Wyeast Labs #2206)

This isn't exactly the same as yours and the weights have been rounded up or down a bit. I'm ready to try it, what do you think?

**DubbelDach** · 03-24-2011, 12:10 AM

Brewing 5 gallons of this right now for a local Bacon Fest for LLS. The mash smelled effin' great!

**passedpawn** · 03-24-2011, 05:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DubbelDach

Brewing 5 gallons of this right now for a local Bacon Fest for LLS. The mash smelled effin' great!

Are you getting sweet bacon from the cherrywood smoked malt (did you use that?)

**DubbelDach** · 03-24-2011, 08:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by passedpawn

Are you getting sweet bacon from the cherrywood smoked malt (did you use that?)

Absolutely...The smell and the taste are right where I want them to be. When I saw this recipe, my first reaction was that it's too much smoked malt. But it's not. I am super excited for this to be ready.

I used the cherrywood and the beechwood that Northern Brewer offers.

**Qeelin** · 03-24-2011, 11:01 PM

I have a similar recipe from the one I posted lagering right now. Which one did you brew?

**DubbelDach** · 03-25-2011, 07:09 PM

I used the exact grain/hop bill as you listed in post #4, above. The only thing I changed was the yeast. I went with WLP007 since I'm not lagering. Fermenting cool (58F), but I don't have time to lager before the Bacon Fest. Label:

Yep... That's a bacon mug!

**Qeelin** · 03-25-2011, 07:22 PM

That's AWESOME! I'll post the actual recipe that I brewed when I get a chance. It's very close to the other one but I used Beersmith to do the calculations. I'm about to rack to the lagering vessel tonight and taste it in about a month. Let me know how yours turns out!