All-Grain - Rabbit Slayer: RIS with Molasses

Tall_Yotie · 08-04-2011, 02:40 AM

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP013
Yeast Starter: 1.5L stirplate
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.25
Original Gravity: 1.102
Final Gravity: 1.026
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: Tar Black
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 7 days, 68F
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 2 weeks, 68F
Tasting Notes: Rich and complex. Molasses smooths out the hops, lowering percieved bitterness.

IBU: 65

14lb American 2-Row
1lb Wheat
1lb Victory
1lb Roasted Barley
0.5lb Black Patent
0.5lb Crystal 60L
0.5lb Crystal 120L
0.5lb CaraPils

12oz Molasses (Brer Rabbit full flavor); 5 minutes boil

1oz Columbus 60min
1/2oz Columbus 30min
1/2oz Columbus 15min

154F Mash 60min

This won 1st Place in the Specialty Ale category at the San Mateo County Fair.

Incredibly thick with deep roasted flavors. The molasses adds richness and smoothness, not sweetness.

This is the biggest hit as far as the brews I have made; I am proud of my Belgian Ales, but even with this at over 10% ABV I can't keep my friends and family from drinking it all down

**Keith_Mahoney** · 09-10-2011, 09:36 PM

I am only asking out of general curiosity and not criticizing your recipe, but isn't adding CaraPils to this large grain bill unnecessary? I've only ever used it in beers under 1.050 which finish under 1.010.

Obviously you received good results from this brew but what was the reason you added the carapils?

Tall_Yotie · 09-11-2011, 01:03 AM

It was added in the seeks rendition of the brew to add smoother mouth feel. It could go without and give more of the standard RIS feel. I added it at request, liked it, and kept it.

Thanks for the question!

Tall_Yotie · 10-12-2011, 04:32 PM

Note: Just took 2nd place overall with this at the National Organ Home Brewer's Competition! This was the highest scoring brew in the entire competition. Oh so tasty!

**malweth** · 10-12-2011, 04:45 PM

Congrats! I was just about to post some questions about this one.

I'm interested in doing a RIS -- but I've only done one AG brew so far (this past weekend).

Did you sparge?
What kind of wheat did you use?

I had an Old Rasputen with my brother after brewing Monday... and it was amazing!

Tall_Yotie · 10-12-2011, 04:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by malweth

Congrats! I was just about to post some questions about this one.

I'm interested in doing a RIS -- but I've only done one AG brew so far (this past weekend).

Did you sparge?
What kind of wheat did you use?

I had an Old Rasputen with my brother after brewing Monday... and it was amazing!

Thanks!

I did indeed sparge (double batch sparge), as you should with any all grain beer. This one is tricky, as it has a lot of grain, and thus you will not have a lot of water to sparge with after you do the mash.

With this much grain efficiency tends to go down. I collect more wort than normal and do a long boil, adding in wort as it boils down and start my hops addition once all the wort is in the pot.

Mash with about 4 gallons of water, make sure your strike water is around 170F with this mash thickness. Hopefully this will then get you to the temp you need, if you are cold by a couple degrees (152F instead of 154F) it still will be fine.

Boil up about 5 gallons for sparging. Add as much as you need to get the grain bed temp up to 170F, stir like mad, and then drain. The rest of the water should have cooled off a lot by then, and just pour it all in for the second batch sparge. Stir like mad again. Drain. Proceed as normal.

For the wheat I just used American white wheat as far as I can recall (I don't have my brew book in front of me). If I am wrong I will let you know, will check after work today.

Old Rasputen is a amazing brew. This one has a lot of similarities to it, but does not have the anise note. I actually prefer it without.

Make sure you do the starter! If you don't have a stir plate then make a bigger one, the yeast has a LOT of work to do! let me know how the brew goes!

kristophelr · 10-17-2011, 11:20 PM

What's a good yeast to use with this brew?

Tall_Yotie · 10-17-2011, 11:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kristophelr

What's a good yeast to use with this brew?

WLP013 with a 1.5L starter works really well. 2 packs of S-04 has worked as well in a version I did (was the version that won the Organic competition).

**two_hearted** · 10-17-2011, 11:59 PM

sub'd

Tall_Yotie · 10-18-2011, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxam

sub'd

Awesome!

As an update: Got the score sheets, was the highest scoring with 44 point, with one judge (National) giving it 46 points.

Watch the temperature during fermentation, otherwise it will taste too "hot" from the fusel alcohol.