Wood-Aged Beer Oaked Arrogant Bastard

I researched this beer for a longer than normal length of time because there is so little information available on it. I freely admit a great debt of gratitude to Jamil Zainasheff for his clone attempts. He did most of the heavy lifting on this one for me.
His clone is of Arrogant Bastard, to come up with Oaked Arrogant Bastard more research was done to figure out the effect of Oak on beer and get an idea of how much, and for how long was required.

This beer was voted the best beer I've ever made and was enjoyed by and drank very quickly. Hope you enjoy it too.

Malt bill
15 lbs Pale Ale Malt
1.5 lbs Special B

Hope - strictly Chinook
.5 for 90
.5 for 45
1 at 15
1 at knock out

Oak chips
2 oz.

The beer was mashed at 148 for a little over an hour. Boil lasted for 90 minutes.

Fermentation - one week in Primary. The oak chips were added after transferring to Secondary. Beer was on the oak for 7 days and was then kegged. The instructions for this beer also call for it to be drunk early and it was. After only 4 days in the keg we were tasting it. The keg lasted about one month.

To sterilize the oak chips I put them in less than a cup of water and nuked them to boiling point 3 times with a short rest in between. The water was added with the chips.

This one is a keeper guys. Top of the list to be brewed again.
I have been experimenting with dried yeast. This recipe calls for a neutral yeast so I used Notthingham (2 packages).

Was this a 5 gallon batch? Any specific yeast? Whats the target OG?

Sounds delish, thanks.

Oh I see the notty yeast now.

I have never used Special B, is that where your dark black color comes from? I absolutely love Stone's AB, so I may try something like this in the future.

Subscribed! Oaked AB is awesome. I will try this someday for sure.

Patrick604 said:

I have never used Special B, is that where your dark black color comes from? I absolutely love Stone's AB, so I may try something like this in the future.

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Yes the Special B is what gives this beer its beautiful reddish, almost black colour. Flavour contribution from the Special B is right up there too.

We need a new section for Extreme Beers. Although billed as extreme, this beer does come out beautifully balanced. Very hoppy early on but that drops off considerably. Drink it young!

johnp said:

Was this a 5 gallon batch? Any specific yeast? Whats the target OG?

Sounds delish, thanks.

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It came out at about 5.5 gallons. Target OG is as stated, roughly 1072-1076.

This should have Wyeast 1056, the neutral yeast used to Sierra Nevada and many others. I have been experimenting with dry yeast lately so used 2 packets of Notthingham.

The yeast did a good job, took a while longer to clear than usual but no off flavours at all. Crisp, clean and fantastic. Nirvana in a glass.

I re-brewed this on Thursday with very slight modifications. Friday night the airlock was blown out by the extreme activity of yeast pooping out alcohol in a 1072 environment. No harm done, bunged it with a hose into a jar of sanitized water and all was well again.

Changes this time

Mashed slightly lower, around 1046 - 150. The temp varied over the hour a little. Bittering hops were added in one batch at the beginning of the boil. Finishing hops were added for closer to 5 minutes than the 1 minute in the original recipe. Batch size was slightly larger this time, closer to 6 gallons than the 5.5 in the original.

OG still came out at 1072 despite not boiling it down quite as much. Possibly due to a new more efficient crushing machine. Everyone is anxiously waiting for the next 2 weeks to pass quickly

The beer is looking pale because of the amount of suspended yeast. Will clear to a deep red, almost black colour shortly.

What kind of oak chips did you use? I see american vs french and different levels of toast as well.

zeekage said:

What kind of oak chips did you use? I see american vs french and different levels of toast as well.

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I'm using French Oak with a medium toast on it. The chips are added loosely, not in a bag, hopefully giving better use. Most of the chips drop out of suspension over the week of aging. So far no problems with siphoning off.

What are your fermentation temps?

I second what the ferm temps are? Have you tried this recipe w/o oak? Do you have any recommendations for dry hopping? I love this beer and it seems like a solid recipe has been rather elusive in the homebrewing community for longer than I would've expected. Thanks for your efforts, I look forward to trying this.

PS: Can you upload pictures of the finished product?

I brewed some up last weekend and fermented at 60°F. Haven't decide if I am going to put this on oak or not. I might try it a few times to perfect the fermentation temps/recipe before putting it on oak.

DangerRoss said:

What are your fermentation temps?

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Sorry for the late replies, seems I am not receiving email notifications of updates.
I let this start at room temperature which in my basement is low 60s. If I have problems with the krausen spilling over I wait until that is under control and then put a brew belt on it and gradually raise the temp up to the very low 70s.
This seems odd to me but apparently this is what Stone Brewing does to these beers and I have had great results emulating it. It also ensures a more thorough ferment.
Secondary is just a week, with oak. I have not tried this recipe without the oak as I love it too much as is.
I suppose you could dry hop this beer but the balance is fantastic right now. My choice would be to leave it as it is.

Nice I decide not to go with the oak this time around. It is carbonating in the keg as we speak. It should be ready this weekend hopefully!

DangerRoss said:

Nice I decide not to go with the oak this time around. It is carbonating in the keg as we speak. It should be ready this weekend hopefully!

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Great, give us some feedback on it please. Maybe later tonight I'll get the camera out and try for some photos of it in a glass.

This weekend I had a chance to drink a couple pints on Saturday's brew day with the gang. It was slightly under carbonated but nonetheless it was a very close clone recipe. I fermented a little high and it resulted in having a some fruity esters. I will be doing this one again soon but adding the oak to secondary!

DangerRoss said:

This weekend I had a chance to drink a couple pints on Saturday's brew day with the gang. It was slightly under carbonated but nonetheless it was a very close clone recipe. I fermented a little high and it resulted in having a some fruity esters. I will be doing this one again soon but adding the oak to secondary!

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The Oak adds a great flavour layer to this. Let us know how yours turns out.

I brewed this 2 weeks ago. Primary one week, secondary on the oak for one week, then I bottled. I had a glass while I was bottling last night and the oak seemed very over powering. Really, all I could taste was the oak. I used 2oz of Medium Toast French Oak chips. Has anyone else had this problem? Will the strong oak flavor subside a little while conditioning?

DirtyDirty said:

I brewed this 2 weeks ago. Primary one week, secondary on the oak for one week, then I bottled. I had a glass while I was bottling last night and the oak seemed very over powering. Really, all I could taste was the oak. I used 2oz of Medium Toast French Oak chips. Has anyone else had this problem? Will the strong oak flavor subside a little while conditioning?

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In mine the flavours are all in a great balance. That said the Oak is pretty in your face. But with a bit of conditioning so is the malt, and the hops. Good luck with it.

How much volume does 2 oz. of oak chips consume (e.g. a full cup)?

Did you drop them in the fermenter loose or bagged?

I do not primary/secondary. Any issues with either adding this to the primary post-ferment, or possibly the non-carbonated keg for a week @ 40 degrees?

ultravista said:

How much volume does 2 oz. of oak chips consume (e.g. a full cup)?

Did you drop them in the fermenter loose or bagged?

I do not primary/secondary. Any issues with either adding this to the primary post-ferment, or possibly the non-carbonated keg for a week @ 40 degrees?

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I buy my oak in 100 gm bags so for me that's a little more than half the bag, and I use a scale to weigh them for more accuracy. I dropped them loose into secondary but I can't see a problem adding to primary. They do tend to sink after a week or so.
One thing I have since learned is that for a rough aggressive oak flavour, as this beer calls for, you add a large volume for a short period of time. If you want a rounder more complex oak flavour add a lesser volume for a longer period of time. How much and how long depends on the beer you are brewing and your own personal taste.
Apologies once again for the late respone but I am not getting notification of comments on any of these threads.

Wow, that's some serious oak taste. Hope it fades.

GordonT - what efficiency is this recipe formulated for?

ultravista said:

GordonT - what efficiency is this recipe formulated for?

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I've never figured that out but if you look at my malt bill and my OG you can do it yourself.

I'm brewing this again tomorrow, making this the 3rd go around.

Back to the original recipe as it was by far the best. Only other changes are Columbus instead of Chinook as I cannot get Chinook right now, and I'm using Wyeast 1056 rather than Nottingham. I have a Robust Raspberry Porter in primary, this will go on top of that yeast bed.

Really looking forward to having this in a keg again.

Update:
Yesterday was a great brewing session and the beer turned out spot on at 1072 again. One change I made is to pump up the hops in the late additions to 1.5 at 15 and the same at knock out. The Columbus smelled very much like Chinook in the kettle. The wort went on the yeast cake from a previous Robust Raspberry Porter and was fermenting within an hour, smells clean and looks great.
Just because I like to experiment I'm going to change the oak addition to 1.5 oz from 2 and leave it on for 2 weeks rather than one. The information I've seen about this says that a large addition for a short period of time gives you a strong, harsh oak flavour ( which suits this beer perfectly ). A smaller dose for longer apparently gives a more subtle and complex flavour. Worth an extra week to see how this small change affects it.

i think i might give this a try in my rum barrel i've used it once so far for a rum porter, but there is still some rum left to give in there... we'll see how it turns out

defenestrate said:

i think i might give this a try in my rum barrel i've used it once so far for a rum porter, but there is still some rum left to give in there... we'll see how it turns out

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Wow! That sounds great for this beer. If you go ahead with it please give us an update.

defenestrate said:

i think i might give this a try in my rum barrel i've used it once so far for a rum porter, but there is still some rum left to give in there... we'll see how it turns out

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Would love to get a rum barrel for this. Any suggestions on suppliers/prices I should be looking at? Feel free to send me a pm

GordonT said:

Wow! That sounds great for this beer. If you go ahead with it please give us an update.

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i would love to brew it this weekend, but i would have to use some different ingredients- i do not have any special b so i would need to use c120 and maybe some aromatic... and i dont have chinook- would need to sub with columbus

i think it owuld still make an awesome beer though...

ShinyBuddha said:

Would love to get a rum barrel for this. Any suggestions on suppliers/prices I should be looking at? Feel free to send me a pm

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picked mine up from this guy selling them on the forum https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f41/used-liquor-barrels-230606/

I'm gonna be putting this one in the works here soon and hopefully I will experience the same results you guys have. I'm going to the brew store today and I'm going to choose a yeast for this batch. I've got a few questions and I'd like some advice if you can help. I've currently got a wee heavy scotch ale that's almost done using US-05 (single packet), a pliny the elder clone DIPA with US-05 (double packet pitch), and I've got 2 packets of Nottingham yeast in my brew fridge too. I saw the OP used Notty and had good results but I'm wondering if it's worth getting WLP001 or the wyeast american ale ? Does it really change the end result that much?

defenestrate said:

i would love to brew it this weekend, but i would have to use some different ingredients- i do not have any special b so i would need to use c120 and maybe some aromatic... and i dont have chinook- would need to sub with columbus

i think it owuld still make an awesome beer though...

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Special B is one of the defining features of this beer. WIthout it you'll still have a nice brew, but it won't be OAB.

bojacked said:

I'm gonna be putting this one in the works here soon and hopefully I will experience the same results you guys have. I'm going to the brew store today and I'm going to choose a yeast for this batch. I've got a few questions and I'd like some advice if you can help. I've currently got a wee heavy scotch ale that's almost done using US-05 (single packet), a pliny the elder clone DIPA with US-05 (double packet pitch), and I've got 2 packets of Nottingham yeast in my brew fridge too. I saw the OP used Notty and had good results but I'm wondering if it's worth getting WLP001 or the wyeast american ale ? Does it really change the end result that much?

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I actually prefer the Nottingham in this beer. Adds just a touch more complexity and maltiness to it.

GordonT said:

I actually prefer the Nottingham in this beer. Adds just a touch more complexity and maltiness to it.

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Perfect, that keeps it easy. Did you double pitch the 5g notty packets? I noticed the fermentis packets are 11g each do I was wondering if they had diff sizes.

Stuck to the recipe exactly, save for a few extra weeks in primary because life happened. In my keg now, and it's great. Force carbed it, it tastes great fresh.

Brewed this again last night, hit my same numbers as before. Thinking of adding some bourbon to the wood chips, anyone ever try bourbon with this recipe? How much? Thinking 5-6 oz. I still want this beer to be ready in 2-3 weeks.

scottconnor - how is the hop flavor and aroma? How soon after the knockout hops do you chill?

Subbed. This is next on my list.

Hop flavor is pretty subtle, the wood and the Special B are what shine through. I just racked this to secondary tonight with 3oz of wood chips that were sitting in 5oz of bourbon for the past week. Most of the bourbon got absorbed into the wood, but I threw the extra bourbon in there too.

I only got down to 1.020, where last time I brewed this I hit 1.014. I didn't put this one in a water bath, so it may have fermented closer to 60 degrees, where the last one was around 66-67. Dont think it will be a big deal, I'm anxious to see what the bourbon does to this beer.