MPEbeling
Active Member
Hey fellow brewers/drinkers,
I'm pretty new to brewing and have done 2 all grain batches, a New Glarus Spotted Cow clone that was perfect, and a Green Flash Hop Head Red clone that smelled great, but had a disagreement with my wort chiller and ended up on my garage floor
. I realized from these clones that 1) home brewing is very fun and rewarding 2) I am good at following directions and recipies, but I know nothing about my ability to make a good beer. So now it is time to man up and try to create something of my own. So for my first beer I'm trying to create a Vanilla Spiced Holiday Stout/Porter (from what I can tell these two are used interchangeable for the most part).
I want a BIG beer with lots of flavor. I love the sweet vanilla flavor of a porter and I like the spices of pumpkin beers and of the Great lakes Brewing Christmas Ale. I want the sweet vanilla to be the primary flavor with a subtle spiciness to it and I have no clue where to start. With the help of Beer Smith and a few brewing books I made a recipe, but I am struggling with what yeast to use and how much and when to use the spice and vanilla beans....this is where I need the most help, but any advice on any part of me recipe is much appreciated.
Here is what I have so far...
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 61.2 %
1 lbs 9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.3 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.9 %
12.8 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.3 %
10.1 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 5 4.2 %
6.1 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.5 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7 6.6 %
1.30 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 16.6 IBUs
0.60 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 8.0 IBUs
I should add that I always have kegged before but I think I would like to save some of this and age it for a few years and see how it develops, maybe I could even do an annual holiday brew and do vertical tastings. Should I just bottle it, or keg it and drink some and bottle some from the keg? Im thinking if I brew it in a week or two it will have enough time to be ready by Christmas.
Thanks again for any and all advice, thoughts or input.
I'm pretty new to brewing and have done 2 all grain batches, a New Glarus Spotted Cow clone that was perfect, and a Green Flash Hop Head Red clone that smelled great, but had a disagreement with my wort chiller and ended up on my garage floor
. I realized from these clones that 1) home brewing is very fun and rewarding 2) I am good at following directions and recipies, but I know nothing about my ability to make a good beer. So now it is time to man up and try to create something of my own. So for my first beer I'm trying to create a Vanilla Spiced Holiday Stout/Porter (from what I can tell these two are used interchangeable for the most part).I want a BIG beer with lots of flavor. I love the sweet vanilla flavor of a porter and I like the spices of pumpkin beers and of the Great lakes Brewing Christmas Ale. I want the sweet vanilla to be the primary flavor with a subtle spiciness to it and I have no clue where to start. With the help of Beer Smith and a few brewing books I made a recipe, but I am struggling with what yeast to use and how much and when to use the spice and vanilla beans....this is where I need the most help, but any advice on any part of me recipe is much appreciated.
Here is what I have so far...
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
9 lbs 4.0 oz Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 61.2 %
1 lbs 9.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 2 10.3 %
1 lbs 8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 9.9 %
12.8 oz Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.3 %
10.1 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 5 4.2 %
6.1 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.5 %
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 7 6.6 %
1.30 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 16.6 IBUs
0.60 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 9 8.0 IBUs
I should add that I always have kegged before but I think I would like to save some of this and age it for a few years and see how it develops, maybe I could even do an annual holiday brew and do vertical tastings. Should I just bottle it, or keg it and drink some and bottle some from the keg? Im thinking if I brew it in a week or two it will have enough time to be ready by Christmas.
Thanks again for any and all advice, thoughts or input.
