So I was talking to someone about Iron Brewer, and went back to the basic brewer podcast on the subject, and they were talking about putting frosted oatmeal cookies in the mashtun, and how much the flavor came through. I'm a big fan of gingersnaps so I thought I'd give this a try.
Figuring out a rough amount of gravity points for the cookies is difficult. I used this nutrition facts website for the amount of sugar per box http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/ginger-snaps It gives a rough Idea, I'm actually go to take a preboil gravity and tweak the hops accordingly I want a balanced hop bill so the cookies will shine through.
I've found with my brewing experiments of adding things to the mash tun, such a chocolate and even tortilla chips, that they grain will actually absorb any oils in whatever you add. Contrary to what people have thought I've never had problems from the fats of chocolate in my mole porter, or fats and salt from my tortilla chips in my cream ale affect the heading of the beer. So I am really not worried about anything undesirable coming from these cookies. And since the iron brewers have done cookies, and James spencer has done breakfast ceral in the mash, I'm excited to see how this turns out. I may add more cookies to the boil if it seems like they didn't come through as heavily in the mash.
My base recipe is an english brown, as opposed to a more hoppy american. I've never done that style. But I figured Marris Otter, and biscuit would hopefully be a nice "crackery" backbone. The oats are just for a little more help with heading.
What do you think? I'm actually more interested in what you think of the base Brown recipe, than anything else. Also, anyone got a better yeast suggestion that would bring out what I'm hoping to achieve? The only English Ale yeasts I've ever used have been 04 and windsor. I am hoping to bring out the crispness/bisquityness of the grain bill.
Figuring out a rough amount of gravity points for the cookies is difficult. I used this nutrition facts website for the amount of sugar per box http://www.myfitnesspal.com/nutrition-facts-calories/ginger-snaps It gives a rough Idea, I'm actually go to take a preboil gravity and tweak the hops accordingly I want a balanced hop bill so the cookies will shine through.
I've found with my brewing experiments of adding things to the mash tun, such a chocolate and even tortilla chips, that they grain will actually absorb any oils in whatever you add. Contrary to what people have thought I've never had problems from the fats of chocolate in my mole porter, or fats and salt from my tortilla chips in my cream ale affect the heading of the beer. So I am really not worried about anything undesirable coming from these cookies. And since the iron brewers have done cookies, and James spencer has done breakfast ceral in the mash, I'm excited to see how this turns out. I may add more cookies to the boil if it seems like they didn't come through as heavily in the mash.
Ginger Snap Brown Ale
Brew Type: All Grain
Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice
Batch Size: 2.50 gal
Boil Volume: 3.50 gal Boil Time: 60 min
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 % Equipment: Kitchen Setup 4.5 gallon Pot/5 gallon cooler
Ingredients Amount Item Type % or IBU
1# Ginger Snap Cookies Adjunct 16.37 %
2 lbs 1.7 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 45.83 %
1 lbs 2.1 oz Caramel Malt - 60L (Briess) (60.0 SRM) Grain 24.55 %
8.2 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 11.13 %
1.6 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 2.13 %
0.60 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
0.32 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (15 min) Hops 5.5 IBU
1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile Estimated Original Gravity: 1.052 SG (1.030-1.110 SG)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.014 SG (1.005-1.025 SG)
Estimated Color: 17.2 SRM (5.0-50.0 SRM) Color
Bitterness: 26.4 IBU (0.0-70.0 IBU) Alpha Acid Units: 4.1 AAU
Estimated Alcohol by Volume: 5.01 % (2.50-12.00 %)
Mash Profile Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge Mash Tun Weight: 4.00 lb
Mash Grain Weight: 4.60 lb Mash
Name Description Step Temp Step Time
Mash In Add 1.44 gal of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 60 min
Sparge Water: 2.86 gal @ 168 Degrees.
Mash Notes
Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Notes
Base is 11c Norther English Brown Ale 1.040-1.052 OG, 12-22 srms, 20-30 ibu's. 1 Lb box of ginger snaps in mash tun. 1 Box of Nabisco = 176g of sugar or 6.2 ounces. Used the calculation for 6.2 ounces turbinado sugar for a rough gravity assumption. Will actually be using Meijer's brand snaps.
My base recipe is an english brown, as opposed to a more hoppy american. I've never done that style. But I figured Marris Otter, and biscuit would hopefully be a nice "crackery" backbone. The oats are just for a little more help with heading.
What do you think? I'm actually more interested in what you think of the base Brown recipe, than anything else. Also, anyone got a better yeast suggestion that would bring out what I'm hoping to achieve? The only English Ale yeasts I've ever used have been 04 and windsor. I am hoping to bring out the crispness/bisquityness of the grain bill.