My shot at a Utopias clone

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Saccharomyces

Be good to your yeast...
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Brewing this up tomorrow. :ban:

First mash, 45 min at 158*F:
10# 2-row

Runoff the first mash to collect 7 gallons, which will then be used to mash in:
18# 2-row
2# Mesquite smoked malt (from Austin Homebrew, smells wonderful!)
1# Caramunich
.5# Special "B"

Second (reiterated) mash rest for 120 min at 148*F, should drop down to 145-146*F by the end. I will run that off to collect 7 gallons, and bring it to a boil for 90 minutes.

Hops:
3oz Summit 90
1oz Simcoe 15

Post-boil target is SG of 1.130. I'll hit it with pure O2 for 90 seconds, pitch 3 packs of Safale US-05 rehydrated with GoFerm, hit it with O2 at the end of the lag phase, and ferment for 3 days at 62*F. Then I'll pitch a 2L starter of actively fermenting WLP099 which has been fed some of the beer on the stir plate, give it a last O2 shot, and add some yeast hulls.

Over the course of the next 10 days, split into 1# additions each day, I will add the following, and stir vigorously for 2 minutes to drive off CO2:

2# Amber DME
4# Corn Sugar
4# Maple Syrup

Once all the fermentables are in the fermenter, I should be at an equivalent OG of 1.205. :D

At the end of the growth phase, I'll slowly raise the temp up to 68*F, and when it reaches a gravity of about 1.060 I'll bring it up to 70*F, add a tablespoon of boiled bread yeast*, and let it finish out at 70*F. Also, adding 1oz medium toast French oak at this stage.

I'm hoping to get it down to 1.025 or so, which would be 24% ABV. My notes in Beersmith say to "age for eternity". :D

* The boiled bread yeast is a trick used by mead makers to ensure full attenuation in sack meads. The dead yeast cells absorb toxins which the nutrients produce due to stress from fermenting under high alcohol conditions, allowing the living yeast to continue functioning until they run out of available nutrients.
 
Boy Eric, that seems like a ton of hops. Our U1 was hopped with a very restrained hand and when we increased the amount of hops in the U2 that wasn't as well received. Just my take on it.

I do like your boiled bread yeast idea. Might need to try that myself to get the U3 to dry out more.

PTN
 
Hit 1.123, but got 5.5 gal. I'll up the sugar additions slightly to compensate. Pitched the three packs of US 05 after rehydrating. Yeast hulls and zinc will go in at the end of the lag along with another shot of pure O2.

The hop bitterness of the wort is assertive but not overpowering. It's like syrup. I chose to go with more hops due to my preference for hoppy big beers, it will be interesting to see how the hops age out.
 
Saccharomyces said:
Hit 1.123, but got 5.5 gal. I'll up the sugar additions slightly to compensate. Pitched the three packs of US 05 after rehydrating. Yeast hulls and zinc will go in at the end of the lag along with another shot of pure O2.

The hop bitterness of the wort is assertive but not overpowering. It's like syrup. I chose to go with more hops due to my preference for hoppy big beers, it will be interesting to see how the hops age out.

How long do you expect until this one is drinkable?
 
How long do you expect until this one is drinkable?

About a year, based on Paul's experience with theirs.

Gave it the shot of O2 this morning at the end of the lag, along with some Wyeast nutrient. Dang fermenter nearly foamed over, even with foam control drops. This is gonna be one exciting fermentation to watch.
 
Took a gravity reading, 72 hours into the ferment it's at 1.075 which is about 6.3% ABV. Chris White from White Labs recommends pitching WLP099 below 8% ABV, which is right where I am sitting now, so the WLP099 will go in this evening.

I started the WLP099 starter yesterday on the stir plate, and fed it a small amount of the fermenting beer this morning. Prior to pitching it, I will take 2L of the fermenting beer and blend it with the starter, let it sit in the ferm fridge for about 3 hours to acclimate to the fermentation conditions. Once I pitch that I'll hit the fermenter with O2 for about 90 seconds, add 1tsp of Fermaid K for the WLP099, and dump in 1# of the DME.

Picked up the maple syrup at Sam's Club yesterday. I'll be adding it at the very end of the fermentation to try to preserve as much of the maple flavor as I can.
 
This morning sitting at 1.042. Added the second pound of DME, tomorrow I'll start adding the corn sugar. From here on out I'll raise the temp 1*F per day until I get to 68*F. The yeast are showing no signs of slowing, they are munching away happily!
 
This morning sitting at 1.042. Added the second pound of DME, tomorrow I'll start adding the corn sugar. From here on out I'll raise the temp 1*F per day until I get to 68*F. The yeast are showing no signs of slowing, they are munching away happily!

Wow- this sounds so cool! Keep us informed so we can make a monster beer vicariously though you!
 
subscribed.

sounds very interesting for a big beer project. I sampled PTN's version. I hope yours turns out that well.
 
SG ~1.047. Added 2# of corn sugar today and increased temp to 64*F. Left the lid loose yesterday, so it was a bit easier to degas it today. Fermentation is no longer violent but still very active.
 
Since my last update I added the sugar 1-2# per day, rousing the yeast daily, except for a few days I was out of town. I added the boiled bread yeast last week at my calculated 2/3 sugar break. Today the Utopias was sitting at 1.038 and 70*F. I added the last 2# of maple syrup so all the sugar is in now. The krausen has dropped but it's still visibly fermenting, looking more like a wine fermentation now. I'll keep rousing the yeast for another 5 days or so before racking over to a carboy.

One thing I did not think of when I planned this batch is how much volume I would gain from adding the maple syrup and all the sugar (plus the 1/2 gallon of starter I added for the WLP099). I have probably 6.5 gallons in a 7 gallon fermenter at this point, when I started with 5.5! I'll be lucky if I get it all into a 6 gallon carboy.

Edit: not to mention, I created a foamcano and overflowed the bucket once when I was stirring it with the degassing wand. My ferm fridge is gonna need a serious cleaning after this batch is out of it!
 
Edit: not to mention, I created a foamcano and overflowed the bucket once when I was stirring it with the degassing wand. My ferm fridge is gonna need a serious cleaning after this batch is out of it!

I did this too! My forgot the corn sugar on my first batch of Apfelwein. I added it the next day and I had apple juice shooting about 18 inches into the air.
 
I did this too! My forgot the corn sugar on my first batch of Apfelwein. I added it the next day and I had apple juice shooting about 18 inches into the air.

LOL... the problem was mostly that I just stirred to vigorously, and it bubbled over. I had plenty of Fermcap in there, which helped a lot, it blew off a little bit the first few days but then died down after that.

I wouldn't worry too much about that, Eric. You're going to end up with a metric arse ton of yeast on the bottom that you will leave behind.

Good point I had forgotten about that.
 
Racked it off of about 3" of trub yesterday, WLP099 is still active, it's at 1.056. I plan to continue rousing the yeast every few days for the next month, and then I'll take another reading. As I expected, it's very slow going now that it's over 21% ABV.
 
Saccharomyces said:
Racked it off of about 3" of trub yesterday, WLP099 is still active, it's at 1.052 and dropping. I plan to continue rousing the yeast every few days for the next month, and then I'll take another reading. As I expected, it's very slow going now that it's over 21% ABV.

Hows it taste?
 
Wow this sounds awesome. I'm definitely subscribed. Can't wait to see how this one ends up.

I've never made a super high alcohol brew. How is the WLP099 able to withstand the 21% alcohol?
 
Took a reading this morning. The yeast seem to be stuck at 21% ABV. At 1.056, it's cloyingly sweet. So, I'm going to try diluting some down to 1.180 equivalent OG (12% added water by volume) and do a fast ferment test on the stir plate for 3 days, and see what happens. There is still plenty of creamy, viable looking yeast in the carboy, so I think I have just reached the yeasts' attenuation limit for this wort composition. I hope. :)

My plan for aging is to blend future batches with this one to make a solera, and bottle a little bit. This means in future years I won't have to make a 5 gal batch, I can go with something a little more reasonable like 3 gal, just enough to replace what I bottle plus trub / racking losses.

FWIW it was pointed out to me today that the original Utopias is 40*P which is about 1.180. The very high ABV is likely a result of angels share in the extended barrel aging, which causes the alcohol to increase as water evaporates through the barrel faster, as happens during port aging. If I'm successful in getting it to 21% after dilution so it isn't too sweet, I will boost the ABV to the desired 24% using Everclear. I'm too impatient to let it age 10 years in a barrel. :cross:
 
Fast ferment test results are in.. still stuck at 1.056. So I have reached the attenuation limit of the wort composition.

To dry this beer out I plan to do a 1.060 wort mashed overnight at 145, and I'll add 100 points worth of sugar to push it to 1.160 OG equivalent doing the Cali Ale + WLP099 again. This should give me a very dry 21% beer to blend with the too-sweet 21% beer. :)

I'll also cut back on the bittering hops of the second batch. paulthenurse was right, the bitterness of this one is enough to knock your head off.
 
Don't give him too much credit Sacc... he only knows it was going to be too many IBUs from his own... eh hem... experiment.

Hey... BTW... did PTN ever send you out a bottle of his U1? Since there is a decent chance I'm gonna run into you out in San Diego, I think we should convince Paul to donate a bottle of his famous U1 so I can bring it out there with me... and we can all bask in his Sistine Chapel of a beer glory.
 
Don't give him too much credit Sacc... he only knows it was going to be too many IBUs from his own... eh hem... experiment.

Hey... BTW... did PTN ever send you out a bottle of his U1? Since there is a decent chance I'm gonna run into you out in San Diego, I think we should convince Paul to donate a bottle of his famous U1 so I can bring it out there with me... and we can all bask in his Sistine Chapel of a beer glory.

I want to be there too :D
 
Hey... BTW... did PTN ever send you out a bottle of his U1? Since there is a decent chance I'm gonna run into you out in San Diego, I think we should convince Paul to donate a bottle of his famous U1 so I can bring it out there with me... and we can all bask in his Sistine Chapel of a beer glory.

Wow that would be awesomeness. I'll have to dig through my cellar to see what I can find to offer up worthy in trade for such a fine specimen.
 
figured out which beer shop your headed to cape?




gotta make sure I get there first


crap, sorry threadjack again. Sacc this is very interesting and will be nice to hear the outcome. I need to do another monster beer for aging.
 
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