Experimental Beer Samuel Adams Hallertau Imperial Pilsner Clone (MODIFIED)

Ingredients:
12lbs of 2 row pilsner
.75 american dex

Hop schedule:
60min 4 onces of 3.8AA German Hallertau
30min 4 onces of 3.8AA German Hallertau
10min 4 onces of 3.8AA German Hallertau
Note: your going to have to mess around with this depending on the AA you get...

Dry: hop 2 oz of German Hallertau


Mash Profile:
Strike 2.5 gallons@164, and hold at 150f for 75mins
round two, sparge with 1.25 gallons at 168 for 20mins
round three, sparge with 1.25 gallons at 168f for 20mins
collects 3.75

Boil to 2.75gallons

121.09 IBU

Actual OG: 1.1025
Estimated FG: 1.030 (We'll see how low it gets down to)
Estimated Alcohol: 9.45%

Notes: Let sit in room temperature during secondary fermentation for diacetyl rest then proceed to aging.

This was a hard beer to make, and expensive. But I haven't heard of anyone else trying it, and figured why not! I love the Sam adams version, and love extreme beers! So here goes! I'm the first one that I know of to attempt this recipe. I'm currently lagering this at around 47f and it's going well! Smells very good! I can't wait to try it! I would love to see others try this recipe out and help me refine it. My buddy put too much water in the last sparge and we ended up with 4 gallons instead of 3.75, so i threw things off. I had to boil a little longer after i took the OG reading, and add a pound of DME to get the gravity higher. I suggest you do the same and keep a pound of DME ready.

I think we might have to try experimenting with higher grain bill and and different yeast (WLP802, the brew shop was all out of it). We'll see what happens...

Update: Day3: It's lagering in the fridge pretty good. I have the temp to 45f right now.

Day 20, it's down to 1.013! That means it's 11.8%abv!

I tried a sample of it, and wow... it's pretty good! I'm doing a diacetyl rest right now, after that i'm going to car boy it and age it for a few weeks, then off to the keg... Not sure if I should bottle it, or keg it then get the Co2 in it then bottle. Opposed to adding sugar to referment it in the bottle. I don't think the yeast can handle any more. the package said it had a tolerance of 9%, and needed to be around 55f, but i can assure you that this yeast will ferment around 35f and eat more sugar then expected!!!! Just get a huge yeast starter!

Day 30: It stopped at 12.5% and is aging in my crawlspace.... I'm going to let it sit for about two more months then pull it out, should be ready for Oktoberfest!

Well!!! How is it now?

It's good, not for the average beer drinker though! It's bottled and has been aging. The beer most definitely got smoother, I drank one the otherday.