Firestone walker parabola

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

vdub117

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2011
Messages
46
Reaction score
0
Location
Wolfeboro
Last we celebrated the birth of my brother's baby girl by sharing a bottle of parabola, and I was blown away. The velvety smooth mouth feel, the layers of chocolate, vanilla, bourbon, and tobacco...i want to brew like this! Any thoughts on a potential recipe for something similar? I've looked up recipes for other russian imperial stouts, but am curious how to get something similar. Any thoughts?
 
From Firestone Walker's Website:

Malts
Crisp Maris Otter Pale, Munich, Cara-hell, Carafa, Dark & Light Crystal, Chocolate, Oats, Roasted Barley

Hops
Bittering—Zeus; Late Kettle—Hallertau

From the Bottle:
ABV is 12.5%
IBU: 82
Color: 167 SRM (black)
OG: 29.5* Plato (1.127 SG)

They use an English strain of yeast. You'll probably need one of the better attenuating ones like Wyeast 1028.

Keys Points (To me):

1. You'll need an apparent attenuation of 73.5% to hit 12.5% ABV with a 1.127 starting gravity. This would leave you with a terminal gravity of 1.034.

2. Hopping. I'd use a big 60 min. charge to hit 82 IBUs using Zeus hops. Then perhaps an once or so of Hallertau in the last 20 minutes or so.

3. Malt bill. I'd probably shoot for 80% base Maris Otter and then use specialty for the rest. I really need to pop a bottle of this and do some more thinking about it.
 
Awesome, thanks wonderbread...I guess I wasn't too observant when I looked at their site. Maybe the 12.5% had something to do with that:drunk: I'll plug it into beersmith and see what percentages I can come with:mug:
 
Awesome, thanks wonderbread...I guess I wasn't too observant when I looked at their site. Maybe the 12.5% had something to do with that:drunk: I'll plug it into beersmith and see what percentages I can come with:mug:

I took a shot at a (VERY rough) recipe. It is within the specs for the beer but the percentages for specialty malts are likely off by quite a bit. I'd be interested to see comments from others who have had this beer and are familar with Firestone Walker's recipe formulation. I'll probably brew this within the next 6 months or so, age it for a year on oak and see where I'm at. I did some guesswork on approximating the malts as I'm not sure which maltsters they use outside of Crisp for the Maris Otter. I assumed if they're using Crisp for the base malt, perhaps they are using it for the crystal too? I also played on the hunch that the malts on the website are listed in descending order of percentages.

[size=+2]Parabola Clone (W.I.P.)[/size]
[size=+1]13-F Russian Imperial Stout[/size]



Size: 7.78 gal
Efficiency: 74.0%
Attenuation: 73.5%
Calories: 432.23 kcal per 12.0 fl oz

Original Gravity: 1.127 (1.075 - 1.115)
|============================#===|
Terminal Gravity: 1.034 (1.018 - 1.030)
|============================#===|
Color: 41.03 (30.0 - 40.0)
|=========================#======|
Alcohol: 12.56% (8.0% - 12.0%)
|==========================#=====|
Bitterness: 82.0 (50.0 - 90.0)
|====================#===========|

[size=+1]Ingredients:[/size]
25.25 lb Maris Otter (Crisp) (66.4%)
5.5 lb Munich TYPE II (Weyermann) (14.5%)
1.5 lb Carahell® (Weyermann) (3.9%)
1.5 lb Carafa® TYPE III (Weyermann) (3.9%)
1 lb Crystal 120 (Crisp) (2.6%)
1 lb Crystal 45 (Crisp) (2.6%)
.75 lb Chocolate (Crisp) (2.0%)
.75 lb Oats (Pregelatinized Flakes) (Briess) (2.0%)
.75 lb Roasted Barley (Crisp) (2.0%)
58 g Columbus (14.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
2 oz Hallertauer Mittelfrüher (3.4%) - added during boil, boiled 30 min
.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient - added during boil, boiled 10 min
1 ea Whirlfloc Tablets (Irish moss) - added during boil, boiled 5 min
1 ea WYeast 1028 London Ale™
1.5 oz Oak Cube Blend - added dry to secondary fermenter

[size=+1]Schedule:[/size]

00:03:00 Conversion Infusion - Liquor: 6.25 gal; Strike: 174.04 °F; Target: 151 °F
01:33:00 Conversion Rest - Rest: 90 min; Final: 151.0 °F
01:33:00 Sparge - First Sparge: 4.625 gal sparge @ 206 °F, 0.0 min; Second Sparge: 4.625 gal sparge @ 168.0 °F, 0.0 min; Total Runoff: 11.32 gal
 
Would you brew this as a partygyle? You're stab at a recipe looks like a good start, but I'm confused by their label having the color at over 100 SRM higher than what you came up with?
 
Nope, no partigyle. Just two big sparges since my mashtun will be maxed out with the first infusion and then a long boil to concentrate everything down from 11.3 gallons to 7.8. I'll probably scale it down a bit to get the final volume closer to 6 gallons. Yeah, the label says 167 SRM. You'd need something like 20+ lbs of roasted barely to get it that dark. Black is pretty much black. I think the label is a bit off...
 
haha that makes more sense...now for the hard part....finding the patience to be able to age it for a year:mug:
 
Yes, looking for feedback on this. Did you brew it as you have listed here? I'm looking for a clone, and was planning to brew it in the next two weeks to age for next Xmas.
 
I never ended up brewing this recipe, instead I used parts of it for inspiration, and combined bits and pieces from other RIS recipes. End result was a great stout, but not oak aged or 12.5%, so not so much a parabola clone. Good Luck though if you take a shot at the Parabola!
 
I am trying to replicate Firestone Walker's Parabola bourbon barrel-aged Russia Imperial Stout. After studying the profile published by Firestone Walker, I developed the recipe below in BeerSmith. While British yeast may be more appropriate, I am hoping that WLP001 is up to the task (I just harvested 2L from my fermentor). As you can see, I like to keep my recipes simple and round all ingredients to whole numbers. The grain bill looks over the top -- and then adding bourbon.

I plan to brew next week. I would appreciate input on the appropriate amount of bourbon to add. I will start out with ~12 gallons in my fermentor and generally end up kegging 10 gallons when I am done.


12 Gallon Batch
ABV (prior to adding Bourbon) = 11.5%

32 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM)
8 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM)
2 lbs Carafa I (337.0 SRM)
2 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 15L (15.0 SRM)
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM)
1 lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM)
1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8
5 oz Columbus/Tomahawk/Zeus [14.0%] - Boil 60 min
5 oz Hallertauer [4.8%] - Boil 30 min
2 Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15 min)
California Ale (White Labs #WLP001)
4 oz Oak Chips (Secondary 7 days)
12 oz Bourbon (Secondary 2 weeks)
12 oz Bourbon - 2 (Bottling 0 min)
 
Better late than never, I finally got around to taking a shot at cloning this:

http://www.thepourreport.com/firestone-walker-parabola-clone-attempt/

Here's the recipe I ended up brewing:

Size: 2.74 gal
Efficiency: 60%
Attenuation: 73.0%

Original Gravity: 1.127 SG
Terminal Gravity: 1.034 SG (projected)
Color: 53.12 SRM
Alcohol: 12.42% ABV
Bitterness: 79.6 IBUs

Ingredients:
10.5 lb (64.1%) Maris Otter (Crisp)
1.75 lb (10.7%) Munich TYPE II (Weyermann)
14 oz (5.3%) Chocolate (Crisp)
8 oz (3.1%) Roast Barley (Crisp)
8 oz (3.1%) Carafa Special® TYPE III (Weyermann)
12 oz (4.6%) Flaked Oats (Briess)
8 oz (3.1%) Carahell® (Weyermann)
8 oz (3.1%) Crystal 120 (Crisp)
8 oz (3.1%) Crystal 45 (Crisp)

22 g Columbus (15.0% AA) – boiled 60 m
1/2 tablet Whirlfloc – boiled 15 m
0.5 tsp Wyeast Nutrient – boiled 10 m
1 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.5% AA) – Whirlpool Rest 15m

Fermentis Safale US-05

Mash:
148 °F – 60m
170.0 °F – 10m

Fermentation:
1. Chill to 62°F and keep at 64°F until activity slows
2. Raise temp to 72°F 3 days
3. Crash to 32°F 3 days

Secondary:
Split into 1-gallon vessels with oak soaked in bourbon.

Vessel 1: 0.25 oz. American Heavy Toast + 2oz. Larceny Wheated Bourbon
Vessel 2: 0.25 oz. American Heavy Toast + 2oz. Rittenhouse Rye 101

I'll let you know how close it is once it's all packaged up!
 
Looks good, keep us updated! Though it it doesn't make a huge difference in the long run, good call with the rittenhouse, awesome stuff.
 
If I ever brew this would be the one id brew.
When u oak age are you just getting bourbon soaked oak chips or u guys actually got barrels?
 
I'm working on piecing together a recipe. I recently heard in an interview with Matt B. (http://thebrewingnetwork.com/shows/1041) that they mash very thick with this beer. So thick, that they have to manually stir it. That shouldn't affect taste too much, and it's really just them pushing their brewhouse to the limit, but it is interesting nonetheless. He also said they boil parabola for twice as long as most of their beers. I'm assuming that means they boil it for about 2 hours. Finally, Matt mentions that the 82 IBU is measured before the beer is put in the barrels, but when they pull it out those IBU's have dropped by about half. I know that's not a whole lot of info, but every bit helps. I'm going to continue to scour the internet for info, and I'll report back with any findings.
 
Because this is bourbon barrel aged, you all are shooting for a final gravity that probably isn't representative of what parabola's actually is. The base beer is more likely 10.5-11.5 abv and the additional alcohol is picked up from the barrel. At my previous brewery, we on average picked up 2% abv from barrel aging in bourbon barrels. I would not be surprised if this beer finishes in the 1.040s.
 
I brewed this up on 03/14/15. I use BIAB and the mash was still thick as oatmeal. I calculated at 55% efficiency but hit about 49.2%. pH was low at 5.1. OG came in at 1.118. I fermented at 65°F for 3-days and then moved it to 68°F ambient for the duration. I checked it Friday (13-days) and gravity is 1.037. Actually, it already tastes pretty good. Has a slight warming, nice roasty chocolately flavor. I think it's going to turn out really nice. My current plan is to add bourbon-soaked oak chips and some bourbon that has been sitting on vanilla beans for a couple months to ~3 gallons of this, and create a cayenne/cinnamon/vanilla mixture to put in the rest. I'm going to let it sit for a while before doing anything.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Parabola Imperial Stout
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.76 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.126 SG
Estimated Color: 60.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 79.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 55.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 65.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
23 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 66.7 %
4 lbs 4.0 oz Munich II (Weyermann) (8.5 SRM) Grain 2 12.3 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.2 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.9 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.9 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.9 %
2.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 66.3 IBUs
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 9 13.1 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 10 -
1.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 11 -
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 12 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 13 -
0.50 lb Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Flavor 14 -
5.50 oz Bourbon (Secondary 2.0 weeks) Other 15 -
5.50 oz Bourbon - 2 (Bottling 0.0 mins) Other 16 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 34 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 41.15 qt of water at 164.9 F 151.0 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
27.5°P OG. 5.1 pH mash

03/27/15 - 1.037 gravity, alcohol warming, roasty and slighty sweet.

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com
 
Because this is bourbon barrel aged, you all are shooting for a final gravity that probably isn't representative of what parabola's actually is. The base beer is more likely 10.5-11.5 abv and the additional alcohol is picked up from the barrel. At my previous brewery, we on average picked up 2% abv from barrel aging in bourbon barrels. I would not be surprised if this beer finishes in the 1.040s.

That's a very interesting point. I have a bottle of 2015 in front of me. From the label, OG and FG are 32.74 and 10.16 in Plato. That gives us an OG and FG of approximately 1.145 and 1.041 in SG. This is a bit of a discrepancy since this should give us an ABV of 16.44%. (Using the alternate formula.) This doesn't quite add up.
 
I don't think they use the alternate for most commercial beers I have seen despite being more accurate for big beers like this one. Cigar city doesn't either.
 
I know FW has a pretty sizable lab and I'd imagine they would actually measure alcohol content rather than just calculate it. I know skibb said that he has experience with barrels increasing alcohol, but is I possible that a barrel could somehow decrease alcohol? I'm just trying to make sense of this.
 
Has anyone converted a extract recipe of the parabola? I'm looking for something to age til Dec.
 
The hardest part of replication this beer is it is aged in variety of barrels, then brought back together at different quantities and blended. Every year has a different flavor as different people are chosen for the blending process as well as different barrels. It is a fantastic beer, one of my favorites.
 
I brewed this up on 03/14/15. I use BIAB and the mash was still thick as oatmeal. I calculated at 55% efficiency but hit about 49.2%. pH was low at 5.1. OG came in at 1.118. I fermented at 65°F for 3-days and then moved it to 68°F ambient for the duration. I checked it Friday (13-days) and gravity is 1.037. Actually, it already tastes pretty good. Has a slight warming, nice roasty chocolately flavor. I think it's going to turn out really nice. My current plan is to add bourbon-soaked oak chips and some bourbon that has been sitting on vanilla beans for a couple months to ~3 gallons of this, and create a cayenne/cinnamon/vanilla mixture to put in the rest. I'm going to let it sit for a while before doing anything.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Parabola Imperial Stout
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Imperial Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.76 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.76 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.50 gal
Estimated OG: 1.126 SG
Estimated Color: 60.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 79.4 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 55.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 65.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
23 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 66.7 %
4 lbs 4.0 oz Munich II (Weyermann) (8.5 SRM) Grain 2 12.3 %
2 lbs 8.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.2 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.1 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.9 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (120.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.9 %
1 lbs Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.9 %
2.50 oz Warrior [15.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 8 66.3 IBUs
2.00 oz Hallertauer [4.80 %] - Boil 30.0 min Hop 9 13.1 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 10 -
1.50 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 15.0 mins) Other 11 -
1.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast 12 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 13 -
0.50 lb Oak Chips (Secondary 7.0 days) Flavor 14 -
5.50 oz Bourbon (Secondary 2.0 weeks) Other 15 -
5.50 oz Bourbon - 2 (Bottling 0.0 mins) Other 16 -


Mash Schedule: BIAB, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 34 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 41.15 qt of water at 164.9 F 151.0 F 75 min
Mash Out Heat to 168.0 F over 7 min 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: If steeping, remove grains, and prepare to boil wort
Notes:
------
27.5°P OG. 5.1 pH mash

03/27/15 - 1.037 gravity, alcohol warming, roasty and slighty sweet.

Created with BeerSmith 2 - http://www.beersmith.com

I racked this to a keg on 04/10/15 with the bourbon, oak and vanilla. FG was 1.035. Calculated ABV after bourbon was 11.5%. I pulled a sample last night and it's delicious! Really coming together. I get plenty of chocolatey roast and dark fruits. Lots of sweetness balanced with a bit of alcohol heat. Really rich finish. I have it on gas in the fridge. I plan to get some bottled quickly because I can see myself pulling nips here and there and suddenly not have any left come winter time!
 
This was posted to Facebook in a homebrewing group... Thought I'd share

FIRESTONE WALKER PARABOLA RECIPE

"My name is Dustin Kral and I am the Head Brewer at Firestone….I’m gonna walk you through this one!
You got your hands full with one of the toughest beers I’ve ever brewed. It’s an exercise in patience.

In order to truly make Parabola, you will need to get your hands on a bourbon barrel or at least a good wood barrel with the addition of a bit of bourbon. (heaven hill, Old Fitzgerald, Knob creek etc). You will want to age this cold or cool for a minimum of 3 all the way up to 12 months. Fill the barrel after primary and secondary transferring as little yeast as possible. Purge your barrel well with Co2 prior to transfer as you do not want to accelerate oxidation during aging. Below are some specs to shoot for and percentages to use. Good luck!

OG=30.0P
FG=9-10P
Color=100+L
IBU=75
Malt Bill
Us 2-row 70.5%
Briess Roast Barley 9.5%
Munich 4%
Cara-pils 3.5%
Crystal-120 3.5%
Crystal 75 2.5%
Carafa III 1.25% (or to color)
Chocolate 1.25%
Rolled oats 4% (added to mash with 10 minutes remaining in the 152F soak / minimize stirring after addition)

Hop Bill
CTZ /10 IBU’s (Columbus, tomahawk, Zeus)(boil start)
CTZ / 35 IBU’s (10 minutes into boil)
Styrian Golding /20 IBU’s (90 minutes into boil)
Styrian Golding /10 IBU’s (120 minutes into boil / Whirlpool/ flame out)

Mash Program
Mash in at 145F / 63C
Soak at 145F for 45 minutes
Ramp to 152F/ 66C
Soak at 152F for 20 minutes (add oats)
Ramp to 158F / 70C
Soak for 10 minutes
Vorlauf / recirculate wort till clear
Slowly collect wort

Boil Program
Boil for 120 minutes
Add liquid malt extract / dry malt extract with 15-20 minutes remaining in boil to reach gravity (we use approximately 1 gallon of golden light liquid malt extract for every 7 gallons of wort collected to achieve gravity….heavy indeed)

Cellaring
Cool wort to 17C and pitch yeast
Allow 7-10 days of primary fermentation
Remove from yeast and allow 4-5 days secondary and then begin to cool to whatever temp you will store your barrel at (this way you avoid expansion and popping a bung or contraction and pulling in air)
Store for 3-12 months
Rack into keg
Carb to 2.5
Drink responsibly!

Hope this helps and thank you for your support. Go get em!"

Thank You,

Jemma Wilson // Media Manager
Firestone Walker Brewing Company
 
Subscribed. I had a friend send me that info in an email yesterday and it made me curious...
 
Anybody try brewing the FW recipe yet? I'm thinking of doing it in the next few months?

Edit:
I threw together a recipe:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GCbPm2R2aw810C3HgR0Vky0lT6_ZQltLeJcTcYnjXhs/edit?usp=sharing

IBUs are calculated with Tinseth. Based on personal experience with my system and with a beer this big, I would probably increase the hops. According to Matt B. Parabola has a measured IBU of ~80 when it goes down in the barrels, and a year later when it's liberated, the measured IBU is ~40. Long story short, I would rather overshoot IBU, than undershoot on a beer with an FG of 1.040.

When I brew this, I'll probably do 0.5oz CTZ @120, 1.5 oz CTZ @ 110, 2 oz Goldings @ 90, and 2 oz Goldings @ Flameout. That'll give me some nice round numbers and some margin of error if I end up getting less utilization than Tinseth calculates.

PS: I calculate IBU for whirlpool hops by counting them as a 15 minute addition. It has served me well in the past.
 
Back
Top