BYO 15th anniversary brew

I decided to attempt the BYO's anniversary brew as my first really "big" beer. It's all grain with adjuncts added for a gravity of 1.114 .

I have a few questions, though:

1. It uses two yeasts, trappist and scottish. Obviously a big starter is neccessary (10 liters according to my software). Should I do two separate starters? Or one big one?

2. It uses "cane" sugar. Is this just table sugar?

Thanks in advance!

EDIT:

I never even posted the stupid recipe! D'Oh!


(Very slightly modified for what i had available, below is what I brewed)

10# Weyerman Pale Ale Malt
7.5# Vienna Malt
1# Munich Malt
8oz Cara-Amber
4oz Crystal 60l
3oz Chocolate Malt (400l)
Sugar to reach 1.114 SG
Yeast Nutrient (1/4 tsp in 15m of boil, 1/4tsp 1 day after high krausen...day 3)

1.5oz Magnum (13.4 aa) 90m
Whirlfoc (15m)

Mashed @ 143*F for 45m, raised to 152*F for 20m, raised to 170*F for mashout.
Sparged to 7.5g for boiling to final 5.5

Ended up adding 5# sugar by following my *%!!@#& refractometer (see below)

curlyfat said:

I decided to attempt the BYO's anniversary brew as my first really "big" beer. It's all grain with adjuncts added for a gravity of 1.114 .

I have a few questions, though:

1. It uses two yeasts, trappist and scottish. Obviously a big starter is neccessary (10 liters according to my software). Should I do two separate starters? Or one big one?

2. It uses "cane" sugar. Is this just table sugar?

Thanks in advance!

Click to expand...

1. I would do them separately to make sure each yeast has a chance to grow up. Otherwise you risk one yeast becoming dominant and suppressing the other population -- particularly whichever one is faster to start reproducing and can continue to reproduce and ferment with higher alcohol tolerance.

2. I know beersmith refers to cane sugar as "baking sugar" although I am not sure whether that is confectioners (powdered) sugar or something different. I'm sure a trip to the grocery store could solve that one for you. Beersmith shows both have the same OG but cane sugar adds 0 SRM while table sugar adds 1 SRM to color. You could probably get away with using table sugar in an equal amount if you don't care about the color additions.

I've been thinking about this recipe also. Let us know how it goes for you. I've been enjoying brewing big beers lately. This one seems like it'd be a good one.

Cane sugar is table sugar.
The only difference between "table sugars" is whether they come from sugar cane or sugar beets.

C&H is cane sugar...

I was tempted by that as well. Let us know how it comes out. You could always try and go higher on the ABV by following something like this:

http://www.homebrewchef.com/120_Minute_IPA.htm

A lot of work... but would be awesome!

Thanks, all. I should be brewing this in a week or two. I'll update as I go.

Well, I have both yeast starts going (3qt each, then will decant and do another 3qt each). I was worried I had dead yeast from a hot journey since neither smack-pack bloated overnight, but they are krausening now!

Re-reading the directions they say "Ferment for one week or until fermentation is complete", then move to keg to condition, conditions very quickly for such a big beer. Wait, what? I can't imagine moving this monster off the yeast cake quickly! I planned on at least four weeks in the primary before looking at it! Any thoughts on that comment? I would think the guys at BYO would know their stuff...

Well, I brewed this today. All went well, and I used the rest of the runnings for a small beer. My second parti-gyle, let's hope it's better than my first....

Back to the original beer... I added a full 5# of sugar attempting to get sg up, following my refractometer. According to it, I was way under my gravity (1.100), but I went ahead anyway. Well....I checked the cooled wort with my hydrometer and it showed 1.126. Crap! I hope it attenuates.

So, I'm seriously considering using my fancy-ass refractometer as a baseball. My last several batches I didn't even use a hydrometer...wonder how far off those are!

I made a thread about this a while back, and everyone thought I needed to calibrate it. It has always shown zero with RO water.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to the beer, in any case.

I don't know if anyone is watching this thread, but I checked on the beer today (23 days in). The SG was 1.040 (aproximate, I was just quickly checking to get a sense of it). It looked like beer that was "done". Almost no haze even! The taste was super sweet. I used a sanitized spoon to stir and rouse the yeast and added 1/2 tsp of yeast energizer that I happen to have sitting around.

I will say that besides the sweetness, it tasted very nice. Plenty of character from the specialty malts (but nothing stood out too much either), and a nice belgian sense from the one yeast. Hops may as well have been non-existent. In fact, if I'd used more bittering hops this would probably taste awesome right now! Unfortunately, it needs more attenuation.

Any suggestions if my energizer doesn't come through? I was thinking champagne yeast, but am worried about over attenuating with that...

Head to the homebrew store and pick up some amylase enzyme that should help you out. It's not the same as beano. http://www.brewmasterswarehouse.com/product/0102140/amlase-enzyme-1oz The other thing is that you could have crapped the yeast out. My RIS did that and I ended up throwing a healthy starter of wlp099 in the fermenter.

I'm thinking I maxed out my yeast's abilities. The alcohol is at 11.6%, and both these yeasts are rated to 12%. I'm thinking a good healthy starter of some higher-alcohol tolerant yeast might be in order. Maybe a wine yeast? I'm scared of Champagne yeast since it might way over do it..

I don't think amylase enzyme would help much. With the mash schedule I did there should be very few unfermentable sugars. I think the original intent of the recipe was to max out the yeast's alcohol tolerance right at the point you want the FG. Unfortunately, I waayyy over shot that!

Yeah I'd go with a higher alcohol tolerant ale yeast. Something neutral but bringing it down only a few points shouldn't add much to the flavor. I'd say one of the high gravity yeasts from Wyeast or White labs should do ya. Make up a nice healthy 2L starter decant and let the yeast do it's job.

smokinghole said:

Yeah I'd go with a higher alcohol tolerant ale yeast. Something neutral but bringing it down only a few points shouldn't add much to the flavor. I'd say one of the high gravity yeasts from Wyeast or White labs should do ya. Make up a nice healthy 2L starter decant and let the yeast do it's job.

Click to expand...

Hmm.. I only see one strain that lists a higher tolerance than the Scottish Ale and Trappist High Gravity strains that I used. That 's Belgian Strong Ale, which is still just 1% higher than the others.

I think for now, I'm going to let it sit, and see if my yeast energizer "pep-talk" can get anything going.

White Labs 099 can do 25% if you're still interested in a higher alcohol tolerant yeast.

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp099.html

Wyeast does Imperial Blend 9093 but that was a Private Collection release. According to their site it will do like 14%.

I am NOT trying to Hijack the thread - honestly - I am kinda new - and have some questions. If someone could answer them, I would greatly appreciate it.

curlyfat said:

1. It uses two yeasts, trappist and scottish. Obviously a big starter is necessary (10 liters according to my software). Should I do two separate starters? Or one big one?

Click to expand...

10 LITERS! Holy Moly !!! If I eventually go AG, can I expect to have to make 2 and a half GALLONS of starter often, or is this just something really special?

curlyfat said:

I used a sanitized spoon to stir and rouse the yeast and added 1/2 tsp of yeast energizer that I happen to have sitting around.

Click to expand...

I asked a question on another thread that was basically the same as this - could I sanitize a spoon and stir to help clear my beer - maybe add some nutrient - and got a resounding " DO NOT DO IT - YOU COULD CONTAMINATE YOUR BREW " - So what gives? Right now I have a batch of my very first recipe - and it is cloudy, and gravity has stalled at 1.021.( 6 lbs DME , steeped wheat and Vienna , Saaz Hops , and US 05 yeast - 6 gallon batch, cloudy, and smells like wine after a week in ferment ) I have nutrient, and I have champagne yeast. So now, after reading this, to say I am confused is an understatement.

Thanks for letting a noob jump in, and any help is appreciated.

Good luck with your brew!

smokinghole said:

White Labs 099 can do 25% if you're still interested in a higher alcohol tolerant yeast.

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/strains_wlp099.html

Click to expand...

That's perfect! I didn't look at White Labs since I figured they'd have basically the same strains. If this doesn't move in a week, I'll order that stuff and get a starter going.

Hannable1975 said:

I am NOT trying to Hijack the thread - honestly - I am kinda new - and have some questions. If someone could answer them, I would greatly appreciate it.



10 LITERS! Holy Moly !!! If I eventually go AG, can I expect to have to make 2 and a half GALLONS of starter often, or is this just something really special?

Click to expand...

The size of the starter is completely dependent on the OG of the beer, and the amount you're fermenting. Here's the usual calculator: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

This was a VERY big beer that needed a VERY big starter. All grain or extract doesn't matter. For most beers (around 1.050 OG) a packet of dry yeast will usually suffice.

I asked a question on another thread that was basically the same as this - could I sanitize a spoon and stir to help clear my beer - maybe add some nutrient - and got a resounding " DO NOT DO IT - YOU COULD CONTAMINATE YOUR BREW " - So what gives? Right now I have a batch of my very first recipe - and it is cloudy, and gravity has stalled at 1.021.( 6 lbs DME , steeped wheat and Vienna , Saaz Hops , and US 05 yeast - 6 gallon batch, cloudy, and smells like wine after a week in ferment ) I have nutrient, and I have champagne yeast. So now, after reading this, to say I am confused is an understatement.

Click to expand...

Generally, folks newer to brewing tend to panic a little to early. The mantra RDWHAHB is often the best course of action. My particular beer has been fermenting over three weeks and appears to have stalled.

If your beer truly has stalled, opening it up and rousing the yeast a little is fine, but make sure you are TOTALLY comfortable in your sanitation regimen. >Knocking on wood< I've never had an infected batch over the course of almost 10 years of brewing...and I've done some pretty stupid things in the sanitation department (usually due to excess "sampling" of previous batches). It's really pretty hard to get an infection...unless you're pretty unlucky, or try really hard to ignore sanitation.

Well, my beer officially stalled at 1.045. I ordered a vial of WLP099 (Thanks, smokinghole! ). I'm starting a big starter tonight, and hopefully will pitch it this weekend. We'll see.

Otherwise, I have 5 gallons of very sweet, 12%ABV barley wine....stupid refractometer.

Well, I'm just stroking my own ego by posting at this point, but I thought I'd update.

I pitched the WLP099 at the end of October and have left it sitting in a corner forgotten. I pulled a sample tonight and...

EUREKA! It's sitting at 1.022. It's very cloudy, tastes sweet (but no longer in a bad way), and is quite acidic.

My plan is to stick it in a carboy for an unknown period (yes, it's been in a bucket "primary-ing" this entire time ) . I'm thinking I might keg next summer depending on how it goes. Since I've sort of forgotten about this beer, it shouldn't be a problem to forget a while longer.

So have you tried this? Since the recipe said it needed little condition. It looks like you overshot the OG but I'm thinking about trying this and was hoping for some feedback on what it tastes like.

As stated in the previous post, it tastes like sweet alcohol. There is a slight "belgiany" characteristic from the yeast. The hops might as well be non-existent. I'm sure it's partially because of over-shooting the OG, but if I were to brew this again I would up the IBUs for sure.

Thanks for keeping everyone updated with this brew. I bought all of the ingredients for this yesterday now beersmith is telling me that my 10gal mash tun is too small. I guess I will go boldly into the face of adversity. Things are usually more fun that way.

I brewed this beer back in October. After two weeks was down to 1.040 with the WLP028, down from 1.111 (I guess I misread the directions and only used one yeast. Used two vials and 4L starter total). Stayed there for a couple more weeks and was obviously stalled. Racked the beer to a SA-05 yeast cake two weeks ago and after one week was down to 1.025. Haven't checked it this week to see if it came down any more after some gentle swirling. The hydro taste was pretty good. Still a little sweet but very drinkable considering it's over 11% at this point.

Denny330 said:

Thanks for keeping everyone updated with this brew. I bought all of the ingredients for this yesterday now beersmith is telling me that my 10gal mash tun is too small. I guess I will go boldly into the face of adversity. Things are usually more fun that way.

Click to expand...

You can always just do two mashes collect one in a bucket and do the second. This is how I did my over the top RIS this year.

Hammy71 said:

The hydro taste was pretty good. Still a little sweet but very drinkable considering it's over 11% at this point.

Click to expand...

I snuck another sample last night and it didn't taste very sweet anymore (at least not like it did). That's a good thing. I think I might just throw it in a keg to carb and see where it's at. It was touted as a big beer that was good relatively early, and I'm starting to see that. There really isn't a lot of complex big flavors that need to tame down or "mellow".

I think I have your same super-wampadyne SG meter. My SG showed 1.060 at preboil. That thing is a POS. I found my other one and it showed 1.080, which was still low according to beersmith. I am guessing that I will need a ton of sugar. I have a second runnings english mild going from this batch too. Definitely a big beer day today.

curlyfat said:

I snuck another sample last night and it didn't taste very sweet anymore (at least not like it did). That's a good thing. I think I might just throw it in a keg to carb and see where it's at. It was touted as a big beer that was good relatively early, and I'm starting to see that. There really isn't a lot of complex big flavors that need to tame down or "mellow".

Click to expand...

Same here...I'll probably keg it in a couple of weeks even if it still stays at 1.025.

EDIT: Just pulled another sample for a hydro test. 1.020. I think she's done. Thick and smooth with a slight alcohol burn (@ 12% go figure....). I can't wait to get it carbed.

I finally got around to doing something with this. I just threw it in a keg tonight (early morning?)

My final gravity: 1.012!!!?? I tasted it, and trust me, it does not taste dry at all like you'd expect with that low of a FG. When you adjust for the alcohol (which is thinner than water), it's the equivalent of a 1.033 wort.

In any case, it tasted quite drinkable, a little on the sweet side (although the carbonation will help that) with a nice belgiany flavor, and a pleasant alcohol warmth. Sitting at 15.33%, I can't believe how drinkable it seems (not sessionable, of course, but easy to sip). As my first really big beer, I'm looking forward to monthly samples to see the progression with age.

How did you aerate before pitching the first time?

I used oxygen for one minute. I did not re-oxygenate after 24 like suggested...in retrospect I should have, but I think I was out of town for a few days after brewing, so it never happened.

I did a stout a couple months ago 1.123. I hit with pure oxygen for 3-4mins then again 12hrs later for a min. FG 1.019.

I think your yeast may have ran out of oxygen.

I think you're right. That's why I wish i'd been able to hit it a sewcond time.

In any case, a little fussing, some new yeast, and a few months seems to have corrected all!