12-12-12 Wee Heavy Recipe Formulation

So I'm thinking of building up the yeast with an 80/-. Now I'm wondering how long it would take to get through primary so that I could harvest the yeast and pitch it to my 12-12-12 within a week of harvest.

Thinking out loud here (and looking for input too)

Planning to ferment a bit low maybe 60-62 degrees, and debating between WYeast 1728 and this East Coast strain that smokinghole turned us on to. I wonder if counting on 3 weeks in Primary is enough....

Fermenting in the 60s I would figure for 2-3 weeks. Probably more like three weeks to actually finish to be on the safe side.

So I'm seeing a Thanksgiving brew day in my future.....

Seeing the comment on my recipe above me thinks I might need some help with this recipe.

I would start with 6.5 gallons at strike and then sparge with 5. First runnings collected minus the 2 for your reduction will be around 2.5 gallons. I'd say total would be 3 gallons from the reduction plus first runnings, plus your sparge, maybe 8 gallons in the boil if you push it.

statseeker said:

I would start with 6.5 gallons at strike and then sparge with 5. First runnings collected minus the 2 for your reduction will be around 2.5 gallons. I'd say total would be 3 gallons from the reduction plus first runnings, plus your sparge, maybe 8 gallons in the boil if you push it.

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I see a new and larger brew pot in my future too......

I've got this showing up today for the 2 gallon caramelization. I think that technique may start finding it's way into more of my beers now that it should be easier with that pot.

Is anybody in Canada willing to swap with me ? I understand that no one in the US would want to pay the incredibly high shipping costs to Quebec (only to have the bottles seized at customs...). I wouldn't ship beer to the US either anyway.

Sorry to be a bit OT here.

I'm sitting here trying to decide what to do with my base malt. I have a full sack of MO and maybe 10lbs left from my open sack. I have a bunch of beer planned in the coming months. So I was thinking when I get my specialty malts I'd just order myself like 14lbs of Golden Promise and split my base between MO and GP. That doesn't sound like a bad idea. I think a blend of the two would work well.

Also as we discussed in case of a lack of maltiness I am looking at some dark crystal. As it stands I'm thinking this for my recipe. I did my shopping on the common sites and I found More Beer to be my vendor of choice. It's a $28 grain bill not including the other half of base malt from my on hand maris otter.

7.5gal into fermentor:

14lbs Maris Otter
14lbs Golden Promise
8oz British Roasted Barley
8oz British Crystal 165L

Is 150 a good mash temp? I was thinking that is low.

blizzard said:

Is 150 a good mash temp? I was thinking that is low.

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I think it is. Im going to mash at 154 because im not going to have the luxury of caramelizing in a second pot while I start my boil. As kingbrian mentioned earlier, the time that it will take me to boil down the runnings might make the mash overly fermentable, resulting in a thinner beer. I am going to mash a little hotter to combat that, am going to get 80% efficiency, and it is going to go perfectly. Just you watch

Has anyone found a great source for Golden Promise or Maris Otter?

Rebel Brewer has GP by Fawcett ($1.49/lb) and Simpson's ($1.35/lb), plus they offer 10% off if you order more than 10lbs. Their shipping is reasonable, but definitely not free. Anyone find a better price?

I don't know how rebel charges their shipping... I got crisp MO through Brewmasters Warehouse for 1.65, plus picked up their "weekly special" (see thread) which was an awesome looking RIS. 6.99 shipping, but the main reason I ordered from them is I keep hearing that their crush is awesome, and I don't yet have a mill. I figure Im gonna need all the efficiency I can get.

Farmhouse Brewing Supply has the Thomas Fawcett Golden Promise for $1.23 a lb.

KingBrianI said:

Farmhouse Brewing Supply has the Thomas Fawcett Golden Promise for $1.23 a lb.

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Holy cow, my LHBS charges $70 a 55 sack which comes to $1.27. What is their shipping policy?

They charge me 50¢ a pound.

Malticulous said:

They charge me 50¢ a pound.

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Who does? And for what?

Farmhouse. Great place but I can usually get cheaper prices.

Malticulous said:

Farmhouse. Great place but I can usually get cheaper prices.

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50 cents a pound for what, exactly?

Shipping...

bottlebomber said:

Holy cow, my LHBS charges $70 a 55 sack which comes to $1.27. What is their shipping policy?

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bottlebomber said:

I think it is. Im going to mash at 154 because im not going to have the luxury of caramelizing in a second pot while I start my boil. As kingbrian mentioned earlier, the time that it will take me to boil down the runnings might make the mash overly fermentable, resulting in a thinner beer. I am going to mash a little hotter to combat that, am going to get 80% efficiency, and it is going to go perfectly. Just you watch

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Couldn't you just heat the runnings to a high enough temp to denature the enzymes and then worry your caramelization step?

That's my plan, so if I'm all wet please tellme!

MDVDuber said:

Couldn't you just heat the runnings to a high enough temp to denature the enzymes and then worry your caramelization step?

That's my plan, so if I'm all wet please tellme!

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It could be done... I'm not sure if that's completely necessary though, and is going to add one more step to what's already going to end up being a 6 hour brew day. I think this will work just fine. There's no way this is going to end up being a "thin" beer no matter unless you really screw up your mash. A little extra attenuation may actually be welcome IMO

I'm definitely considering doing this. So basically we'd brew it around 12/11 and ship them in time for 12/12? I like the opportunity to compare my beer with others with the same recipe.

bottlebomber said:

It could be done... I'm not sure if that's completely necessary though, and is going to add one more step to what's already going to end up being a 6 hour brew day. I think this will work just fine. There's no way this is going to end up being a "thin" beer no matter unless you really screw up your mash. A little extra attenuation may actually be welcome IMO

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It will be a long brew day for sure. Last time I ran a caramelization. I was able to do it on my stove concurrently with the rest of my lautering and the start of boiling. This one is going to be a lot more hardcore, but I think it'll still work.

I was over at Shut up about Barclay Perkins and found this today. Just thought it'd be some interesting food for thought There is some recipe information on the main page also. http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/

Seems like it goes progressively lower in OG for the most part. There are exceptions. I think the 1931 is kind of what we're after perhaps as far as OG is concerned.

smokinghole said:

I was over at Shut up about Barclay Perkins and found this today. Just thought it'd be some interesting food for thought There is some recipe information on the main page also. http://barclayperkins.blogspot.com/

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I like how the FG on the first version is more than 20 points higher than the OG my usual brew.

I wish this had bitterness or hopping rate listed. I imagine that in the 1862 recipe the hops were significantly higher than 30ibus. However the IBU to gravity ratio is probably fairly consistent through the years. My idea was to actually aim between what happens to be a 1931 recipe and the 1929 recipe when considering gravity. I'm hoping for 10%ish abv, and if the yeast I use takes beer further than most strains I will have to mash higher than I may have originally intended.

Hey king brian... once we get the recipe decided upon, do we then have to get a mod to start the actual swap thread? Or do we just have to have approval?

bottlebomber said:

Hey king brian... once we get the recipe decided upon, do we then have to get a mod to start the actual swap thread? Or do we just have to have approval?

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No mod approval necessary. If everyone is agreed on the recipe (outline) then anyone can create the thread. It would probably be good to provide links in that thread both to this thread, any polls, etc. so people who are late to the game can see background info if they want to.

I don't know exactly what my schedule is going to be like in the next 2 months, but I'm leaning toward making this next month sometime. And it looks like the recipe is pretty well decided upon at the point

Nobodys said anything about this for a few days... ill be brewing

20 lbs MO
8 ounces crystal 60
4 ounces RB

In a week or two regardless of whether this swap goes down.

I'm going to try and get my dark crystal at a store this weekend but if not I'll order it very soon and brew in a few weeks.

I am going with 22lb of Golden Promise, .3lb roasted barley
1 oz of Phoenix at 45min and .75 oz of EKG at 35 min.

Any ideas on how much efficiency drops on bigger beers? I usually hit 85-87% on .050-.065 beers.

I bumped my original recipe to adjust down to 70%, should I go further?

90 min mash, 120 min boil, caramelization of some first runnings etc.

I'll probably brew this next - maybe next weekend.
22 lbs Golden Promise
8oz Cherry smoked malt
8 oz roasted barley
2 oz EKG at 60 mins
60 min single infusion mash @ 155
Boil 1 gallon of first runnings down to 1 quart
60 minute boil.
Edinburgh ale yeast.

Comments? This will be the first time I've brewed something so big.
I love wee heavy though, so I might make another batch once this one is out of the fermenter without the smoked malt.

Depending on what yeast comes in at my LHBS, I could be brewing mine either with the coming batch (hope for next weekend) or it will be the batch after that.

Planning on about 26# MO, some honey malt, British crystal malts, all EKG and 1728 for the yeast. Depending on the OG, I might even add a bit of local wildflower honey to mine (original was my Wee Honey brew). Also planning on a double hit of pure O2 on this one. Once right before pitching the yeast, and another 12-24 hours later. I now have a regulator for my O2 tank with a flow meter on it. Just need to research how much O2 I should infuse into the wort.

Just sent an email/message off to Wyeast to see what I need to do to push 1728 beyond 12%. I'll post up what I get back for info, once I get something...

They've been pretty busy lately, took them over a week to get back to me when I had a question about one of their limited edition yeasts.

My recipe is probably going to be 20lbs MO, 1lb honey malt, .25lbs American Chocolate. BF is estimating 1.116OG with 72% efficiency. I'm going to be needing a fatty starter. Hopping with whatever UK hops I have on hand.

Wow, been so busy I total missed all the discussion, I'm caught up now though.

And I still haven't brewed the 11-11-11

Was going to do a porter next weekend, maybe I'll squeeze in a 5 gallon 70/- for a starter batch for the big beer in December. Guess I'll be ordering a bag of MO from the LHBS.