Experimental Beer Slim's Graham Cracker Ale 2.0

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kidshowbiz said:
Three weeks in bottle. A little high alcohol flavor. Will let condition a while longer. Graham cracker flavor and vanilla present but not overbearing. Minimal head but nice lacing. Mouth feel fantastic, great body. 7.5 abv a few of these will make your babies born naked! Thanks again for the recipe slim!

Yeah this beer does better with a little more bottle conditioning....glad you enjoyed the recipe!
 
cgrivois said:
are the rice hulls needed if doing BIAB?
2nd time through, didn't have rice hills either time. I take 1 pass through the grain bed and that takes a while but not as long as when I did graham crackers, pumpkin, and spices. If you're not filtering through the grains don't worry about the rice hulls for BIAB
 
Mother effer...my 2nd infected beer in a row, and sadly, neither due to the brewing process. This one and my Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Brown Ale both suffered the same fate: band-aid flavors. I know what can cause it, but I truly think this one was on my yeast choice combined with fermenting at ~73 degrees. Nottingham Ale Yeast, used in both, both bad. I've never had the band-aid/phenol issue before or after.

You live and learn I guess. I'll be making this one again, with a better yeast, after returning from Vegas and Ft. Lauderdale at the end of July.

Great recipe, slim!
 
Decided to enjoy one of these Saturday for my birthday, and had another one tonight. Glad I let a few sit this long, as they definitely age well!
 
Mother effer...my 2nd infected beer in a row, and sadly, neither due to the brewing process. This one and my Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Brown Ale both suffered the same fate: band-aid flavors. I know what can cause it, but I truly think this one was on my yeast choice combined with fermenting at ~73 degrees. Nottingham Ale Yeast, used in both, both bad. I've never had the band-aid/phenol issue before or after.
!

FWIW, I live in a humid, mold-prone climate, I haven't been able to work out ANY kind of temperature control beyond my house-wide HVAC, and I tend to favor Nottingham Ale Yeast because it's a clean high-flocculating yeast and that goes well with my distaste for banana esters and the potentially cloudy results of the BIAB process.

I have yet to suffer "Band-Aid" or "Phenol" flavor in my beers. I don't have a keg, I bottle prime and I clean all my equipment and bottles with an Oxiclean soak, rinse once, and then sanitize with iodine. Where sensible I use boiled-and-cooled water (such as for getting my yeast started or priming my siphon hose) so I guess what I'm saying is maybe you should review your sanitary procedures and check your equipment for cracks and scratches which could harbor bacteria.

And yes, Slim, this'll be my second brew of this recipe and I agree... Great Recipe.
 
Oh, it's probably covered somewhere earlier in the thread but how do you handle sanitary process with your Vanilla Beans?

Myself, I soaked them in Irish Whiskey (Kilbeggan) because that's what I have on hand. About a day in that and I'd challenge any bacteria to survive and be ready to compete with the yeast culture.
 
I'm pretty sure I used marshmallow vodka for my vanilla bean extract. Enough to cover the beans in a sanitized little plastic 'home' for 7 days. S'mores!
 
SupervisingChildren said:
I'm pretty sure I used marshmallow vodka for my vanilla bean extract. Enough to cover the beans in a sanitized little plastic 'home' for 7 days. S'mores!

Marshmallow vodka! Classic! Too bad I didn't have any on hand. I'd have gone longer in the liquor just for the sake of infusion but I'm not worried about 1 day.
 
I did the Graham Cracker addition to two of my beers and I loved it. With one box addition you get a subtle flavor and with two boxes you get a really full flavor of graham crackers. The only complaint I have is I get less Beer in the end. Each time I bottle I only yielded 3.5 gallons.

I was wondering if adding Rice Hulls would make any difference to how much graham cracker falls out of suspension?

My feeling is it will not do anything but I have never used rice hulls. Also adding graham cracker makes it much harder to strain.
However, the beer I got was A+. I was on the edge of quitting but now I graving to try new additions to conventional beers. Like Vanilla Wafers to a Wheat.
 
RBRT said:
I did the Graham Cracker addition to two of my beers and I loved it. With one box addition you get a subtle flavor and with two boxes you get a really full flavor of graham crackers. The only complaint I have is I get less Beer in the end. Each time I bottle I only yielded 3.5 gallons.

I was wondering if adding Rice Hulls would make any difference to how much graham cracker falls out of suspension?

My feeling is it will not do anything but I have never used rice hulls. Also adding graham cracker makes it much harder to strain.
However, the beer I got was A+. I was on the edge of quitting but now I graving to try new additions to conventional beers. Like Vanilla Wafers to a Wheat.

I'm glad you enjoyed the beer...my take on brewing is to create something I would love while pushing the recipes beyond what breweries would offer.
In regards to rice hulls, they do help in the straining process, but I found with the graham crackers, that I needed to add grain before the graham crackers and then topped with more grain to compact.
 
I have some extra maple syrup. I suppose I could use that instead of the dark brown sugar
 
Dangeruss said:
I have some extra maple syrup. I suppose I could use that instead of the dark brown sugar

You could, but check the ingredients first....also liquid versus dry will have a different equation
 
I think I'm going to brew this week but I'll be fly sparging (most people seem to be using BIAB). Will I have any issues with a stuck sparge if I use the rice hulls?

Graham crackers tend to become a thick sticky mess when saturated...
 
-Osiris- said:
I think I'm going to brew this week but I'll be fly sparging (most people seem to be using BIAB). Will I have any issues with a stuck sparge if I use the rice hulls?

Graham crackers tend to become a thick sticky mess when saturated...

Rice hulls are never a bad option....as for graham crackers, put have of the grain in first, let it rest for a few minutes put in the graham crackers then put in the rest of the grain (don't stir from the bottom...that should do it.
 
Im brewing this tomorrow..well a variation of it.. using graham crackers..then vanilla beans soaked in bourbon for secondary..
 
jonnyp1980 said:
Im brewing this tomorrow..well a variation of it.. using graham crackers..then vanilla beans soaked in bourbon for secondary..

I need to warn you. I just did this recipe to a T and it tasted amazing when transferring it to secondary. When it came to adding the vanilla bean, I didn't notice that the bean that I got was bourbon soaked. It went from an amazing graham cracker beer to a bourbon beer that doesn't have graham cracker taste at all anymore.

If that's what you are looking for, then cool. I was not looking for that, so I was GREATLY disappointed.
 
MedicMang said:
I need to warn you. I just did this recipe to a T and it tasted amazing when transferring it to secondary. When it came to adding the vanilla bean, I didn't notice that the bean that I got was bourbon soaked. It went from an amazing graham cracker beer to a bourbon beer that doesn't have graham cracker taste at all anymore.

If that's what you are looking for, then cool. I was not looking for that, so I was GREATLY disappointed.

How much bourbon did you use? I was thinking 2oz?
 
jonnyp1980 said:
How much bourbon did you use? I was thinking 2oz?

I soaked it in vodka actually. The problem was that they were already bourbon soaked. I didn't know until I bottled and tasted it. Then I checked the label of the beans and it said bourbon soaked. Boooooo.
 
MedicMang said:
I soaked it in vodka actually. The problem was that they were already bourbon soaked. I didn't know until I bottled and tasted it. Then I checked the label of the beans and it said bourbon soaked. Boooooo.

Amazing that it would bring out that much flavor with just two beans? I'm making a stout so I'm thinking I might be ok.
 
Brewing this one again, as we speak. Had some fermentation temp issues on the first go 'round, which resulted in drinking liquid band-aids. Hopefully things go better today.
 
Doing 10 gallons this weekend. Has anyone fermented about 73*? and how did it turn out?

Thanks for the great looking recipe Slim
 
@VOCBrewery I made a batch of this about 3 weeks ago and it was in primary at roughly 68 degree's for 14 days (last 5 with vanilla beans). When I racked to secondary i did snag about 20 ounces and put into the fridge for a day. I then carbonated it and proceeded to devour it! I am will end up letting this one site for a few months cause currently the vanilla is overpowering most of the other flavors. When I make another batch of this in the future I will likely substitute the cocoa powder because the current batch might force me to buy a filter setup before putting in a keg due to the cocoa.
 
maturemutation said:
@VOCBrewery I made a batch of this about 3 weeks ago and it was in primary at roughly 68 degree's for 14 days (last 5 with vanilla beans). When I racked to secondary i did snag about 20 ounces and put into the fridge for a day. I then carbonated it and proceeded to devour it! I am will end up letting this one site for a few months cause currently the vanilla is overpowering most of the other flavors. When I make another batch of this in the future I will likely substitute the cocoa powder because the current batch might force me to buy a filter setup before putting in a keg due to the cocoa.

I kegged this beer several times and had no issue with using cocoa.
 
My home brew club is planning a October party and I am thinking of making a Cereal Killer series consisting of three childhood breakfast cereal favorites. Golden Grahams would be the take here and wondering on how much honey comes through here and if I need to scale down the grain bill a bit so the beer isn't too hot. Party will be on October 26th, 2013. Any and all thoughts and suggestions are welcome.
 
kengetty said:
My home brew club is planning a October party and I am thinking of making a Cereal Killer series consisting of three childhood breakfast cereal favorites. Golden Grahams would be the take here and wondering on how much honey comes through here and if I need to scale down the grain bill a bit so the beer isn't too hot. Party will be on October 26th, 2013. Any and all thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Just make sure that whatever cereal you decided to use, that its not packed full of preservatives...those will not ferment out and leave a nasty taste.
 
The Cereal Killer concept would just beers inspired by breakfast cereal...not the actual fermentables :). So I would be trying to hold true to your recipe Slim, trying to decide if a little honey or a bump in honey malt needs to be added.
 
kengetty said:
The Cereal Killer concept would just beers inspired by breakfast cereal...not the actual fermentables :). So I would be trying to hold true to your recipe Slim, trying to decide if a little honey or a bump in honey malt needs to be added.

I a little honey malt might not hurt, but the beer is on the sweeter side already
 
The graham cracker addition intrigues me. Has anybody seen adverse effects with the amount of butter in them. I have read a lot of bad things about the varying graham cracker extracts, and this sounds awesome!!! Cheers!
 
Picked up grain, hops and yeast today. Went with WLP 007...I like making yeast starters. I will be picking up the rest of ingredients and brewing on Saturday. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
I brewed a stout variation. Finally snuck taste although not ready. I used 5 bags of graham crackers. Vanilla beans soaked in gentleman jack with some cinnamon and ginger. First impression? So far it tastes kinda like a tootsie roll. Don't really get the graham cracker taste yet. Won't know until its fully carbed.
 
jonnyp1980 said:
I brewed a stout variation. Finally snuck taste although not ready. I used 5 bags of graham crackers. Vanilla beans soaked in gentleman jack with some cinnamon and ginger. First impression? So far it tastes kinda like a tootsie roll. Don't really get the graham cracker taste yet. Won't know until its fully carbed.

With those type of additions, I would recommend letting the beer bottle/keg condition for a couple of months...if not, I'm certain you will get some really strong flavors that don't go together smoothly.
 
SD-SLIM said:
With those type of additions, I would recommend letting the beer bottle/keg condition for a couple of months...if not, I'm certain you will get some really strong flavors that don't go together smoothly.

Agreed. The coffee I put in was trying to push through the jack and vanilla. I will post pics and do a video review of it in two months.
 
Quick question! Planning on doing this soon for a holiday party. As far as the graham crackers go in the mash....Did you just crush them up in your hand or did you pulverize them...like putting them in my grain mill??

Thanks!
 
I guess I should have clarified, I am doing all grain..Slim said earlier to sandwich the crackers in between grain layers in the mash. Just wondering if hand crushing them is good enough or powdering them would be better! lol
 
fedexA300pilot said:
I guess I should have clarified, I am doing all grain..Slim said earlier to sandwich the crackers in between grain layers in the mash. Just wondering if hand crushing them is good enough or powdering them would be better! lol

Either way works....the hot water will turn the crackers too mush, so either way will work.
 
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Finally got around to racking to keg two nights ago. It sat on vanilla beans for a couple weeks. I upped the grains because beersmith had me falling short on the OG. What I've learned since then is that I should have just upped the base malt instead of all malts in the recipe. So IMO my first attempt is more chocolatey than it should be. However it smells awesome. Kinda like Count Chocula from Green Room Brewing. Taste was good too. A little boozy still so I'll let it sit a little longer before I tap it.
 
FLBrew said:
Finally got around to racking to keg two nights ago. It sat on vanilla beans for a couple weeks. I upped the grains because beersmith had me falling short on the OG. What I've learned since then is that I should have just upped the base malt instead of all malts in the recipe. So IMO my first attempt is more chocolatey than it should be. However it smells awesome. Kinda like Count Chocula from Green Room Brewing. Taste was good too. A little boozy still so I'll let it sit a little longer before I tap it.

Count Chocula would make a great beer!
 
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