Kentucky Common Attempt

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Aubie Stout

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I was interested in the style when I saw it. I was going to do an American Brown, but changed it slightly for this style. Here's the recipe:

90% eff. OG: 1.045. 5.5 Gal.
5.5 lbs Six Row
1.0 lbs Flaked Maize
1.0 lbs Special Roast
.25 lbs Crystal 120
.25 lbs Chocolate Malt

.50 oz Chinook @ 60 mins for 19.2 IBU's
.50 oz Chinook @ MH for 4.2 IBU's

Mash @ 154 for 24hrs! Actually, set initial mash temp at 154 and let it rest in MLT for 24hrs with the top on. The goal is to sour the mash. The longer the mash the more sour it gets. 24hrs is to "slightly" sour.


Will advise!
 
Sounds good man. Hope it's as good as the recipe looks. Post up how it turns out. I love how people are slowly starting to become interested and are starting to brew Kentucky Common. It's a great session beer.
 
Didn't quite get the 90% eff. Looks like I got 85%. Oh well, it's close enough. Had just enough sour in it to notice. We will know for sure in 30 days.
 
claphamsa said:
how do you get the efficiency so high....
Click to expand...

I was wondering the same thing (I'm planning on brewing a batch as well as soon as semester ends). Apparently it has to do with the 24 hour mash. I think ODaniel doesn't even sparge (is that correct? I'd hate to put words in your mouth).

So 24 hours = slightly sour? I'm thinking I may go longer on the mash when I try since I love sour beers.

Did you sprinkle any malt in the mash after it cooled, or did you just dough in and leave it be? I'm asking since some people have said that mashing would pasteurize the wort and you may not get any lacto growth unless you add some in later by sprinkling dry malt into a cool(er) mash.
 
I usually get around 68-72% eff depending on the grain bill. O'Daniel cautioned me about an abnormally high eff in doing the 24hr mash. I have no idea why the eff increased, but I sure am glad someone warned me!
 
scone said:
Did you sprinkle any malt in the mash after it cooled, or did you just dough in and leave it be? I'm asking since some people have said that mashing would pasteurize the wort and you may not get any lacto growth unless you add some in later by sprinkling dry malt into a cool(er) mash.
Click to expand...

Thats the goal you get the sourness pre boil and it doesnt sour any further.
 
lowlife said:
Thats the goal you get the sourness pre boil and it doesnt sour any further.
Click to expand...

No no I gathered that. What I'm asking has to do with how you sour it during the mash.

Option (1) is to heat mash water, dough in, cover it, and leave it for 24 hours.
(2) is to heat mash water, dough in, wait until it cools to 110 or something like that and sprinkle some left over grains in, and *then* wait 24 hours

The reasoning behind (2) is that you may kill off all the bacteria present in the mash with (1), and then you don't have anything in there to sour the mash. Am I making sense?
 
I follow what you are saying now. I made a couple kentucky commons (havent settled on a recipe yet) I just mashed, and walked away. I didnt add more grain afterwards.
 
lowlife said:
I follow what you are saying now. I made a couple kentucky commons (havent settled on a recipe yet) I just mashed, and walked away. I didnt add more grain afterwards.
Click to expand...

Right on. Good to know. :D
 
Curious to see how this turns out! If you get good results I'm definitely going to put this on my short list.
 
I'm not too fond of brown ales but I really like my Kentucky Commons. Brown ales just seem kinda boring usually. It's probably the chocolate malt and corn that makes it different.

I do sparge, twice actually. I don't add any extra grains after I mash in. I just mash in, cover, walk away and come back 24hrs later. You can always increase the mash time for more sourness. I think 24hrs gives a slight sourness to still be a session beer. I couldn't drink a real sour beer as a session beer.

As for efficiency, I wonder why you didn't get higher. I assume the 24hr mash along with a small grain bill gives such high efficiency. I have got 98% on all mine so far. Another guy got 94% with a slightly different recipe. Not sure what any other people have got. I get pretty good efficiency on other beers, but no more than 85% on regular beers around 1.050 OG.
 
I did this a couple of months ago and its still 'conditioning'. To me it tastes like the way ur mash tun smells if you forget about it for a couple of days. Personally I don't like that taste very much. The base is very good tho, if I did it again I'd prob do a normal brew with like 0.10 or 0.15 # acidulated malt instead of a long mash.

I think I got like 90-91% on my 30hr mash.
 
What exactly did you do? My first one I left the lid sitting on it upside down to vent - 24 hrs later it was nassty. Smelled terrible. Once it was beer it was fantastic, smell and taste. I wonder why yours has a funky smell still.
 
I've been interested in this style since running across it about 6 months back. I also wonder how this process would work with other styles. Hoppy biers vs malty biers. Think soured Pale Ale or Scottish 80... hmmm?

Aubie Stout, care to offer up something for the upcoming IB? PM me, Roll Tide!!!

Schlante,
Phillip
 
Yea I was thinking about trying a sour mash for another style, not sure what.
 
IB offer? Think I'll be too busy drinking hemlock......


My wife bid on and won (8) tickets, limo ride, and BBQ tailgate to the game. Her and her sister are taking the kids. I think I'll go fishing!
 
This style does sound very interesting, and I was thinking about it when I emptied out my mash tun from the brewing I did two weeks ago... I kinda forgot about the grains, so when I poured the grains out, I got this nasssssty sour stank that made me think about Kentucky Common. I don't know if I'm ready for the style!
 
khiddy said:
This style does sound very interesting, and I was thinking about it when I emptied out my mash tun from the brewing I did two weeks ago... I kinda forgot about the grains, so when I poured the grains out, I got this nasssssty sour stank that made me think about Kentucky Common. I don't know if I'm ready for the style!
Click to expand...

Man up and brew this delicious beer :rockin: :D
 
Aubie Stout said:
IB offer? Think I'll be too busy drinking hemlock......


My wife bid on and won (8) tickets, limo ride, and BBQ tailgate to the game. Her and her sister are taking the kids. I think I'll go fishing!
Click to expand...

Hemlock... that bad huh? I know the feeling having lived through the era of the 'Mikes'... you know Dumbose & Shula... not to mention the ole perverted Mike! Aub. could make a game of it, but that defense is built like swiss cheese. I'm a big fan, not a fanatic, used to be but it's not worth it to invest time & emotions into it anymore. I get real intense during the games and that's it, win or lose it's over with. I really enjoy the history and spectacle of the college game. Hope the wife and kids have fun, I'd love to make the IB one day, but I can think of better things to do with $500 than spend it on a FB game. I catch the occasional game here and there, MSU last year but when the tickets come up for the games that matter I'm out!

As for the bier anyone have some taste descriptors? How's it compare with other sour ales? Would the process be a better match for hoppy or malty biers?

Schlante,
Phillip
 
It has hints of sour, chocolate, caramel, and nuts. That's the best I can describe it. The only other sour beer I've had was a Saison from 1995. Not sure which type of beer a sour mash would benefit, but it sure does well in this.
 
Mine finished out at 1.006. Wow. It has a hint (small hint) of sourness to it. No secondary on this beer. It'll go straight to bottles tonight.
 
How long was it in primary? I'd leave it 2 weeks at least. You can go real quick with this beer if you need to, but it is better with more time.
 
I brewed Biermuncher's SWMBO Slayer this weekend. Mashed Friday evening and boiled on Saturday afternoon. The runnings and mash smelled gawdawful.

Pitched with WLP-400 and it's going gang-busters at 65 F.

I'm hoping for just a hint of sourness to go with the other Belgian flavors.

If it goes well, Kentucky Common will be on the to-do list.
 
Primary for a grand total of 4 days. Changed my mind however.... I'll rack this to a keg and crash cool for a week or so before it gets gas.
 
New to this style, but sounds verrrrry interesting. I only brewed my first all grain batch last weekend (brewed primarily partial mash beforehand due to lacking equipment, etc.), however I think this may be the next beer I brew.

Here is my preliminary recipe and some questions. As much critique/criticism as possible please!!!

1.049 OG
1.012 FG
16 SRM
85% efficiency
26.5 IBU
estimated 4.9% a.b.v
6 gallon boil
5 gallon batch

Malt and Fermenatables
5lb 8oz American Two-row Pale (71%)
1lb 8oz Flaked Corn (19%)
4oz Crystal 120L (3%)
4oz Chocolate Malt (3%)
4oz Brown Sugar (3%)

Hops
60min .75oz Cluster
15min .75oz Cluster
1min .75oz Cluster

WLP060 American Ale Blend

Mash at 155 for 36 hours. Batch Sparge at 168.

Ferment at 70 degrees for 2 weeks. Secondary for 2 weeks with 2oz oak chips.

1 cup plus of corn sugar for priming to increase carbonation during bottle conditioning.

Questions:
1) The first batch I brewed was very high gravity (I was shooting for 1.088), but I achieved only 66% efficiency (had to add a little bit of DME). Because I am new to all grain can I assume that I will not hit the 90%+ efficiency everyone else is enjoying? Is 85% efficiency a reasonable guess?
2) Is my yeast a good choice? I picked WLP060 because it has some lager character like white labs san francisco lager yeast, but had better attenuation. Thoughts?
3) Any thoughts on the grain or hop bill?
4) For the mash, do I need to allow this to cool at all? How important is maintaining temp for the whole period of time? Also, I wanted more than just a slight sourness so I upped the time to 36 hours - will this make it a vinegar bomb?
5) I added oak chips due to reading about this beer being in barrels. How do you think this will work with the beer?

Thanks!
 
krugulitis said:
New to this style, but sounds verrrrry interesting. I only brewed my first all grain batch last weekend (brewed primarily partial mash beforehand due to lacking equipment, etc.), however I think this may be the next beer I brew.

Here is my preliminary recipe and some questions. As much critique/criticism as possible please!!!

1.049 OG
1.012 FG
16 SRM
85% efficiency
26.5 IBU
estimated 4.9% a.b.v
6 gallon boil
5 gallon batch

Malt and Fermenatables
5lb 8oz American Two-row Pale (71%)
1lb 8oz Flaked Corn (19%)
4oz Crystal 120L (3%)
4oz Chocolate Malt (3%)
4oz Brown Sugar (3%)

Hops
60min .75oz Cluster
15min .75oz Cluster
1min .75oz Cluster

WLP060 American Ale Blend

Mash at 155 for 36 hours. Batch Sparge at 168.

Ferment at 70 degrees for 2 weeks. Secondary for 2 weeks with 2oz oak chips.

1 cup plus of corn sugar for priming to increase carbonation during bottle conditioning.

Questions:
1) The first batch I brewed was very high gravity (I was shooting for 1.088), but I achieved only 66% efficiency (had to add a little bit of DME). Because I am new to all grain can I assume that I will not hit the 90%+ efficiency everyone else is enjoying? Is 85% efficiency a reasonable guess?
2) Is my yeast a good choice? I picked WLP060 because it has some lager character like white labs san francisco lager yeast, but had better attenuation. Thoughts?
3) Any thoughts on the grain or hop bill?
4) For the mash, do I need to allow this to cool at all? How important is maintaining temp for the whole period of time? Also, I wanted more than just a slight sourness so I upped the time to 36 hours - will this make it a vinegar bomb?
5) I added oak chips due to reading about this beer being in barrels. How do you think this will work with the beer?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Recipe looks good. I'd be interested in how it is with the brown sugar. I think 85% would be a good place to start. I brewed my first one again and hit 92%, although I did just get a new Barley Crusher. Any American Ale type yeast should work just fine. I've been wanting to do one with more hop character but haven't yet. I'm sure it would be great, feel free to try it. Are you using a cooler for a Mash tun? If so, just mash in, cover, and forget it. I think 36 hours mash time would be good for you if you want a little more sourness. I would guess that the barrels would have been lined to keep it from getting oaky, although that is just a guess. I read that's how it was with IPAs and apparently oak flavor was not wanted. That being said, I have been wanting to try a bourbon barrel of this beer. Maybe you could bottle half, throw some oak chips in for a week or so, then bottle that half. Also, my mash temps have been lower, 149-152, however 155 should be fine as well. Hopefully I answered everything. Good luck, definitely let me know how it goes and turns out.
 
I read that brown sugar, or even brewer's caramel was not uncommon in this beer - hence the brown sugar. I am using a modified cooler with a false bottom for a mash tun - only used it once, but it maintained temp for 90 minutes when I made a belgian ipa last weekend. I may ditch the oak altogether, it was just a guess as far as what I was reading. Also, I just love oak aging. Had one more question - why mash so low? It seems like with all the high percentage of adjunct in this beer that it would already have little body. That, coupled with the fact that I thought a more malty flavor was desired, made me think that mashing a little higher would suit the style. Thoughts?
 
Yea I did read about brewers caramel. I haven't tried anything except caramel malt. The 1908 book says mash temp varies greatly, so I guess it all depends what you want.
 
Thanks for all the advice!

Just thought of another question: How does the extended mash time affect your runoff? Did you get your expected volume of wort?
 
No problem. Yea I get my preboil volume. Just sparge with the right amount of water. Oh, and for a 5gal batch, pre-boil should be 6.4gal.
 
ODaniel said:
What exactly did you do? My first one I left the lid sitting on it upside down to vent - 24 hrs later it was nassty. Smelled terrible. Once it was beer it was fantastic, smell and taste. I wonder why yours has a funky smell still.
Click to expand...

I followed one of your recipes and posts with the lid on etc. It just tastes like a week old pile of grass to me for some reason. Maybe its just my personal taste, I've had it in the bottle since early august and its gotten a little better, but its still take a sip and dump it. I've even tried keeping a few bottles at 34 degrees for a day or two. I do like the base beer taste sans the grassyness.
 
ramthebuffs said:
I followed one of your recipes and posts with the lid on etc. It just tastes like a week old pile of grass to me for some reason. Maybe its just my personal taste, I've had it in the bottle since early august and its gotten a little better, but its still take a sip and dump it. I've even tried keeping a few bottles at 34 degrees for a day or two. I do like the base beer taste sans the grassyness.
Click to expand...

Hmm, weird. None of mine have had any grassy taste. I wonder what it could be.
 

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