Is it too early to start talking about 11-11-11?

cool thanks. I didn't even think about looking in home brew stores. heh silly me

The Wy9098 is now available. I picked up a pack of it (along with a pack of WY1469:rockin at my LHBS yesterday.

KingBrianI said:

The Wy9098 is now available. I picked up a pack of it (along with a pack of WY1469:rockin at my LHBS yesterday.

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Awesome, I've been waiting to try 1469 for ages! Have you used it before - what's it like/compared to???

Never used it but I've been dying to since everyone who has used it seems to love it. Hopefully it lives up to expectations because I have aspirations of making it my house strain. Also, black sheep brewery's riggwelter is one of my favorite beers and can you brew it made a clone of it using this yeast that they said was spot on. If you want to hear Jamil overflow with compliments about the yeast, listen to that episode!

KingBrianI said:

Never used it but I've been dying to since everyone who has used it seems to love it. Hopefully it lives up to expectations because I have aspirations of making it my house strain. Also, black sheep brewery's riggwelter is one of my favorite beers and can you brew it made a clone of it using this yeast that they said was spot on. If you want to hear Jamil overflow with compliments about the yeast, listen to that episode!

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I wonder if that's the same as the WLP037. I used that extensively last year. It made the best English brown I've brewed. It scored well at a competition but could've done better under the Old Ale category due to the really unique yeast character and higher gravity.

Regarding 11-11-11, I listened to a BN podcast about oaking. It was really interesting and it gave me some ideas. The brewer (can't recall the guest's name) said he microwaves the cubes in a dish of water, covered in saran, brings it to a boil, then cools it and adds the water and oak directly to the initial fermentation for a few weeks before transferring and aging. I'll probably do this. But I am also intrigued by the idea of extended oak aging, I just don't want it to taste like I'm licking a tree.

What's everyone doing with the oak?

Riggwelter is brewed with 1469?! Love that beer. I've been looking for a really-really flavorful English strain for my house yeast and it sounds like this might just be the one. I've been really loving wy1187 lately, though it's pretty tame compared to some of the other yeasts across the pond.

jmo88 said:

Regarding 11-11-11... microwaves the cubes in a dish of water, covered in saran, brings it to a boil, then cools it and adds the water and oak directly to the initial fermentation for a few weeks before transferring and aging...What's everyone doing with the oak?

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I will be doing the same thing pretty much. I heard it adds a nice oak character, but not so it's overwhelming. Though, I have not decided on the type of oak yet. I was thinking of using some bourbon, heavy toast oak cubes I have laying around. Unrelated, I heard that oak shavings should not be used for extended aging, as it imparts a heavy, one dimensional oak flavor. Getting excited about brewing this up!

WLP037 is Samuel Smith's strain unless I'm confused. WY1469 is Timothy Taylor's. I didn't have great luck with the WLP037 when I tried it last year but I think it may be due to the yeast not having been very healthy for some reason.

Alright well, I'm set to brew this one on Saturday. I'm going to try to get about 6 gallons into the fermenter so that there's plenty to age and keep. Should we start an official 11/11/11 thread to document brewing it and to link to the recipe thread, etc?

Starting a clean thread makes sense. Go for it. I put the recipe up in the Strong Ale section of the database.

I probably won't brew this recipe until mid to late November. I'm starting a new kegerator and need to get some beer in it. I haven't bought the yeast yet, but when I place an order at my LHBS I can get yeast only a few days old.

I also got everything I need to make this ( from Rebel Brewer!). I am interested how to adjust beersmith for the boiling down of the first runnings, any ideas?

AlphaWolf-Brewery said:

I am interested how to adjust beersmith for the boiling down of the first runnings, any ideas?

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I know what you mean. I don't use beersmith, but I just work around it in my software (beer alchemy). I built my recipe around a 7 gallon boil, initially. I can't input a caramelization in the software so I know that I need to either run-off almost 9 gals of wort or add top off water to make up for the loss of nearly 2 gallons. In short, setting your boil volume and total runnings to 7gals is the best way to go.

I created the new thread here: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/official-11-11-11-old-ale-thread-hbt-anniversary-series-200538/.

If you brewed this and want to participate in the swap, get over to the following thread ASAP and sign up. Registration is closing this weekend.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f38/11-11-11-old-ale-swap-critique-thread-271674/