Stonehenge Acid Smoked Ale

I have been given this extract kit from Strange Brew by my (well meaning) sister:

3kg Muntons Amber LME
8oz Acid malt
8oz Smoked malt
1oz Galena (60 min)
1oz Hallertau (5min)

Wyeast London Ale yeast.

Makes 5 gallons, with OG 1.044 FG 1.012

It sounds . . . . interesting. I'd be willing to try a bottle, see how it is. Might be good.

But it sounds like it will not be very full bodied at 4% abv, with just a light smoke taste with maybe a hint of sourness. Before investing my limited time to actually brew it, I'd like to feel a little more comfortable it'll turn out good.

So here's what I thought I'd do - convert to all grain, and use a stout base instead of amber lme.

Here's the recipe I've put together:

20 lbs pale malt
4 lbs crystal-40

1 lb flaked oats
1 lb chocolate malt
8oz roasted barley

16 oz acid malt
16 oz rauch malt

1.5 oz Galena (60min)
2 oz Hallertau

Makes 12 gal, OG 1.058 FG 1.015

How does this sound? Anyone try something like this?

Oh, one more thing - I'd still have the LME left. After some thought, I thought I'd do something like this:

After the above recipe is made and the wort boiled, half is chilled and transfered to a fermenter. The other half has the Muntons added to it, and is boiled for another 30 min or so with an additional ounce of Galena. One ounce of Hallertau is added at flameout, then chilled as usual.

This will end up OG 1.095 FG 1.024

No idea how this will taste, but I bet it takes many months to clean itself up.

No opinions? Brewing this tomorrow; I'll update the thread with tasting notes after the fermentation has slowed.

So since you aren't sure you'll like it, you decided to make 12 gallons of it? I haven't played with smoked malt or excessive acid malt yet, but I'm not sure what you're going for here.

tennesseean_87 said:

So since you aren't sure you'll like it, you decided to make 12 gallons of it?

Click to expand...

Hehe, when you put it like that . . . .

The extra cost for grain is insignificant; for me the cost of a homebrew is the time investment. It takes as much time to make 12 gallons as it does to make 5 gallons. Ergo, on the (hopefully good) chance it comes out well, I made my usual sized batch.

It seems like a good thing to step outside the comfort zone occasionally and make something different. Might not have picked this on my own, but since it was dropped in my lap I'll run with it.

On an unfortunately related note, don't browse HBT while brewing. While goofing off here, my mash temp drifted up way too high. Think I caught it in time though. :smack:

I know what you mean. Cost is an issue for me (full time grad student), but time is at a premium, too. I haven't brewed this semester! Last exam is on Friday, though, so I'll probably brew up two beers on Monday to fill the pipeline! I hope you like yours!

The first half of this experiment is now on tap. Efficiency was a bit higher than expected, so the brief time the mash was too hot didn't adversely affect the beer.

Tasting notes: A distinct taste of smoke, but it isn't the predominate taste like in a rauchbier. Definite notes of toasted barley, in fact a good, but generic medium-bodied porter if not for the smoky taste. I detect only the slightest hint of sourness, but I may be fooling myself and not really tasting anything. Of the half dozen + other people that have tried it, only one has noticed any hint of the acid malt. Head formation is very good, a light brown and lasting a long time.

If I was to make this again, I'd at least double the acid malt, and probably add a bit of flaked Oats to up the body. The high gravity version is still aging, so I'll update the thread when that's ready.

Preliminary diagnosis: good beer. Worth making more of.