The OFFICIAL 11-11-11 Old Ale Thread - The HBT Anniversary Series

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I am very excited to try this beer, it was excellent out of the secondary and has been naturally carbing in a keg for a few months now. Plan to chill and bottle from the keg next month. Mine finished a little bit higher at 1.018.

As for next years I propose we do something different. All of the other beers have been big beers that benefit from some aging. I think we should do a smaller beer that also benefits from aging. Either a Beriner Weiss or a Gose.
 
bierhaus15 said:
I would be a bit leery of aging a spiced beer so long. I haven't had many spiced examples that taste better at 10+ months than at 5.

This probably wouldn't be too popular, but I'd love to do a Dopple or Eisbock.

I've always spiced at packaging. That way you know you're not overdoing it, kind of like dealing with fruit extracts.
 
I've always spiced at packaging. That way you know you're not overdoing it, kind of like dealing with fruit extracts.

Good point. That might be why I dislike so many commerical spiced beers.

Also, I bottled a gallon of my oaked 11-11-11 last month and it seems the pellicle has returned in the bottles. Is this pretty normal for bugged beers or something I need to watch out for?
 
I know it's probably been done to death but I've been really digging the oaked IPA's and IIPA's lately.

Is it time to start a 12-12-12 thread?
I'd second an Oak Aged English IIPA. :mug:






edit to say:
Curious, what do you do after 2012 and we run out of months.
Something like 1-3-13, 1-4-14 . . . 9-9-99?
 
I'd second an Oak Aged English IIPA. :mug:






edit to say:
Curious, what do you do after 2012 and we run out of months.
Something like 1-3-13, 1-4-14 . . . 9-9-99?

I like the IIPA idea, but it seems like it'd turn into a Barleywine after 12 months aging....maybe a blast of fresh dry hops 1 month before bottling? Hmm.

My 11-11-11 is still in the carboy on oak. I probably need to get it in a keg and get it carbed up so I can bottle it soon.
 
I'm a little worried about making a 12-12-12 beer.

I mean, the Mayan Calendar predicts the end of the world in 2012, and I am beginning to think that it just might be possible that a 12-12-12 recipe could become so absolutely perfect, that it causes time to stand still.

Think about it.
 
Well I can add some more cubes to the jar I have. I can send some with the bottles I send out for those that don't have them still. Plus I have a pouch from wyeast still. Sure it's not a super viable culture but I can grab a bunch of 50ml centrifuge tubes from school and make a starter if anyone really needs.

Of course anyone could just buy the brett C from wyeast since that's what's probably in the old ale blend.
 
For my future reference- how are you storing the cubes that you saved?

As for the Mayan calendar - we'll need something to drink as it all comes to an end - better good beer than anything else.
 
I've missed out on this until now but I would love to get in on the 12-12-12...Is there any recipe ideas started? I was thinking an end of the world recipe should be somethins strooooong..Pushing limits of those little yeast bastards to get one more good job out of them before the world ends ;)
 
I've missed out on this until now but I would love to get in on the 12-12-12...Is there any recipe ideas started? I was thinking an end of the world recipe should be somethins strooooong..Pushing limits of those little yeast bastards to get one more good job out of them before the world ends ;)

IIIPA? :rockin:
 
How about either the oaked English IIPA, oaked wee heavy (big one) or a mother-f'ing big-assed barley wine? Something strong enough to both survive the end of the world and f you up so that you don't care about it. Should be in at least 10% ABV. I'd be good for a 5 gallon batch, maybe even a 10 gallon batch, depending on things. I have some recipes that I've been working on that could be candidates for this.

I think its time this got its own thread.
 
Hey there, I brewed the 11-11-11 a years ago on the 10-10-10 but didnt followed up and would like to enter the swap trade, is there any thread about it?
Cheers!
 
Anyone willing to step up to organize this? I'd do it if I weren't busy with a 18 credit semester and an internship. I'm picking up my bottles this weekend so I have them on hand for the upcoming trade.
 
Just a little update. I grabbed my case of 12oz crown bottles and a handful of flip tops that I bottled with. I tried two of the flip tops and it has developed into a slightly smokey leathery flavor. It's fantastic. I let some friends try it on Saturday night and it went over great.
 
Would it be advised to add fresh yeast at bottling or will the Brett carbonate it in a reasonable period?
 
I don't think the brett would have a problem. I cannot remember if I added SO4 at bottling or if I just relied on the brett. I can tell you I added dme for priming the bottles. Just remember that carbonation calculators count for DME being 75% fermentable or 55%. With brett it will attenuate further than the advertised apparent attenuation for that DME. I primed my bottles for just under 2.3 volumes at the corn sugar rate but using DME to account for the additional attenuation.
 
Would it be advised to add fresh yeast at bottling or will the Brett carbonate it in a reasonable period?

I will not bottle condition mine, but I'll offer my advice. If you want to hit a specific amount of CO2, I'd add some yeast at bottling and use corn sugar. The reason I wouldn't rely on Brett to carbonate the beer is mainly because brett produces less CO2 as a byproduct than Saccharomyces. How much less? I don't know and it may be more trouble than it's worth to try to nail it down. Also, it would take longer to carbonate, so to me it seems worth it to just add back some yeast.
 
I only heard that brett produced less CO2 than sacch from one source. That source I think was at White Labs but also believe it was withdrawn. If I'm not mistaken they said that the CO2 production of Brett, if different, is so close to that of saccharomyces it doesn't matter. I know it's been repeated on here a few times.

Here's a post referencing contact to White Labs. I have no reason to disbelieve the source. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f127/when-bottle-funky-saison-243141/#post2900930

I've actually been looking for research articles that discuss CO2 production by brett. I have found many articles about brett but mostly surrounding flavor compounds in wine.
 
That certainly makes sense, in fact after I replied I realized I was just restating what I heard on the Session. I think perhaps what was confused was the rate of CO2 production compared to Saccharomyces, not the byproduct ratio.

You know about brettanomycesproject.com right? It's the only scholarly research I've found pertaining to brett and beer.

Here is an article discussing CO2 production in wine fermentation and brett's effects on sacc: http://www.scielo.br/pdf/babt/v54n2/v54n2a17.pdf It doesn't discuss what we are talking about, but it does contain information on CO2 production in brett and sacc
 
From BJCP: 19A. Old Ale . . . Some wood-aged or blended versions may have a lactic or Brettanomyces character; but this is optional and should not be too strong (enter as a specialty beer if it is).

Got my first taste of this last night. Kegged about 2 gallons from a 3 gallon carboy. (Still have a 5 gallon carboy of it aging.) The hydro sample had a lot of the complexity that we are all hoping for. Very pleased with the results. Where I have doubts is the Brett character. I don't have experience with it and don't know what "too strong" is.

This leads to a slightly off topic question. There's a local competition coming up and I thought it might be a good opportunity to get an outside opinion on my 11-11-11 before inflicting it on HBT members. So where is the best place to enter this? Old Ale or Specialty Beer. Or are you allowed to enter the same beer in both?
 
There's a local competition coming up and I thought it might be a good opportunity to get an outside opinion on my 11-11-11 before inflicting it on HBT members. So where is the best place to enter this? Old Ale or Specialty Beer. Or are you allowed to enter the same beer in both?

Body should be like a Barleywine.... mine was @ 1.023, now at 1.015, not so much. I put mine in a comp back in April and while they didnt directly identify the Brett, it didnt do well versus what they were looking for in an Old Ale.

Id put it in 23 Specialty; also, you can enter in both categories.
 
For those also bottling, is it safe to assume there is little to no carbonation in the carboy before bottling? I can't imagine much carbonation would be left after 6+ months bulk aging, but I've never bottled anything this old before. Advice?
 
There will be some. Probably somewhere around .5 volumes, due to atmospheric pressure it will not lose all dissolved CO2.

You can add some fresh S04 if you'd like. I think I did, but don't remember. Also I bottled using DME but weighed it like was corn sugar. The brett will probably consume damn near all the DME. I poured one of these about two weeks ago and the carbonation was about right if you asked me. I targeted about 2 volumes and left wiggle room for it to go a little bit higher.
 
Since no one spoke up I'll take the lead on the swap. I've created a thread here to organize the swap. If you would like to participate, please go to that thread and voice your interest.
 
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