Epic 8s

Going to brew my Stony 08.08.08 Vertical Epic Ale tomorrow. Here is the recipe I worked up:

Recipe: Epic 8s
Brewer: steelerguy
Style: Belgian Specialty Ale
TYPE: All Grain

Recipe Specifications
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Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 7.60 gal
Estimated OG: 1.078 SG
Estimated Color: 4.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 57.3 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
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Amount Item Type % or IBU
14.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 87.50 %
1.00 lb Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 6.25 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [11.90 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] (Dry Hop 7 days) Hops -
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.20 %] (60 min) Hops 23.2 IBU
1.00 oz Simcoe [11.90 %] (60 min) Hops 33.6 IBU
1.00 oz Ahtanum [4.50 %] (1 min) Hops 0.5 IBU
1.00 lb Cane (Beet) Sugar (0.0 SRM) Sugar 6.25 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale

Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 15.00 lb
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Single Infusion, Light Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
120 min Mash In Add 18.75 qt of water at 161.2 F 149.0 F

Beersmith is predicting the IBUs to be a little low of the target 65 but I already doubled the amount of Amarillo and Simcoe called for in the recipe. Depending on the calculation it is either a little short, right on, or way over. Since I am already putting 5 oz. in there I am calling it good.

It is a long mash of 120 mins. so I am going to start it at 148 and it will end at 147 or so. I am considering waiting on adding the cane sugar until after a few days of fermentation, but probably will just add it to end of boil.

I have an extremely large Wyeast 1388 starter and I think I will pitch a little over a cup of thick slurry. This should give me the 25 million cells per mL wort called for.

The only thing I am worried about is having a higher OG than anticipated before of my new Barley Crusher. If I think this will happen I will adjust my boil time before I actually start it, perhaps sparge a bit more.

Should be a good brew session!

First note, not really related to the beer, if you are not using a drill with your Barley Crusher you are doing yourself a disservice! The first time I used it I hand cranked and considering this is how I crushed at my LHBS I was used to it...takes awhile and sucks.

Hooked a drill up this time and in 5 mins or so I had 14 lbs. of pale crushed...and I just sat there holding a drill and pouring grain a couple times. So much easier!

I did end up with a OG of 1.080 but figured that was close enough. There was a lot of trub at the bottom of the boil pot so I lost a good bit a wort there, but still got a touch over 5 into the fermentor.

Decided to save about cup of nice slurry for the next time and pitched the rest. Wow, even in my mid 50s basement the wort wouldn't get below 72 and it was starting to blow through the airlock so I went to a blowoff tube. This is one aggressive fermentation! 70s is what is called for in the Stone recipe so I am fine with 72, will start to up temp a little at 72 hours or so.

Nice estery smell coming from the wort now. Wonder how close this is going to be to the real thing.

5 days have gone by and fermentation is still going although it has slowed quite a bit. I let it run natural for awhile and it got to 73 degrees in a cold basement. After 2 days it dropped to 71 so I bumped the temp to 74. After 3 I took it to 76, 4 it went to 78, and now at 5 I have taken it to 80 which is as high as I will go. The bulk of fermentation took place in low to mid 70's, so I am not too worried about crazy esters. The increased temp should help dry the beer out.

Even at high temps this yeast may take up to a month to shave the last few points off, it has a long and slow tail to attenuate.

when i brewed this, I had no problem hitting my FG. In fact i hit it after about 2 weeks. I did not control the fermentation temps though. I left it at room temp, and let it rise freely near 80 at its peak, but mostly stayed in the mid 70's. Turned out great! They did not lie abuot the floculation though. even with the whirlfloc and crash cooling, it was as cloudy as a heffe. Aging it does clear it a bit though. After 3 months in bottles, its pretty clear. I still have a case of 22's that I'm hoping to save for a while so I bet those will be crystal clear. I plan to open one every year until 2012 and enjoy the rest then (if I can wait that long, this stuff is great!)

It is about 10 days since pitching, still some C02 coming out of blow off tube and a little swirling in the carboy. Will wait till this weekend and then take a gravity reading. My secondary actually has a Golden Strong I brewed about 6 weeks ago. Wanted to crash cool it some more, but it got too cold in the garage and had to move it back inside. Still quite hazy, may just have to let that take care of itself in the bottle. Need my secondary for this beer.

Took my first gravity reading after 2 weeks, 1.014. Still higher than what I want, but I am getting uncomfortable with it sitting at 80, so I am removing the heat. Going to let this cool down to whatever my basement is cooling thing to right now.

Tasted a very small sample and wow...that was bitter, more than I was expecting. Still very young and the taste was really small so can't really judge it yet. Hope using double the hops wasn't a mistake, but it was the only way to make the IBU close to correct.

Was extremely busy so let it sit at 60 for another week and racked today. Before racking noticed that the airlock was still bubbling, even at 60. Checked gravity and it was down to 1.012. Not going to let it sit on the yeast any longer, will let it finish up in secondary...still plenty cloudy with yeast in suspension.

Belgian style beer with freshly added Simcoe and Amarillo hops smells like a tasty candy!

Sounds great. Keep us updated.

Took a look at it today, still producing some C02, this Wyeast 1388 just doesn't give up! Kind of curious to take a gravity reading, but after my first lager brew fest this weekend, not feeling like sanitizing anything. Popped the stopper and it did smell good though. The Stone recipe says to age cool for a couple weeks which I have just hit. I think I will let this sit around and bulk age for another couple weeks, at least until it hits 1.010 or below which I am confident it will if it is not already there. I think this will slowly lose gravity forever if I don't crash the yeast at some point. (Even at 40 degree in refrigerator a little jar I kept from the starter for propagation kept fermenting slowly for about 2 weeks!)

yeah, I fermented some wine in the fridge to make it be really crisp. Yeast ferments from something like 39* - 103* and any lower and it goes dormant, higher it starts dying. I was shocked that I got to about 5%abv before taking it from the fridge to finish on the counter. It tastes nice.

Although the beer has been producing C02 in the secondary continually the gravity has not dropped much. I think it is pretty much done and I may have to deal with 1.012, not bad considering I started at 1.080.

Smelled amazing, awesome hop aroma from the Simcoe and Amarillo. First taste was a bit warm, I think this will mellow. Didn't notice it so much after my first sip, could have just been what happens when you drink a sample after breakfast. Good taste, but needs a little more aging I think...although carbonation and some refrigeration would help also.

Having a little Belgian brew fest with some fellow home brewers June 20, so I will let it bulk age a few more weeks and then bottle. That will give it 6 weeks or so to bottle condition and carb up.

Enjoying my first bottle from this batch and it is damn good! Crystal clear, perfectly carbonated, hoppy but balanced, and the aroma is amazing...the best smelling aroma in a beer I have made so far. (Wish I could claim credit for the recipe!)

Unfortunately, I only had one bottle of Stone 08.08.08 and that was back at the beginning of February. As far as I remember, the color and aroma are just about dead on. Although mine dried out nicely, it has a little more body then the real thing. The bitterness is about right from what I remember but I think theirs tasted a little more "Belgian" for lack of a better word. Funny how different this tastes from the trippel I harvested the yeast from. Tastes "cleaner" but then again I didn't let the temp climb as high on this, only to 80.

The search is on for another bottle of 08.08.08 even if it means hitting up Ebay and getting robbed.

This is a mighty fine beer and if you are a lover of hoppy pale ales and IPAs, this is a great recipe to do something different but not less pleasing.