Alternative Sugar Beer RIS with Molasses

IBU: 65

14lb American 2-Row
1lb Wheat
1lb Victory
1lb Roasted Barley
0.5lb Black Patent
0.5lb Crystal 60L
0.5lb Crystal 120L
0.5lb CaraPils

12oz Molasses (Brer Rabbit full flavor); 5 minutes boil

1oz Columbus 60min
1/2oz Columbus 30min
1/2oz Columbus 15min

154F Mash 60min


This won 1st Place in the Specialty Ale category at the San Mateo County Fair.

Incredibly thick with deep roasted flavors. The molasses adds richness and smoothness, not sweetness.

This is the biggest hit as far as the brews I have made; I am proud of my Belgian Ales, but even with this at over 10% ABV I can't keep my friends and family from drinking it all down

I am only asking out of general curiosity and not criticizing your recipe, but isn't adding CaraPils to this large grain bill unnecessary? I've only ever used it in beers under 1.050 which finish under 1.010.

Obviously you received good results from this brew but what was the reason you added the carapils?

It was added in the seeks rendition of the brew to add smoother mouth feel. It could go without and give more of the standard RIS feel. I added it at request, liked it, and kept it.

Thanks for the question!

Note: Just took 2nd place overall with this at the National Organ Home Brewer's Competition! This was the highest scoring brew in the entire competition. Oh so tasty!

Congrats! I was just about to post some questions about this one.

I'm interested in doing a RIS -- but I've only done one AG brew so far (this past weekend).

Did you sparge?
What kind of wheat did you use?

I had an Old Rasputen with my brother after brewing Monday... and it was amazing!

malweth said:

Congrats! I was just about to post some questions about this one.

I'm interested in doing a RIS -- but I've only done one AG brew so far (this past weekend).

Did you sparge?
What kind of wheat did you use?

I had an Old Rasputen with my brother after brewing Monday... and it was amazing!

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Thanks!

I did indeed sparge (double batch sparge), as you should with any all grain beer. This one is tricky, as it has a lot of grain, and thus you will not have a lot of water to sparge with after you do the mash.

With this much grain efficiency tends to go down. I collect more wort than normal and do a long boil, adding in wort as it boils down and start my hops addition once all the wort is in the pot.

Mash with about 4 gallons of water, make sure your strike water is around 170F with this mash thickness. Hopefully this will then get you to the temp you need, if you are cold by a couple degrees (152F instead of 154F) it still will be fine.

Boil up about 5 gallons for sparging. Add as much as you need to get the grain bed temp up to 170F, stir like mad, and then drain. The rest of the water should have cooled off a lot by then, and just pour it all in for the second batch sparge. Stir like mad again. Drain. Proceed as normal.

For the wheat I just used American white wheat as far as I can recall (I don't have my brew book in front of me). If I am wrong I will let you know, will check after work today.

Old Rasputen is a amazing brew. This one has a lot of similarities to it, but does not have the anise note. I actually prefer it without.

Make sure you do the starter! If you don't have a stir plate then make a bigger one, the yeast has a LOT of work to do! let me know how the brew goes!

What's a good yeast to use with this brew?

kristophelr said:

What's a good yeast to use with this brew?

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WLP013 with a 1.5L starter works really well. 2 packs of S-04 has worked as well in a version I did (was the version that won the Organic competition).

sub'd

maxam said:

sub'd

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Awesome!

As an update: Got the score sheets, was the highest scoring with 44 point, with one judge (National) giving it 46 points.


Watch the temperature during fermentation, otherwise it will taste too "hot" from the fusel alcohol.

This sounds really interesting. Yotie, do you think oaking it would add to the beer?
Only 2weeks in secondary? Are you bottle aging it?

triangulum33 said:

This sounds really interesting. Yotie, do you think oaking it would add to the beer?
Only 2weeks in secondary? Are you bottle aging it?

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Howdy!

I unfortunately can not edit the recipe as posted; I actually now keep it in the primary for 4 weeks and do no secondary. The molasses takes a while to ferment out, and the beer loves conditioning.

I am bottle aging it, no keg-setup yet. I find hat the brew really shines after 3 months, but is still damned tasty a month into bottle.

I believe oaking would be great, but for that I may suggest adjusting for a lower OG (1.086 or above) so if the brew is less likely to come out "hot" which would clash with oaking. I brewed this up a month and a bit back at 1.086, and it has turned out beautifully with the hops being more apparent.

If you have any questions on the recipe, please ask. This is my favorite recipe, my best for competition, and I believe more people should meet this beer.

Here's to hoping I get a response on a two year old thread!!!

Have you thought or tried using buckwheat honey instead of the molasses?

Have you tried using a Blelgian yeast just to add a little background complexity, ie fruitiness?

Brewed this last night and everything looks and smells awesome! Only problem occurred during the night when the airlock got blown off and made a nice mess to clean up. Moved it outside, replaced with a blow-off tube this morning and that was blown off within about 10 minutes. This one's going to be awesome! SWMBO was not as impressed as I was though. View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425250872.911802.jpg

One more pic from this afternoon. FYI - I think WLP013 + molasses = C4!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1425251204.159789.jpg

Holy Moley! This one DOES indeed need a blow-off tube. Before I did that I had the rubber gasket blown off of the lid. I also learned that having an oxygen stone really helps the yeast not go crazy. Glad the brew day went well though!

It will obviously want a bit of aging if it is fermenting that hard so smooth out the yeast and alcohol notes. Keep me updated, want to know how it works out for you!

bolus14 said:

Here's to hoping I get a response on a two year old thread!!!

Have you thought or tried using buckwheat honey instead of the molasses?

Have you tried using a Blelgian yeast just to add a little background complexity, ie fruitiness?

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Can't believe I didn't see this reply before. Haven't tried with honey, but you would want something strong with buckwheat to cut through the dark grains enough. Belgian yeast could be REALLY neat (WLP Trappist) ontop of it all.

Racked to secondary tonight with a reading of 1022. Tastes AWESOME! Reminds me a bit of ten fiddy... I'll bet it'll drop a bit more. Can't wait!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1426907519.275294.jpg

OMG that buckets looks as terrible as mine every time I brew this recipe. I usually end around 1022 but it helps with the high alcohol. Ten Fiddy? I can see it.

Glad it is coming along great! Keep the updates coming bud!

Went ahead and bottled tonight. It's going to be a long, hard wait for this one to mature. Ended at 1022. Wasn't what I hoped for but that extra sweetness is probably a good thing with this one.

1022 isn't bad. I have had it stop at 1024 and 1026, read as rich but not sweet. I find that it takes about 6-8 weeks after carb for it to show good maturity.

I find this pretty interesting. I'm not much of a stout man but my SWMBO is. She's currently carrying twins but with aging this should be ready about the time they make their arrival. I may have to mark this as my next brew.

Nice work!

Thanks! It is a good one if I say so myself. Ages beautifully, again needs 6-8 weeks after carb to be solid and grand, and peaks at a year. Molasses starts coming out more the longer it ages.

View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431733999.880053.jpgView attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1431734013.250962.jpg
This stuff is awesome!! Patience is an absolute must with this beer. At 3 weeks it wasn't really good at all (I was actually a bit worried at that point). Now it's just absolutely wonderful! I'll be patient with 1 case and leave it until Thanksgiving at least. Thanks for sharing the recipe! Looking forward to making it again soon.

smit70136 said:

Patience is an absolute must with this beer

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Yup! Needs time to age. I am brewing 1/2 bbl this weekend for an event in 2 1/2 months. Any sooner would be too soon.

Glad you enjoy it! Really happy to see others able to enjoy this brew.

Question for you as I enjoy a glass of this fine beer - have you experimented with molasses in any other recipes? Loving the flavor it adds to this one.

I have not. I have played around with different honeys in beers, but I started off making mead so that made sense. I would actually be interested in seeing what a hint of molasses would do to a wheat beer.

I have a half barrel of this recipe in a fermenter, it is 2 weeks along and will need a few more before it is ready to keg. Going to split it and try some oaking!

Oak will undoubtedly be very good for this. I'll take the wheat suggestion as a challenge! I'll get back to you on that...

This will likely be the recipe I will use for my next RIS

What's the target OG on this? I didn't see it listed in the original recipe. Also, I'm assuming this is a 5 gal batch?

Glad to here amcclai7! Let me know if you have any questions.

Duncan, yes this is a 5 gallon batch. I aim for about a 1.098, but with some efficiency issues due to the large batch you can have a 1.090 and still be fine. Don't be afraid to do a larger and longer boil so you have more water to sparge with.

I find it beneficial to mash the dark grains separately so the mash isn't as thick initally.

About a year of aging and this continues to evolve. Absolutely love this!View attachment ImageUploadedByHome Brew1454553884.627263.jpg

Awesome! I found a few bottles stashed away that were 4 years old. They were heavier on the carb, but other than that were amazing! The molasses really shined, as the hops had dropped back.

I'm planning on doing some oak aging with my next batch, and doing a condensed/simplified recipe. I'll let you know if it is a success!

And for your pic; don't you love that super dark head? This beer is dark through and trough!

Yeah, it really came out perfect for my taste. Time to brew this again I think.