I am looking to make some bigger, bolder beers so that I can try out some aging techniques. Oak vs. no oak; bottle aging vs. bulk aging, different temperatures, etc.
I know there are recipes out there for Imperial IPAs, Imperial Stouts ... and I absolutely LOVE Flying Dog's Imperial Porter. But what actually goes into making an Imperial beer an Imperial?
Is it just kicking up the gravity, then kicking up the hops proportionately to balance it? Or is there more involved than that?
The reason that I ask is this. My wife is a major fan of Belgian wits. I'm looking to brew something this big this winter that I can age significantly. My hope is to make a big, slow sipping beer that will be ready for us to enjoy during the cold weather next winter.
I took a quick look over the recipe pages here and didn't see anything that stuck out in the Belgian section. I am hoping for a little direction with this post. I haven't run numbers or anything yet. My thought initially was to take a standard wit recipe and push the malt and wheat bill out so that I achieved a bump of another 3% abv or so. Then I could push the hops up proportionately to keep it balanced. Finally, I would hit it HARD with orange peel and coriander or seeds of paradise so that it would have time to mellow during the aging. If I bulk age it, I might save a portion of the spices for the last part of the bulk age (before bottling).
What I am envisioning is a light SRM but heavy bodied wit, almost a "Winter Wit" or holiday beer if you will.
Anybody out there have something I can use to at least get me started in the right direction?
I know there are recipes out there for Imperial IPAs, Imperial Stouts ... and I absolutely LOVE Flying Dog's Imperial Porter. But what actually goes into making an Imperial beer an Imperial?
Is it just kicking up the gravity, then kicking up the hops proportionately to balance it? Or is there more involved than that?
The reason that I ask is this. My wife is a major fan of Belgian wits. I'm looking to brew something this big this winter that I can age significantly. My hope is to make a big, slow sipping beer that will be ready for us to enjoy during the cold weather next winter.
I took a quick look over the recipe pages here and didn't see anything that stuck out in the Belgian section. I am hoping for a little direction with this post. I haven't run numbers or anything yet. My thought initially was to take a standard wit recipe and push the malt and wheat bill out so that I achieved a bump of another 3% abv or so. Then I could push the hops up proportionately to keep it balanced. Finally, I would hit it HARD with orange peel and coriander or seeds of paradise so that it would have time to mellow during the aging. If I bulk age it, I might save a portion of the spices for the last part of the bulk age (before bottling).
What I am envisioning is a light SRM but heavy bodied wit, almost a "Winter Wit" or holiday beer if you will.
Anybody out there have something I can use to at least get me started in the right direction?