12-12-12 Wee Heavy Recipe Formulation

bottlebomber said:

As far as swap-ees geeze I dunno... it seems like at least a dozen people have participated, but we shall see how many of these are actually willing and able to participate for the swap a year from now. Probably less than a dozen I bet.

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that s kind of what I wanted to know too and how many swaps per person and how many bottles... Im thinking that I may have tio brew twice to participate with my current setup and that amount of grain... Which im definitely not opposed to just wanted to know...

acuenca said:

that s kind of what I wanted to know too and how many swaps per person and how many bottles...

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I think what we agreed upon in the beginning was that you would send 3 beers to at least 2 maybe 3 people, so a 6-9 beers. My main concern is still having a good amount left for myself since I'll be hanging on to it so long, so I made 6 gallons.

bottlebomber said:

I think what we agreed upon in the beginning was that you would send 3 beers to at least 2 maybe 3 people, so a 6-9 beers. My main concern is still having a good amount left for myself since I'll be hanging on to it so long, so I made 6 gallons.

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Thanks man... Ill definitely do at least 5 and maybe oak half... Just for s and g's...

I have 6.5 gallons in primary now. I went with a bit more so that I'm pretty sure I'll end up with either 5 or 6 gallons at the end, into keg. Since I use 2.5 and 3 gallon kegs, I could bottle from keg, once carbonated, and drink from the first one. I plan on letting the second half age as long as possible before trying it. Maybe even another year, or three.

Man I'm so stoked right now... I had mine stall out at 1.028 which I wasn't pleased with, way too sweet. Out of desperation I racked the beer off the trub after 3 weeks, and hit it with 4 ounces of brown sugar. It re-krausened, and fermented steadily for a good week. I just took a sample, and its down to 1.021 - perfect I think. That leaves me with a grand total of 11.25% abv. Tasting the gravity sample I'm amazed how much smoky flavor really came off that yeast, I would swear there were a couple ounces of smoked malt in the recipe if I didn't know better.

Just checked the gravity; 1.032. Puts the ABV at 10%. Temps had fallen to 54F, and with our recent cold snap, I opted to take the wet towel off, and turn the heater up in the garage. Should keep the ambient in the mid 50s to 60, which should help the yeast chew through the rest. Sample tasted pretty good, albeit a tad sweet.

Are these not supposed to be sweetish? That's the impression from every description of the style I read. The scotch ale book by Noonan has some historical terminal gravities as high as 1.050. Of course they were 10%abv so the OE was like 1.140ish. I think I want mine in or around 1.030. Its still moving along, the airlock is still going steady (too much to be just CO2 leaving solution).

They are supposed to be sweet, although I guess that's rather subjective.

To me, 12 oz. of anything in the 1.030 range is probably going to be a bit much, especially combined with 10%+ ABV. I'm thinking more in the low to mid 1.020s. Still, we'll see where it ends up. I don't plan on doing anything other than adjusting ambient temperature to affect the fermentation.

From the BJCP - Overall Impression: Rich, malty and usually sweet, which can
be suggestive of a dessert. Complex secondary malt flavors
prevent a one-dimensional impression. Strength and maltiness
can vary.

I think that you need to be careful of judging it as soon as it's finished primary. Think about all those epic Barleywines you've had that just keep getting better and more complex with age - or better yet think about those Barleywines you've had that were cloyingly sweet in the first bottle - but absolutely wonderful in the bottle that you stuck in the back of your stock and discovered 2 years later.

This is most certainly not a beer to be judged on an American IPA standard.

Also from Brewer's Association:

"Scotch ales are overwhelmingly malty and full-bodied. Perception of hop bitterness is very low. Hop flavor and aroma are very
low or nonexistent. Color ranges from deep copper to brown. The clean alcohol flavor balances the rich and dominant sweet
maltiness in flavor and aroma. A caramel character is often a part of the profile. Dark roasted malt flavors and aroma may be
evident at low levels. If present, fruity esters are generally at low aromatic and flavor levels. Low diacetyl levels are acceptable.
Chill haze is allowable at cold temperatures. Though there is little evidence suggesting that traditionally made strong Scotch ales
exhibited peat smoke character, the current marketplace offers many Scotch Ales with peat or smoke character present at low to
medium levels. Thus a peaty/smoky character may be evident at low levels (ales with medium or higher smoke character would be
considered a smoke flavored beer and considered in another category). Scotch Ales may be split into two subcategories: Traditional
(no smoke character) and Peated (low level of peat smoke character).
Original Gravity (ºPlato) 1.072-1.085 (17.5-20.5 ºPlato) ● Apparent Extract/Final Gravity (ºPlato) 1.016-1.028 (4-7 ºPlato) ●
Alcohol by Weight (Volume) 5.2-6.7% (6.2-8%) ● Bitterness (IBU) 25-35 ● Color SRM (EBC) 15-30 (30-60 EBC)"

I also can't picture drinking 12 oz of 1.030+ beer. Not that it wont be delicious at that FG, just that it is balanced heavily toward the sweet side. To my personal taste I would have put the IBU more toward 50 if I knew it was going to finish that high. It is hard to judge a beer this early on, impossible really, but the impression I got from the taste of mine was that the huge malt profile along with the very low bitterness gave a definite overall impression of a sweet beer. I would say I got exactly what I was looking for in this.

This is definitely going to be a sit by the fire on a cold night and sip sort of beer.

After much delay I finally brewed this, I caramelized 1.5 gal down to a pint or so (didn't even scorch it!). The day was long, a full 8 hours with cleanup. The gravity into the fermentor was 25 brix. I chilled it to 48° and cold pitched a massive starter, fermentation took off like a rocket at 53° and I have been able to keep it at 55°.

I will be racking it to a steralized whiskey barrel for a month or so, it all depends on the flavor profile as to how long it is barreled. Then I am kegging it to bulk age.

Brewed this today, and like a lot of people have stated it was a real long day.

My recipe was:
20 lb Maris Otter
4oz Roasted Barley
2oz Chocolate malt
1oz Challenger @45
1oz Challenger @35
Mashed at 151

Had two minor problems. First was I ran out of propane during the caramelization, and so I was only able to reduce the 2 gal down to just a bit under 1 gal. Tried to compensate for this by a longer boil in the main pot, and so I wound up with an OG of 1.115 - which may not truly be a problem

This one is going to be a beast!

Fermenting away @56 degrees, pitched on a Wyeast 1728 cake.

I know I deviated from the recipe params slightly, but I'd still like to get in on the swap if people are interested.

Took a gravity sample yesterday (8 days at 60 degrees) - just to see how it was coming. Still showing a pretty healthy Krausen with a SG of 1.049 - taste was still very sweet, but with some fascinating "smoky" flavors already (No smoked malt in my recipe). I think I'm liking this ECY yeast.

So maybe I don't have to wait a year to know if this is going to be yummy or not.

I just hope mine comes down a bit more. If not I have some hop extract on hand I can add to balance the residual sweetness. It tastes slightly sweet at this point 1.042 but it's not too sweet. At the sweetness level it is now I'd likely split even a 12oz bottle with someone because it's incredibly full bodied at this gravity. I just upped my temp to like 70 to hopefully make it easier for the last 10 points or so to drop off.

What I might do is buy a couple 5gal cornies. Oak a portion and leave a portion unoaked. Let them bulk age the same amount of time, force carb, and bottle.

Yeah I bumped mine up to 62 last night when I stuck the St Patrick's Day Stout in there. I figure that since it's still showing a good Krausen that it's still slowly but surely bringing it down.

I've been debating about oaking and about where and how to secondary this. What Temp for secondary? My basement sits at about 62 this time of year so I wonder it that isn't ok - or with this length of aging do I need it to sit in the kegerator at 45 degrees....

Temp is holding steady at 52 degrees in the chamber, 55 in the beer, still bubbling nicely, blowoff ceased 2 days ago so today I will be switching to an airlock so I can clean up the pitcher and hose.

I was thinking of taking a reading with the refractometer but the conversion seems confusing so I may wait a while, take a hydro reading and sample that with the refractometer, then try converting.

Anyone have a solid FG conversion calculator?

Just doughed in 22#golden promise. I've been dying to brew this, the stars finally aligned and deer season ended. I can't wait till 12-12-12.

sapperxl said:

Just doughed in 22#golden promise. I've been dying to brew this, the stars finally aligned and deer season ended. I can't wait till 12-12-12.

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Looks familiar.

azscoob said:

I was thinking of taking a reading with the refractometer but the conversion seems confusing so I may wait a while, take a hydro reading and sample that with the refractometer, then try converting.

Anyone have a solid FG conversion calculator?

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Brew Tools Refractometer Conversion

Beersmith also has a conversion, you just need to plug in your O.G. as the O.G. reading, and then readings taken while fermenting as fermenting wort.

azscoob said:

Temp is holding steady at 52 degrees in the chamber, 55 in the beer, still bubbling nicely, blowoff ceased 2 days ago so today I will be switching to an airlock so I can clean up the pitcher and hose.

I was thinking of taking a reading with the refractometer but the conversion seems confusing so I may wait a while, take a hydro reading and sample that with the refractometer, then try converting.

Anyone have a solid FG conversion calculator?

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As far as I know there's not a real good calculator. I have been as much as .05 points off when measuring with refrac compared to hydro. You can end up fairly close but I just use the conversion factor listed in Beersmith.

I took a full hydrometer sample, it is still chugging along with about an inch of krausen on it, I am currently at 1.040, still fermenting at 55 degrees, I poured a smidge of the sample to taste, nice smokey backnotes and not bad tasting at all for a 8 and change %ABV sample, I would like to see this drop to 030 or 025 if the stars align right.

I pulled a few sirloins from the icebox for dinner tonight, marinating in some cracked black pepper, minced garlic and the rest of the hydro sample. Then a sprinkle of sea salt just before grilling over white oak lump

Don't know if this will be helpful for anyone else making this, but I documented the full process behind my brewing of this on my blog

I don't normally believe in sharing with the world every time I blog, but it seemed appropriate to the thread.

Great blog! Well documented with the notable points of a WH clearly stated.

I should really start something similar, trouble is finding the time.

I'm in. I'm going with a friend this afternoon to pick up ingredients for the beer. We plan on brewing this in celebration of MLK day. Yay for days off!

As fermentation tapered off I figured a slow rise in temp to see if I could scrub a few points off the beer might be a good decision.

Fermentation came to a halt completely a couple days ago with nary a bubble in the airlock so I figured I would take a last sample fefore forgetting it for another month or two before moving it to the whiskey barrel.



From an OG of 25 brix to this gravity of 1.022 I am quite happy with the progress so far.

azscoob said:

As fermentation tapered off I figured a slow rise in temp to see if I could scrub a few points off the beer might be a good decision.

Fermentation came to a halt completely a couple days ago with nary a bubble in the airlock so I figured I would take a last sample fefore forgetting it for another month or two before moving it to the whiskey barrel.

From an OG of 25 brix to this gravity of 1.022 I am quite happy with the progress so far.

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Pretty much a mirror image of mine. Nice work. Now comes the hard part.

I didn't really follow the "official" recipe, but I brewed a wee heavy on the first day of the year, and racked it into the keg today. Went from 1.111 down to 1.024, coming in at a whopping 11.6% ABV. Total grain bill was 20.5 lbs.

I did a decoction on mine, as well as taking aside 1 gallon and boiling it down to somewhere between a quart and a pint in a separate vessel, then re-adding that to the main boil. It really added a nice caramel texture to the beer. Lots of melanoiden to the point where it's almost buttery. Still incredibly potent on the alcohol front at this point, though.

After time in the barrel it is going to be really tough to ignore this one for a year, maybe I could bottle it up and bury them or something so they don't tempt me.

When I need to keep away from beer for a long time I stick it up at my parents or inlaws house. It's 100miles away and I'm not there often and no one touches the stuff. I have some 11-11-11 Old ale chilling up there from sometime in the summer along with a few other brews.

^not a bad plan. I can usually leave beer alone since I've been brewing like a maniac lately - I have a RIS that's been in secondary for 6 months. I might bottle it tomorrow. It was funny seeing the guy who said he brewed it and had it on tap already, and he hoped he had some left for the swap. Im gonna go with no.

bottlebomber said:

^not a bad plan. I can usually leave beer alone since I've been brewing like a maniac lately - I have a RIS that's been in secondary for 6 months. I might bottle it tomorrow. It was funny seeing the guy who said he brewed it and had it on tap already, and he hoped he had some left for the swap. Im gonna go with no.

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I havent been brewing much at all, this is why I need to hide this stuff somewhere.

Trouble is, there is nowhere cool to store it, my garage is an easy 118 all summer, even my house is kept at 80 in the summer, it is going to have to go in the kegorator and get stored, perhaps a pinlock keg with a lock on the lid hasp. being set up for ball locks this might be a solid way to keep from testing it here and there.

Under the house maybe?

In-laws!

bottlebomber said:

It was funny seeing the guy who said he brewed it and had it on tap already, and he hoped he had some left for the swap. Im gonna go with no.

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...luckily the guy has the will power of the titans It's kegged, ready and tasting good but only keg aging for another week or so...i have an export 80 I need room for. I have a barley crusher being delivered tomorrow and have 5 recipes lined up. Time to brew like a maniac! Mainly so I can forget about this sweet, sweet wee heavy.

So I picked up a 3 gal fermentor yesterday at the homebrew store. I think I'll oak a small portion of this beer. When I go to bottle the main batch I'll fill the fermentor up and drop in some oak. I'm not doing the fancy oak treatment like Kingbrian, I'll just be using a piece of a french oak spiral.

I'm torn between using American oak spirals (have a two pack, medium plus toast) or some of the Hungarian oak cubes (medium toast) I have on hand (over a pound). I plan on adding oak to the entire batch, when I rack it in another 3-4 weeks (taking a SG reading first of course). I'll probably go 6-8 weeks on the oak before tasting the batch to see if it needs more. After that, it's either more oak, or it's going to keg for safe, long-term, aging. I don't plan on touching it once it goes into kegs at least until fall.

The spirals are typically extracted in 6-8 weeks based on what the producers advertise. Cubes on the other hand can take up to six months for the proper complexity. I have not used spirals in place of cubes yet but I might give it a shot with a little of this 12-12-12, and some of a Belgian dark strong I'll be brewing very shortly. Typically I use oak cubes, normally Hungarian, and age on them for 4-6 months sometimes more.

Sounds like I'll go with the Hungarian cubes for this batch. Do you go with the 3oz to 6 gallon ratio, or do you go with more? I have about 6.5 gallons in the fermenter right now. Expecting to get 6 gallons out of it into the aging vessel (a 6.6 gallon sanke keg). I plan on dumping the cubes in loose, so that I get maximum contact.

4-6 months sounds good to me actually, for aging time on the oak.