Ruin Bruin

Ruin Bruin

This is my first recipe without style guidelines, or a base recipe. Comments would be much appreciated.

I brewed this on Wednesday. It is my interpretation of a mid evil black wheat braggot (I think I made that style up ). It was delicious going in. I hit all my marks (except -0.1 gal in fermenter).

6#----American wheat malt
2#----American 2-row Pale (Wish I had used Munich)
1#----Canadian Honey Malt
.5#---American Crystal 80L
.5#---American chocolate
---------
1#----Rice Hulls, soaked and drained

--50% of gravity came from honey--
5#----Clover Honey (last five min)
1#----Buckwheat Honey (last five min)

1 oz--60 min---Tettnanger
1 oz--30 min---Tettnanger
1 oz--5 min----Hallertauer Select

1 tsp-----Irish Moss--15 min
1.5 tsp---Nutrient----Flame out
1.5 tsp---Energizer---Flame out

Split batch step infusion

122*F @ 30 min
155*F @ 90 min (slid to 151*F)
180*F @ Sparge
Collected 5.6 gal preboil = 4.5 gal + .5 gal Honey

SafBrew WB-06 (this stuff smells terrible after hydration)

O.G. 1.082
F.G. 1.011 (Predicted)
ABV 9.2% (Predicted)
IBU ~28
SRM ~33

I think this sounds like it will be good but remember that honey ferments slow and has next to no nutrients so you might consider adding some nutrient and energizer to be safe(especially with a higher end og like you have). Also dont boil honey, you loose a lot of the subtle aromas and flavors it has, next time add it all at flameout. It will dissolve and stir in easy at that temp, might even add it half way through the chill.

I would age this beer a while before I took judgement.

Oh yeah that is what I left out of my recipe

I did add at flame out:
1.5 tsp Energizer
1.5 tsp Nutrient

I also boiled the honey for the short time because it was a really raw local honey, unfiltered, and unpasteurized, with bits of waxy comb in it. This wax had to be dissolved and skimmed off.

Ah I just made some mead, the trick is to pasturize the honey, heat it up to 165 or so. The honey I had had lots of wax as well, I didn't skim it though but I think it was a bad idea to leave it in before I heated it up, because I think a lot of it remained disolved in the honey itself, any solidified stuff just sunk to the trub.

Keep in mind honey is full of sugar so not much can live in it, which is why, like molases, and syrup, it does not need to be refrigerated. Mead makers never boil honey and do just fine, I would just toss the honey in at flameout if I were you and keep the special complexity that your local honey offers instead of boiling it away.

I'll remember that, because I think I am going to be doing this one again. It was the comb that had worried me, not beasties, but just the stuff. I guess I should have know it would just join the trub.

Update:

After 8 hours 1" krausen
After 12 hours 2"
after 36 hours 6" touching the top and no blow off yet

Whaahoo this ought to be a granddaddy of a doozie.

After 6o hrs the krausen fell. Still bubbling like a mad mans sweet potato bong. I moved from the basement 58*F to the kitchen 70*F to mimic a temperature ramp at the end of fermentation. I also removed the blow off tube, and replaced with traditional air lock.

I used the moment to grab a sample and it was good. Getting very dry the next time I do this I'll mash higher, maybe 158*F, and use some dextrine malt.

It was really green tasting and will need a good long time to condition. A strong floral, spice and fruit flavor are coming in and there is a big twang from the buckwheat honey.

I have some maltodextrine on had and was thinking about adding this t ramp the body some.

Any suggestions with the malto would be helpful.

One week in primary and still bubbling like a mad man.

It is at 1.020 now I suspect Sunday will be the day when gravity starts to stabilize.

The flavors are starting to clean up nicely, and the wacky honey flavors are mellowing a little.

I am thinking that I want to carb this one at 3 - 3.5 for some wild bubblies. Any thoughts?

how now rown brown