Wood-Aged Beer Pirate Strong Ale

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So I've been following the recipie for this one and have a quick question. Its coming up on the time for me to carbonate this and drink it (I kegged the batch) and I was wondering if I should leave or remove the oak chips when I keg it? Also, I didn't have access to vanilla beans so I added 1oz of vanilla extract, I assume that should do the trick, or do I need more?

Thanks for the help all,

BMB
 
What do you mean by ``1 ea.`` is that one each? LiKe one cinnamon stick for the whole batch and One vanilla bean??
 
So I've been following the recipie for this one and have a quick question. Its coming up on the time for me to carbonate this and drink it (I kegged the batch) and I was wondering if I should leave or remove the oak chips when I keg it? Also, I didn't have access to vanilla beans so I added 1oz of vanilla extract, I assume that should do the trick, or do I need more?

Thanks for the help all,

BMB

Filter out the oak chips for sure. You leave that in there and eventually it will be like sucking a board. Since you're using extract, start light and add to taste. I used about that much in my recent cider and it's present but right on for my tastes.
 
Well just the one seemed to be properly carbed, I've still been drinking here and there but none are as carbed and delicious as this one was, that's okay though I've got time
 
I have made quite a few batches of this. I am upping the "strong" aspect of it this time:

6 lbs light DME
4 lbs of brown sugar

I pitched on top of a previous yeast cake and this morning is chuggin like a freight train. Measured OG 1.0920 (actually 22% brix reading). Estimated ABV 12.9% if I can get it to ~ dry. Awesome!
 
My pipeline is strong. I plan on aging it as long as it needs! I'll let you know where it ends up.

Honestly, this is my #1 favorite recipe to brew. WHEN I move to the Caribbean and open a brewery, a derivative of this will be my flagship.
 
When is the brown sugar added in this process. I'm assuming at the end of the boil, but don't see anything in the post. Thanks
 
Your call. I add it while I am sparging to assist in the dissolving process. Not sure if there is some harm in doing that or a benefit to waiting.
 
Anybody else not getting the IBU's right for this with only 0.5 ounces of galena? I plugged the recipe into beersmith and get 23 IBU's. I am not familiar with the whole rager/tinseth IBU equations, could this be the cause of the difference? Looks like a fun brew and I have the starter going now, but want to get the hop balance correct. Can somebody provide some advice or enhance my understanding of the bitterness calculation for this recipe?

Thanks, HBT'ers!
 
Anybody else not getting the IBU's right for this with only 0.5 ounces of galena? I plugged the recipe into beersmith and get 23 IBU's. I am not familiar with the whole rager/tinseth IBU equations, could this be the cause of the difference? Looks like a fun brew and I have the starter going now, but want to get the hop balance correct. Can somebody provide some advice or enhance my understanding of the bitterness calculation for this recipe?

Thanks, HBT'ers!

Anyone? Bueler?
 
I can't comment on what beer smith said as I don't remember and I changed phones

That being said, I brewed according to the all grain recipe and the hops seemed to be balanced quite well

My problem lies in the carbonation
 
I just bought everything to make this, except for a few things. I had to get US-05(I bought 3 packets) and had to guess on a replacement for CaraAroma with Special B. The store also had no Citra, it never does, so I got some El Dorado instead. I hope it turns out ok, and not too far off.
 
When converting this to extract, is Torrified Wheat still recommended? I read that this should be used in the mash but not as a steeping grain. Should I substitute another variety of wheat?

Thanks!
 
I am pretty sure the first time I made this I ended up using oats instead and I did all extract. Buy I have steeped the torrified as well...people still loved the beer ;) If you are really concerned though, all my searching lead me to flaked oats as a sub for the head and body properties that torrified provides.
 
I think if I do this again I'll scale the rum back and use two vials of yeast
 
Got the mash going for this right now:)
IMG_20150710_133853_908_zpsnrmif9ei.jpg





Would brown sugar for priming sugar be too much flavor for this? It would only be a touch over a half a cup or so.

ETA: OG was 1.088, smelled almost like a cinnabon!
 
I was looking to make this recipe this week and was wondering about the 4 ounces of med. toast French oak chips. I have the chips, but 4oz seems like an aweful lot for a 5 gallon batch.
How strong of an oak flavor does 4oz produce? Does the rum soaking seep a lot of the oak flavor out?
 
It's an excellent question! My experience has been, with this beer, that the oak is PERFECT in this beer.

However, I have made a RIS where I used the same amount (4oz) but soaked the chips for only 1 week...and the beer is WAY over oaked.

Your comment seems to make the most sense - the rum soaking, due to the extended soaking period, leeches out a lot of that oak "hit" and mellows it nicely.
 
It's an excellent question! My experience has been, with this beer, that the oak is PERFECT in this beer.

However, I have made a RIS where I used the same amount (4oz) but soaked the chips for only 1 week...and the beer is WAY over oaked.

Your comment seems to make the most sense - the rum soaking, due to the extended soaking period, leeches out a lot of that oak "hit" and mellows it nicely.

Thanks! That was exactly what I was concerned about. Can't wait to try it.
 
About that wood:

I brewed a 5g batch of 1.088OG of this on 7/10 and I just checked today and it's at 1.010. I used 3 packs of rehydrated US-05, should I wait the 2 more weeks? The wood has only been on rum for a week.
 
Checked again today, still at 1.010(should be 10.24%, wow!!) so I added the wood chips. I'll be bottling this in about a week.
 
In the fridge cold crashing now. Since the wood was only on the wood chips a little over a week I'm thinking of adding a cup of the rum(Myer's dark) to the bottling bucket.
 
I brewed this exactly a week ago. Brew day was successful and it fermented hard for about 6 days. I used two strains of local yeast (one malty/sweet and the other similar to WY1056). I also substituted Flaked Oats for the Torrified Wheat and bumped up the hops by a touch (0.75 Galena and 1.5 Citra, total). I ended up with 13.5oz of pineapple in the boil instead of 10oz.

Question: I brewed this for my HBC's fruit beer competition in September. I was hoping the pineapple would be noticeable but I haven't noticed any flavor in my gravity sample or in the aroma while boiling/fermenting. How present was the pineapple in your brew? Did anyone have success adding pineapple to the secondary?
 
I can sometimes taste the pineapple very slightly, I wouldn't classify it as a fruit beer by any means

I did not add fruit to the secondary
 
Brewed this a month ago, just put it into the keg. Hit 1.094 og and 1.013 fg. Smells sweet and rummy. Tastes a little more bitter than it smells. The flavors still need to blend a bit but this is shaping up to be the best beer that I've ever brewed. Thanks for this recipe!
 
In the fridge cold crashing now. Since the wood was only on the wood chips a little over a week I'm thinking of adding a cup of the rum(Myer's dark) to the bottling bucket.

I always use one clear plastic Coke bottle when bottling so that I can easily check to see if the beer is carbing up. My test bottle is pretty rock solid today, so everything seems to be going well. I'll wait until mid August to take a taste:)
 
A friend and I have decided we want to try this recipe. Our question is how much strike water should we use? Typically I brew all grain so using DME is a bit foreign to me. I know this prob isn't a full 6ish gallon boil as normal.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew
 
When I brew this AG (BIAB) I typically add 6 gallons of H20 to my brew pot. And sparge with another 2 gallon. Collect ~ 5.5 gallons.
 
I always use one clear plastic Coke bottle when bottling so that I can easily check to see if the beer is carbing up. My test bottle is pretty rock solid today, so everything seems to be going well. I'll wait until mid August to take a taste:)

Still not carbed..... Just a few bubbles that dissipated quickly.
 
I will probably brew the normal version first, but I think upping the caramel notes on this could be interesting. Kind of like a Caribbean scotch ale fusion. The Plaid Pirate perhaps :rockin:

I would probably do this with a 2hr boil and topping it back up, or boiling down a gallon of wort on the stove.

What do you guys think of the mouthfeel of this as is? Could this be too much?

Either way I'm definitely brewing the original first (if I can get Citra :()
 
I will probably brew the normal version first, but I think upping the caramel notes on this could be interesting. Kind of like a Caribbean scotch ale fusion. The Plaid Pirate perhaps :rockin:

I would probably do this with a 2hr boil and topping it back up, or boiling down a gallon of wort on the stove.

What do you guys think of the mouthfeel of this as is? Could this be too much?

Either way I'm definitely brewing the original first (if I can get Citra :()

What you said BUT!!! I would go the extra step: use Scotch instead of rum for the oak soaking!! The 2 hour would be pretty intense from my perspective (never done one longer than 90 mins) but based on my sad experiences with Scotch ales, I'd probably do the 2 hr instead of the 1 gallon boil.

Just my $.02

Whatever you do, PLEASE let me know. This sounds really interesting!
 
It might be a while as I have 2 beers on deck, plus the original, but I will get to it eventually.

I just love the intense flavors from the split boil down, but I'm also on induction for small stuff so it always boils down perfectly, we'll see though. Scotch definitely could be great, maybe I'll split the batch between rum and scotch, either a highland or an islay.

I can imagine a nice thick sip of caramel rummy pineapple-y and spicy goodness
 
So I changed things up a bit and thought I'd let you know what happens. I did the pineapple and cinnamon 60 min and did 1 oz galena vice 0.5 oz. also 1 lb caraaroma. I ended up with 1.14 OG. I will let you know how it turns out
 

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