High Gravity Brew.. Interesting results? Looking for opinions..

Most of the fun I have with homebrewing comes from writing and brewing my own crazy recipes. I have brewed quite a few batches of successful mad science beer, the worst of them becoming great after sitting for a couple of months. I decided to go for a rocket fuel Imperial and threw put my recipe together as follows:

Glacier Oaked Imperial RyePA (2 gal - all grain)
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4.0lbs Pilsner Malt
1.0lbs Crystal 20L
1.0lbs Rye (flaked)
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Mashed at 151.0F for 90 minutes
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1.0oz Glacier at 60min
0.5oz Glacier at 20min
0.5oz Glacier at 15min
0.5oz Glacier at 10min
0.5oz Glacier at 05min
1.0lbs Dextrose at flame out
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American Ale II, starter
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6 weeks primary, rack into 2 1gal jugs with .5oz Glacier in each and 8 square inches of oak chips for 4 weeks (based my oak chip amount from an article in BYO about how weight is not concern, it's oak to liquid contact that you should go by.. they had a calculation and I ended with 8 inches, (16 counting the other side).

This is my first time using Oak in a beer. And Rye. And my own high gravity concoction.

Brew day went great, hit 1.104 OG, aiming for 1.105. Fermentation BLASTED off within hours and went for quite a while. I tucked the bucket in the back of the brew closet and let it sit for 6 weeks.





Saturday, I had my chips, dried from previously soaking in no rinse cleanser. I placed the chips and a half ounce of Glacier in each jug, then I went for the rack. Jug#1 was definitely beer. The alcohol scent was very present (this is supposed to finish out around 11%), smelled semi hoppy, wishing I would have upped the addition amounts a bit. Anyhow, I only got about a 4th a gallon into Jug#2 before I was siphoning sludge and nothing but so I stopped it there and corked them both. The amount of trub and yeast at the bottom of the bucket was insane! By far more than when I did 2 gallons of DFH120.

Would this be because of the Rye? I realize it is a very heavy grain bill but I'm definitely confused on the amount of trub left over and the small amount of beer I was able to siphon out. Should I have let this sit for another couple of weeks? Way to much Rye? The cake was not very packed. Opinions? Would you have done something differently here IE cut some of this for more of that, etc..? :cross:

Go STL!
Sounds like an interesting recipe. I've used rye 6 times in my beers and I haven't noticed an increase in trub, but I usually use malted rye, not flaked. Sorry I can't be more help, but I bet that 1 gallon of beer will be delicious!

Yeah Buddy! Bought everything but the hops from Worms Way

I added the Rye at the start of my mash, curious if I should have added that maybe towards the end, for the last 20 minutes or something like that like flaked wheat...

I've always added the rye at dough in.
Have you ever gone to St. Louis Wine and Beer making? I go there for all my brewing supplies. It's way out in town and country, but the staff is really knowledgeable and they usually have anything that I need.

Love stl wine and beer, they definitely have the low prices. Worms way is 5 minutes from my work so I hit them up for standard malts and such, plus I like the crew up there so I try to spread my business.

Guess I'm chalking this one up to an uber heavy grain bill.

Rocket fuel!

That looks like a ton of oak. I did .5 oz last 5 days @ 1.06 OG for a 1.7 gal batch. Turned out perfect.Good luck.

Brewed in mid April, Oaked in mid June, bottled in mid July, I could not help myself, I HAD TO TRY ONE!

This beer turned out great, far exceeded my nervous expectations. There was not much carbonation being a high gravity beer and only bottled for a couple weeks, but it sure was smooth. It reminded me of the DFH120 minus the sweetness and "cringe" that follows if you allow it to get warm. The alcohol scent that was overwhelmingly powerful during the transfer to secondary has subdued and hidden itself behind the oak, malt and hops. Each drink finished nice and dry with just a slight hint of oak, very very light. The hop schedule and type worked great, they are pleasant but again light, and the aroma of the dryhop blends with everything else. This beer is very drinkable and I will definitely brew it again in the future though I'm going to try it next time with a different hop blend for fun.

For the first time since I started brewing in Dec 2010, I feel I have all aspects and ingredients of a beer working together with one another and for once have found a good "balance", not that my other beers have been failures, I've never brewed a batch I didn't like, but this really stands out to me as my first all around success. Feels like a milestone.

So a big huge THANKS to HBT and to you guys, the community. This forum has been my encyclopedia and goto for brewing since I started, and will continue to be. Payday is in 2 weeks, it's time to purchase my membership; well worth the money.

This batch of Imperial Rye-PA is going into storage for a couple months, I can't wait to drink another one in October for my birthday.