I used a combination of Baking Soda and Chalk in my mash to raise the pH. I normally don't use Chalk because of its inability to dissolve in water, but the calculations that I was using had me adding too much Baking Soda. So I supplemented with Chalk to gain the correct pH. My efficiency was down (expected) to around 62% (I normally run around 74%), but I think it would have been lower had I not adjusted the water.
I brewed this back in early April and it has now been in bottle (750ml; cork and cage) for about 2 1/2 months. I opened a bottle on July 13th to test and it was tasting incredible. Still a smidge green, but the cocoa, cinnamon and vanilla were showing nicely (I used sour cherries instead of the chilies).
The body was incredibly thick and the head was persistent with a nice reddish hue. (OG 1.123; FG 1.049; abv 10.25%; steeped the spices in aged rum which accounts for the higher abv)
I've already set aside 6 bottles that will be part of my "Library Selection" so after 5 years of brewing this beer, I will have amassed a nice vertical of 5 different vintages. Named it "The Sweetest Death".
This will be an annual brew for me in the Spring so it will be fully ready by the time the holidays roll around.
Here are some tips that I learned by either not doing what I should have done, or doing something that I shouldn't have done. Trial and Error is the best teacher, right?
1. I
should have pitched more yeast. Like an entire cake from a previous stout recipe (OG 1.055 or less); I built up a starter of 1968, but it wasn't enough.
2. I
should not have attempted a "no sparge" type of recipe with my equipment. I lost some efficiency and gained a lot of headaches. Unless you have a 15-20 gallon mash tun, you will need to sparge for a 5gal batch.
3. Divide your wort into 2 different fermenters. Thankfully I did this and it saved me some headaches. The yeast goes bonkers in this stuff and would have exploded all over my ferm fridge.
4. If you can, Oxygenate your wort. Shaking or whisking the wort will add some O2, but not nearly enough to get the yeast to perform their best.
5. Use the best quality spices/additives that you can find and buy them in their whole form and grind/crush them. This is a very powerful brew and the spices (cinnamon, vanilla bean, etc.) that you put into secondary will need to be as potent as possible in order to have any effect on the final flavor and aroma. I suggest using whole cinnamon sticks and vanilla beans from a place like Whole Foods or Penzey's. They have a lot of turnover of their products, so they aren't just hanging out on the shelf losing flavor. I spent almost $80 just on grain for this brew, so shelling out the extra $8.00 to get quality spices was a no brainer for me.
Okay, enough of the soap box. Enjoy brewing this beer or the various incarnations of it. It was a blast and I learned a lot about brewing "big" beers by doing it. It is one of those that I will definitely have on the annual brew schedule.
Cheers!!!