"Aztec Century Ale"

[carbon111]

I've been doing a lot of "regular" Pales and IPAs lately and want to try something really different. This is my current formulation of an ale brewed with pure agave nectar, cocoa nibs and ceylon cinnamon that I am planning to execute soon.

Despite the first impression the ingredients may give, this will not be an oversweet brew though I am hoping for "just a touch" of sweetness. Cocoa nibs have a bitter/coffelike taste, the Agave I have is 25% sweeter than table sugar and should mostly ferment out - I've got the Dark type which has much more Agave flavor to it. Lastly, real cinnamon has a subtle mellow/bitter taste very unlike the Cassia bark that is sold as stick/ground cinnamon in grocery stores.

What do you guys think? I've gathered all the ingredients but won't get to this for a little while. SWMBO thinks I'm crazy for wanting to due this brew.

5.5 gallon batch

3 lbs Light DME
2 lbs 2 Row (mini mash with crystal and corn)
1 lb Crystal 20L
8 oz Flaked Corn
2 lbs raw Dark Agave Nectar - added to secondary (held at 165 F for 30 minutes)



2 oz Willamette(pellets 5.5 AAs) - 60 minutes
4 oz Cocoa Nibs, crushed - 60 minutes
.75 oz Ceylon Cinnamon stick, crushed - 5 minutes
Whirlfloc Tab - 15 minutes

Nottingham Dry Ale Yeast

4 oz crushed Cocoa Nibs - in secondary

 

[Freezeblade]

Just a thought on the ingrediants:

save your money and don't use coco nibs, they really don't impart very much flavor, and are bloody expensive, use coco powder instead.

Agave: get the "amber" stuff, which is the color of amber malt extract or so, if you use the stuff that's yellowish you won't gain any agave flavor at all, and you'll be out a bunch of cash.

Add cinnamon@5 mins, or even flameout, any more time in there and you'll lose that great cinnamon smell. coco and agave should go into secondary IMHO, where they will impart the most flavor/aroma.

YMMV

 

[carbon111]

Thats a great idea for the Agave in the secondary but getting it to dissolve in room temp wort sounds like "a whole lotta no fun." I've had good luck with honey at flame out so I'll do that.

I made sure I had the darker variety with the richer flavor.

I've already got the nibs...tasting them, they have a flavor and consistency of dark roast coffee beans. I'll crush these with a coffee grinder before adding. I think half in the boil and half in the secondary will work nicely for these based on the base flavor and volitile aroma components.

(I kind of think cocoa powder is pretty nasty stuff and would rather not use it.)

Thanks very much for helping me think this one through.

 

[carbon111]

I ended up brewing a nice brown ale instead of this recipe so have had some time for a much needed re-think about this.

The Agave and Honey will probably ferment like crazy and this will probably end up being way too dry. Should I add some more unfermentables in the form of specialty grains to bring the body up a bit? The OG as it stands is probably going to be around 1.045 - and a LOT of that is sugar (agave and honey).

More grain or backsweeten with a little lactose?

 

[carbon111]

:/

...or just forget about it?

 

[Livendadream]

Just brew it! that is what homebrewing is all about, "experimenting". I think it sounds interesting, I just don't have the cash to do something like that right now. If you go for it, post your results even if it doesn't quite turn out, and send me a couple of bottles. J.

 

[BakerStreetBeers]

I am with Livendadream. Go for it. I love the conceptual resonance of this beer. Did you think about using any chiles? For flavor, not heat.

Would love to hear how it comes out.

 

[carbon111]

I've still got all the ingredients, just waiting for a primary to become free. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

[COLObrewer]

This sounds interesting, the only input I have is you should chew the maize and spit it in the fermentor to get a little authentic "Chicha" style enzymes going on, would be more aztecian I think, unless of course you have some sort of physical contagian in your system.:rockin:

 

[MeatyPortion]

Go for it. By the way: this reminds me of Theobroma by Dogfish Head. Great beer, I thought.

Theobroma - Dogfish Head Craft Brewery - BeerAdvocate

 

[Beerrific]

This sounds interesting, the only input I have is you should chew the maize and spit it in the fermentor to get a little authentic "Chicha" style enzymes going on, would be more aztecian I think, unless of course you have some sort of physical contagian in your system.:rockin:

While I can't recommend this, you will probably want to get some base malt and mash the flaked corn to convert it. If you just steep it you will get a lot of starch and not much fermentable.

 

[carbon111]

I know about the corn, thanks. However, I'm not going to spit in my beer.

 

[COLObrewer]

I know about the corn, thanks. However, I'm not going to spit in my beer.

Well, . . You said different.

 

[carbon111]

Ewww!

Hey, at least I didn't bleed in my beer. That would be even more "Aztecian". LOL!