Big Beer recommendation?

[Craigvu]

I'm looking into the grainbill for what will be my last brew for a while (first baby is 4 weeks away), and want something that's pretty high ABV, say in the 1.075+ range, and that could/would benefit from a pretty long secondary. In my mind this puts an IIPA out of the question as the hop edge will die off pretty quickly. Kegerator is full and I already have 1 brew in primary already, so this one will have plenty of time to sit and get better with age. Thinking of a Christmas Ale, a Foreign Extra Stout, or a Baltic Porter. I'm thinking it'll be 3 months til I'm ready to keg.

Any tried and true big, dark, meal in a glass beers out there? I've searched around quite a bit and nothing is really striking me as exactly right.

Thanks.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter... Its something that needs a little more attention though... it will sit in the primary for at least 3 weeks and the secondary around 2 weeks at which point you put fresh Madagascar Vanilla Beans in...

Then in the Keg you add Bourbon and its good to go...

Another option is a Maibock or even a Bock beer...

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter... Its something that needs a little more attention though... it will sit in the primary for at least 3 weeks and the secondary around 2 weeks at which point you put fresh Madagascar Vanilla Beans in...

Then in the Keg you add Bourbon and its good to go...

Another option is a Maibock or even a Bock beer...

Haha, that was going to be my recommendation too!

Brewing it this weekend for the first time, heard good things.

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

I did... just to be sure I'm not sue how you do on your efficiencies, but I adjusted my recipe to 70%... you may want to thin your mash out a bit... For a 6G batch I did a 7.5g mash and almost a 3g mash out... I wanted to make sure i didnt leave too many sugars behind... i collected i think an extra gallon over what i needed and boiled it down to get to the correct volume... I hit 1.082-1.083 SG using that method. If i didn't i would have come in in the 1.06~ range...

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

Sorry for hijacking a bit...

I did... just to be sure I'm not sue how you do on your efficiencies, but I adjusted my recipe to 70%... you may want to thin your mash out a bit... For a 6G batch I did a 7.5g mash and almost a 3g mash out... I wanted to make sure i didnt leave too many sugars behind... i collected i think an extra gallon over what i needed and boiled it down to get to the correct volume... I hit 1.082-1.083 SG using that method. If i didn't i would have come in in the 1.06~ range...

Yes, I typically average about 75% efficiency for my 5 gallon batches with about a 11-13 lb. grain bill, and about 70% for grain bills above 17 lbs. This one comes in at 17.75 lbs. for me. My bottleneck is my 7.5g BK - it essentially limits how much sparge water I can use.

I'm counting on 70% efficiency however I think I'm also going to sparge off an additional gallon and set it aside. Then boil the regular wort for about 30 minutes (no hop additions) to reduce it, then top it back off with the reserved runoff then proceed with the normal 60 minute boil w/hops etc. So basically a 90 minute boil.

/hijack

 

[Craigvu]

i do BIAB for my brews, but have hit several 1.060+ OGs, so i don't know how this would fare. I'd definitely give it a whirl and boil down til i hit OG. Funny though, Denny's is the only recipe I saw that looks like a strong possibility. I was hoping someone had a crazy Christmas/Holiday ale. Beuhler?

 

[Bowtiebrewery]

Sorry for hijacking a bit...



Yes, I typically average about 75% efficiency for my 5 gallon batches with about a 11-13 lb. grain bill, and about 70% for grain bills above 17 lbs. This one comes in at 17.75 lbs. for me. My bottleneck is my 7.5g BK - it essentially limits how much sparge water I can use.

I'm counting on 70% efficiency however I think I'm also going to sparge off an additional gallon and set it aside. Then boil the regular wort for about 30 minutes (no hop additions) to reduce it, then top it back off with the reserved runoff then proceed with the normal 60 minute boil w/hops etc. So basically a 90 minute boil.

/hijack

Sorry to hear that... I remember when I only used a 6gal pot and that was murderous on my garage floor lol (Damn boil overs)

A little updated... I took my first gravity reading on my BVIP... From 1.082-3 down to 1.018 in 5 days... No crazy blow off, but its finished its fermentation almost... I'm going to warm mine up for the next week and then transfer to the secondary with the Vanilla beans for 1-2 weeks... took a small taste... Just beautiful...