andrewsbromley
Member
Hey all, here's the story. I'm starting a 3 year grad program in the fall. I'm a joint-degree candidate, so my MBA cohort will graduate in 2016 and my public health cohort will graduate in 2017. I want to brew a big beer that will ferment and age over the next three years.
Abstract:
Aug '14: Brew Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Sep '14: Rack BDS to secondary
Aug '15: Brew Imperial Flander's Red
Aug '16: Blend BDS and Flander's Red to achieve 5G total; age combination, bottle remainder of each individual beer
Feb-Mar '17: Bottle the blend
May '17: Enjoy
Brew Day Aug '14:
Mash efficiency: 60%
Pre-boil vol: 6G
Post-boil vol: 4G (90 minute boil on my system)
Target Pre-boil OG: 1.067, 6 gallons
Target Post-boil OG: 1.149, 4 gallons
Adjusted OG: 1.165, 5 gallons (more on this later**)
Target Bitterness: 78 IBU
Fermentables:
15# Maris Otter
1.5# Aromatic Malt
1# Caramunich Malt
0.5# Special B Malt
4.5# DME, Light (half at 30 minutes, half at 15 minutes); more or less as needed to hit my OG numbers
2# Candi Sugar D90 (added post-boil)
3# Cane Sugar (added post-boil)
Hops:
1 oz Challenger @ 90 minutes
2 oz Styrian Goldings @ 30 minutes
Yeast:
Wyeast 1762 (Abbey II), propagated in 2 quarts 1.040 wort, decanted and pitched into 1 gallon 1.040 wort; intermittent shaking
Wyeast 3522 (Ardennes), propagated in 2 quarts 1.040 wort; pitched with Dark Candi Sugar after initial fermentation slows
Wyeast 3463 (Forbidden Fruit), propagated in 2 quarts 1.040 wort; pitched with Cane Sugar after fermentation from Candi Sugar slows
WLP099 (Super High Gravity Ale Yeast), if needed to get FG down to 1.030 or so
Brew Day:
Mash in at 150'F; sacch rest for 90 minutes.
Mash out to 167'F for 10 minutes
Fly sparge over 60 minutes to collect 6G 1.065 wort
90 minute boil, adding 1/2 DME at 30 minutes remaining and 1/2 at 15 minutes remaining (to reduce the need for a huge amount of hops to get necessary IBUs).
Cool 4G wort to 65'F; aerate with pure O2. Pitch decanted 1762 starter. Keep temp around 65'F initially, as will likely have to be raised later to finish fermentation.
After fermentation subsides, pitch 3522 along with Dark Candi Sugar (diluted with boiled water and aerated).
After fermentation subsides again, pitch 3463 along with Cane Sugar (boiled with water to create simple syrup and aerated)
**the extra fermentables and water from these yeast and sugar additions is how we'll wind up with the "original gravity" of 1.165 in 5 gallons
Allow temp to rise to 75'F and pitch WLP099 as necessary to get FG to 1.030.
Rack to secondary carboy and age at approx 45'F for approx 2 years (when it will be blended with the Flander's Red).
Blending:
The BDS (going from 1.165 to 1.030) should give me something that's 17-18%.
The tentative plan for the Flander's Red is to start at 1.115 and go to 1.008 or below (about 14%).
We want the final blend to be 17% when it's all said and done (since I graduate in 2017), and I think if we go about 1/2 and 1/2, the brett still in the Flander's should eat up some of the remaining sugars in the BDS and get us the rest of the way.
Obviously general comments are appreciated, but here's what I'm looking for specifically:
-Does the FG (1.030) seem reasonable? I don't imagine there'll be trouble hitting the OG (I only need to get 6 gallons of 1.067 from the mash; the rest is DME and sugar). Things I see working in my favor for attenuation: 1) 18% of the gravity is from sugar; 2) multiple pitches of yeast, all made with starters, 3) sugar added after yeast is allowed to work only on the malt sugars, 2) sugar is aerated, 4) I have a lot of time to let fermentation take place
-Mash temp: I thought 150'F would work, since I want to promote a fermentable wort, but I don't want the final product to be too thin, since there's a lot of sugar involved
-Temp: The plan for secondary is to put the carboy in my converted deep freeze. Most of the time, it'll be around 42-45, but I may have to drop it lower if I'm lagering something at the same time. Since it's aging for so long, I thought a nice, slow, cold secondary would work to balance out the big beer.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
Abstract:
Aug '14: Brew Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Sep '14: Rack BDS to secondary
Aug '15: Brew Imperial Flander's Red
Aug '16: Blend BDS and Flander's Red to achieve 5G total; age combination, bottle remainder of each individual beer
Feb-Mar '17: Bottle the blend
May '17: Enjoy
Brew Day Aug '14:
Mash efficiency: 60%
Pre-boil vol: 6G
Post-boil vol: 4G (90 minute boil on my system)
Target Pre-boil OG: 1.067, 6 gallons
Target Post-boil OG: 1.149, 4 gallons
Adjusted OG: 1.165, 5 gallons (more on this later**)
Target Bitterness: 78 IBU
Fermentables:
15# Maris Otter
1.5# Aromatic Malt
1# Caramunich Malt
0.5# Special B Malt
4.5# DME, Light (half at 30 minutes, half at 15 minutes); more or less as needed to hit my OG numbers
2# Candi Sugar D90 (added post-boil)
3# Cane Sugar (added post-boil)
Hops:
1 oz Challenger @ 90 minutes
2 oz Styrian Goldings @ 30 minutes
Yeast:
Wyeast 1762 (Abbey II), propagated in 2 quarts 1.040 wort, decanted and pitched into 1 gallon 1.040 wort; intermittent shaking
Wyeast 3522 (Ardennes), propagated in 2 quarts 1.040 wort; pitched with Dark Candi Sugar after initial fermentation slows
Wyeast 3463 (Forbidden Fruit), propagated in 2 quarts 1.040 wort; pitched with Cane Sugar after fermentation from Candi Sugar slows
WLP099 (Super High Gravity Ale Yeast), if needed to get FG down to 1.030 or so
Brew Day:
Mash in at 150'F; sacch rest for 90 minutes.
Mash out to 167'F for 10 minutes
Fly sparge over 60 minutes to collect 6G 1.065 wort
90 minute boil, adding 1/2 DME at 30 minutes remaining and 1/2 at 15 minutes remaining (to reduce the need for a huge amount of hops to get necessary IBUs).
Cool 4G wort to 65'F; aerate with pure O2. Pitch decanted 1762 starter. Keep temp around 65'F initially, as will likely have to be raised later to finish fermentation.
After fermentation subsides, pitch 3522 along with Dark Candi Sugar (diluted with boiled water and aerated).
After fermentation subsides again, pitch 3463 along with Cane Sugar (boiled with water to create simple syrup and aerated)
**the extra fermentables and water from these yeast and sugar additions is how we'll wind up with the "original gravity" of 1.165 in 5 gallons
Allow temp to rise to 75'F and pitch WLP099 as necessary to get FG to 1.030.
Rack to secondary carboy and age at approx 45'F for approx 2 years (when it will be blended with the Flander's Red).
Blending:
The BDS (going from 1.165 to 1.030) should give me something that's 17-18%.
The tentative plan for the Flander's Red is to start at 1.115 and go to 1.008 or below (about 14%).
We want the final blend to be 17% when it's all said and done (since I graduate in 2017), and I think if we go about 1/2 and 1/2, the brett still in the Flander's should eat up some of the remaining sugars in the BDS and get us the rest of the way.
Obviously general comments are appreciated, but here's what I'm looking for specifically:
-Does the FG (1.030) seem reasonable? I don't imagine there'll be trouble hitting the OG (I only need to get 6 gallons of 1.067 from the mash; the rest is DME and sugar). Things I see working in my favor for attenuation: 1) 18% of the gravity is from sugar; 2) multiple pitches of yeast, all made with starters, 3) sugar added after yeast is allowed to work only on the malt sugars, 2) sugar is aerated, 4) I have a lot of time to let fermentation take place
-Mash temp: I thought 150'F would work, since I want to promote a fermentable wort, but I don't want the final product to be too thin, since there's a lot of sugar involved
-Temp: The plan for secondary is to put the carboy in my converted deep freeze. Most of the time, it'll be around 42-45, but I may have to drop it lower if I'm lagering something at the same time. Since it's aging for so long, I thought a nice, slow, cold secondary would work to balance out the big beer.
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
