Hi all, Im pretty new here but I hope you guys will give me a hand with a RIS recipe Im working on. This will be my 4th AG batch so I am still very much a n00b, so please try to bear with me. The goal here is to get around 15% ABV with a high FG (1.033 < FG < 1.035) similar to 3Fs Dark Lord (DL). Im not trying to make a perfect clone recipe, but I do like the mouth feel and high ABV of DL, so hopefully Ill be able to make a tasty homebrew with some similar characteristics.
The batch size will be small (~2.5 Gal) for two reasons: first and foremost Im a broke grad student, and second I expect that I will brew this a few times before it comes out the way Id like it. As far as equipment, Im working with a 10 Gal cylindrical cooler mash tun and a 7.5 gal boiling pot so it'd be a stretch to get a 5 gal batch with a grain bill this big anyhow. Using this setup and 2 round batch sparge I typically hit 78% eff on medium gravity (~8% ABV) beers. Im not certain what type of eff Ill hit with a big beer like this, so if anyone knows how many points you lose on a beer this big thatd help out quite a bit.
So for the grain bill I was thinking 50% pale base malt (probably Marris Otter), 45% specialty grains to help keep the FG high, and 5% black strap molasses but I have little experience with beers this big so suggestions on this would be very helpful. I also have a friend who gets free Intelligentsia coffee beans so I plan to add ½ lb coarsely ground directly to the mash. I have also read that fermentability can be an issue for big beers, should I plan the grain bill for the % attenuation listed for the selected yeast or should I expect it to be lower? I looked up a few DL clone recipes in the forums to get any idea of the types of grains used in a big RIS and this is what I came up with:
50% Marris Otter
15% Flaked Barley
6% Simpsons Coffee Malt
5% Molasses
4 % Black Malt
4% Crystal 60L
4% Chocolate Malt
4% Flaked Oats
4% Roasted Barley
4% Victory
So far Ive pulled good eff & attenuation with a long rest decoction mash, so I would probably use the following mash profile:
Mash in 1.5 qt/lb @ 125 F for 75 mins
Decoction -> 147 F for 45 mins
Decoction -> 155 F for 60 mins
Mash out Decoction -> 168 F
I know the steps are really long, but I think its more fun this way. After that I do a 2 round batch sparge and then boil for 120 min. I think Ill use 1oz Warrior and 1oz Chinook @ 60 min. I might be wrong about this, but I think if I dont do a really long boil on this one I wont have enough sparge water to keep a half decent eff and I want the beer black as night anyhow.
So the last thing Im curious about is the yeast. Ill check Mr. Malty and make a starter on my stirplate either way, but Im not sure what yeast I should use. I usually use WLP007, but its alcohol tolerance is 12% at best according to WL, so I was thinking I might have to use WLP099. On the other hand, I brewed a barley wine with WLP007 and it got up to 13.5%, so I don't really know how good that alcohol tolerance rating is. Any yeasts suggestions for 15% ABV RIS?
Sorry for the long post, I can be a bit long winded. Hope you guys can help me out!
The batch size will be small (~2.5 Gal) for two reasons: first and foremost Im a broke grad student, and second I expect that I will brew this a few times before it comes out the way Id like it. As far as equipment, Im working with a 10 Gal cylindrical cooler mash tun and a 7.5 gal boiling pot so it'd be a stretch to get a 5 gal batch with a grain bill this big anyhow. Using this setup and 2 round batch sparge I typically hit 78% eff on medium gravity (~8% ABV) beers. Im not certain what type of eff Ill hit with a big beer like this, so if anyone knows how many points you lose on a beer this big thatd help out quite a bit.
So for the grain bill I was thinking 50% pale base malt (probably Marris Otter), 45% specialty grains to help keep the FG high, and 5% black strap molasses but I have little experience with beers this big so suggestions on this would be very helpful. I also have a friend who gets free Intelligentsia coffee beans so I plan to add ½ lb coarsely ground directly to the mash. I have also read that fermentability can be an issue for big beers, should I plan the grain bill for the % attenuation listed for the selected yeast or should I expect it to be lower? I looked up a few DL clone recipes in the forums to get any idea of the types of grains used in a big RIS and this is what I came up with:
50% Marris Otter
15% Flaked Barley
6% Simpsons Coffee Malt
5% Molasses
4 % Black Malt
4% Crystal 60L
4% Chocolate Malt
4% Flaked Oats
4% Roasted Barley
4% Victory
So far Ive pulled good eff & attenuation with a long rest decoction mash, so I would probably use the following mash profile:
Mash in 1.5 qt/lb @ 125 F for 75 mins
Decoction -> 147 F for 45 mins
Decoction -> 155 F for 60 mins
Mash out Decoction -> 168 F
I know the steps are really long, but I think its more fun this way. After that I do a 2 round batch sparge and then boil for 120 min. I think Ill use 1oz Warrior and 1oz Chinook @ 60 min. I might be wrong about this, but I think if I dont do a really long boil on this one I wont have enough sparge water to keep a half decent eff and I want the beer black as night anyhow.
So the last thing Im curious about is the yeast. Ill check Mr. Malty and make a starter on my stirplate either way, but Im not sure what yeast I should use. I usually use WLP007, but its alcohol tolerance is 12% at best according to WL, so I was thinking I might have to use WLP099. On the other hand, I brewed a barley wine with WLP007 and it got up to 13.5%, so I don't really know how good that alcohol tolerance rating is. Any yeasts suggestions for 15% ABV RIS?
Sorry for the long post, I can be a bit long winded. Hope you guys can help me out!