Oak-aged Red Rocket Clone?

[DoctorDuvel]

Hey people, I'm brewing a Red Rocket clone (Jamil's). Since it's a hoppy beer - does this benefit from aging or should it be consumed on the fresh side of things? And I'm thinking it would yield to some oak aging quite nicely - any thoughts?

 

[Haputanlas]

Hoppy beers typically shouldn't be aged because of bitterness and/or aroma qualities that fade.

However, if the beer mostly benefits from the aroma of dry hops, you could age and then dry hop before you bottle/keg.

You could also just throw some Oak chips into the primary when you pitch the yeast. Likely there will be enough Oak flavor in the beer by the time the primary fermentation is complete. Then you would be able to rack and dry hop as usual.

I would be careful with Oak chips though. If you have them on the beer for too long, this will become too Oaky.

 

[DoctorDuvel]

Thanks for the response! I wasn't sure if it's a beer to age, because it's more similar to an american barley wine (in spirit) than an IPA, which is hoppy and has a bold malt profile and benefits from aging.

So, I was shooting for an OG of 1.065, but I got around 1.056 - upon inspection (after the mash), I noticed the grind was not very good - there were whole kernels in there :-( ...I'm concerned that this will end up tasting very unbalanced, especially because of the large amounts of late-addition hops. Anyone have any recommendations/thoughts?

here's the recipe for reference Red Rocket

 

[goat_power]

Oak some of it. It might be good. I've had some great oak-aged hoppy beers

 

[jonmohno]

I think oaking it would compliment that scottish like red ale.1.5-2 oz for about a week would give it a good mild note.I could have swore they had one oaked,maybe on draft though?

 

[DoctorDuvel]

Oh good, was wondering about amounts, thanks.

Maybe you're thinking of oaked arrogant bastard? I'm not aware of an oaked red rocket, but that doesn't mean they didn't make it.

Oaked AB noticeably has a less harsh kick and has some beautiful subtle flavors, including vanilla. It's what got me thinking about oaking this red rocket (non)clone - I'm thinking it may be more of a necessity now if the beer ends up tasting unbalanced.

Think lactose would help in the end if it's way too bitter or harsh?

 

[DoctorDuvel]

So, even though i missed the og by nearly 10 points, i'm happy to report that samples are proving that this beer is amazing. In fact, after i tasted the sample (only a week after brewing), i had a real Red Rocket and was disappointed in comparison. The clone is a hop explosion but balanced with a beautiful "scotchy" malt taste. Gonna be a dynamite Rocket...still considering the oak for fun.