S'More Beer?

[Madmartigan]

It's still bottle conditioning, so I haven't tried it (plus I'm out of town currently), but here's what I ended up with:

Partial mash:
1 lb biscuit malt
1 lb chocolate malt
12 oz flaked oats
8 oz crystal 80
8 oz pale 2 row malt
8 oz special roast
4 oz smoked malt
(looking back, I should have used more pale 2 row)

Then add:
3 lbs 2.5 oz Dark LME (boil 60 mins)
1 lb milk sugar/lactose (boil 60 mins)
5.5 oz Dark Brown Sugar (boil 60 mins)
10 oz Molasses (boil 60 mins)
1 oz williamette hops (boil 15 mins)
1 Whirlfloc tablet (boil 15 mins)
12 oz cocoa powder (boil 15 mins)
1 lb honey (boil 5 mins)
.2 oz cinnamon sticks (2 sticks) – (boil 5 mins)

Cool, then pitch:
1 package dry Safeale US-05

21 day primary @ 68 degrees

Add 2.5 tsp vanilla extract to empty secondary container and siphon beer on top
Secondary for 1 week

Bottle using ~4 oz of corn sugar

At bottling time, it didn't taste very 'smore' like, but I could definitely taste the chocolate and vanilla flavor. Hopefully carbonation, chilling, and extra time will help everything meld together. I'll know in another couple weeks.

As an FYI, I'm glad I used a secondary/clearing vessel, as the cocoa powder had created a sludge at the bottom of the primary. In doing so, I lost about 1/3 of a gallon or so of wort that was soaked into the cocoa powder and misc sludge, but it was totally worth it to get rid of the nasty stuff.

Hey there! I know I'm digging up an old topic, but I was wondering if you could tell me how much water you used in the boil? Did you boil a little over 5 gallons to end up with 5 gallons in the fermenter? I'm skeptical about adding tap water or bottled water to top off at 5 gallons in my fermenter. Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[ViperMan]

How is it coming? I am thinking of trying marshmallow root for the marshmallow flavor. Chocolate stout base and Im going to go with your method and even 50% more graham cracker as that is a pretty key flavor in the smore. Marshmallows are really just vanilla anyway. Not sure how much flavor would be left after fermenting vanilla sugar. Maybe just more vanilla beans and skipping the marshmallow fluff or root altogether.

I'm sorry - I never saw this post.

This beer was disgusting - bottom line. Problem was my cocoa nibs - I'm sure of it. I got this hideous "boozy" taste that I've experienced before when using the same ingredient. I will never brew with cocoa nibs again.

I did however rebrew the beer, but it still wasn't successful. I used cocoa powder instead, increased graham cracker by 50%, and made my own carmelized table sugar (what a messy frickin task...) Unfortunately, my efficiency was through the roof, and like a fool, I never thought to compensate by diluting or adjusting. In the end, my yeast crapped out way too soon, my beer finished around 1.22 or so, won't bottle carb, and it just tastes like flat crap.

I'm not giving up on it, but it's not in my schedule to reattempt this anytime soon. Maybe in July in time for the next fall season.

Jeff

 

[ViperMan]

Hey there! I know I'm digging up an old topic, but I was wondering if you could tell me how much water you used in the boil? Did you boil a little over 5 gallons to end up with 5 gallons in the fermenter? I'm skeptical about adding tap water or bottled water to top off at 5 gallons in my fermenter. Any help would be much appreciated!



Thanks!

This is a tricky question to answer. If you're doing extract brewing, you typically add water to get to 5 gallons. If you're using an all-grain brew, you need more water during the mash/sparge process, so you boil off the excess to end at 5 gallons. If you boil off too much but your efficiency was good (which you'll know with the help of software and a refractometer or hydrometer, then you CAN dilute your finished wort to get back to whatever gravity you needed. There's a lot to take into consideration though, such as diluting your IBU's as well, whether you should hop your diluting water, etc. I dilute often as my efficiency has been really high lately, and I make sure to boil the water I'm diluting with before hand for just a few minutes, then cool it separately to fermentation temp before adding.

Hope this helps. If you have more questions, you might want to post a new topic in one of the general brewing forums.

 

[SDUqualitywines]

no i did not try that...

 

[kingof14ers]

Do NOT use marshmallow root. I got some and did a small tea. Does not resemble what the common person knows as marshmallow ala s'mores style. Tastes terrible.

I'm taking another crack at this on Friday making a 10g batch and then splitting it to have 2 different experiments. Cover me, I'm going in!

 

[kingof14ers]

Brewed a 10g batch 3/7. Did 3 boxes of honey graham crackers in the mash which was at 148F just in case additions make this thing a little too sweet.
Kettle was fed 2oz unsweetened cocoa powder 15min from flame out. Calculated IBUs was at 54 again to try to balance this thing should additions make it too sweet. UK Phoenix only, Maris base, safale 05. #1 honey was added 25min from flame out.

Ran half of the kettle out to fermenter A. Fired the kettle back up and added .5# lactose to be runoff into fermenter B.

Fermenter A will get some vanilla and bag of halved marshmallows in secondary. From tertiary I'll add cocoa nibs if necessary. OG 1.064

Fermenter B (with the lactose addition at boil) This will obviously have some additional residual sweetness. Here I will add light corn syrup and dextrose combination. Cocoa nibs in teriary if necessary. OG 1.068

I'm going to have to taste many samples and add ingredients after it has sat around from prior additions. Wish me luck.

 

[northernltz]

King,

This is a very interesting experiment. I am waiting and watching for your results. I certainly wish you good luck in this. I have been wanting to try this for a fall brew. I hope you have better luck than some of the other posts in here.

Kurt

 

[kingof14ers]

So I measured the half wo/ the lactose at 1.012. Dry with the unsweetened cocoa both aroma and flavor. The graham is present but subdued now some 5 days after brewing. No marshmallow component has been added. So far I would have done more biscuit malt and a 4th box of graham with only 1oz of the cocoa powder but we'll give it time. Will let it sit for a week and rack to their respective secondary experiments. Like the first batch I did, even if this doesn't work it'll still be drinkable.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[kingof14ers]

I definitely won't need to add cocoa nibs to either batch half. So that has been taken off the table. I may on one of the carboys crush up 2 boxes worth of graham, throw it into secondary and rack on top of it letting it sit for 3 weeks in hopes that I can get more graham flavor. My hope too is that additional yeast will drop and form a layer on top of these graham crumbs.

If I can get that graham to pop out a bit more, I'll then move it with the delicate and elusive marshmallow component. which will likely be in a tertiary. If I can't I'll go with adding the marshmallow components and put one of the 2 in the barrel.

Will measure the SG on the lactose half this weekend just to verify attenuation and see how it tastes. Stay tuned!

 

[kingof14ers]

3/23 I racked batch A to secondary with 1 box of pulverized graham crackers. Last night I racked batch B to secondary and added 1oz vanilla extract and 3/4 bag of marshmallows halved.

So both have the typical durable chocolate piece and now I'm trying to layer the more fragile on top with "A" getting the graham first and "B" getting the marshmallow first.

Stay tuned.

 

[abeasst]

Anyone have an AG recipe for this beer?

 

[olsond]

King What happened. you stopped posting.

 

[IronBrewingCompany]

I am looking to do this beer. Probably going to use a selection of specialty malt that complements a cracker or biscuit like flavor. I will add molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, lactose, and vanilla toward the end of the boil. I have a fire pit in the back yard so I am going to take a few ounces of 2 row and roast them over a nice fire to try and grab some that camp fire notes in the beer.

 

[rwing7486]

I am looking to do this beer. Probably going to use a selection of specialty malt that complements a cracker or biscuit like flavor. I will add molasses, brown sugar, cinnamon, lactose, and vanilla toward the end of the boil. I have a fire pit in the back yard so I am going to take a few ounces of 2 row and roast them over a nice fire to try and grab some that camp fire notes in the beer.

I just brewed my own version and it came out fantastic! Was definitely a crowd pleaser. My recommendation would be to skip the molasses and vanilla in the boil. I would substitute bakers chocolate and add Vanilla beans in the secondary for a week prior to racking into keg/bottling. Here is my original recipe below: please note though I did change it up some as I used Fuggle hops instead of goldings and I added 8 oz of chocloate vs 5oz. Also not shown is I added 0.5lb of smoked malt as well to give it that campfire flavor. I made that decision on the fly at my LHBS and I am glad i made it. Def a nice subtle smokey flavor.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smore Cream Stout
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.54 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.85 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 36.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 72.1 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.0 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.0 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.7 %
4.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.3 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 7 16.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 8 12.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 9 -

-Mash in with 28ounces of Graham Cracker crumbs
-1lb of Lactose last 10 minutes of boil
-2 jars of Jet Puffed Marshmallow creme last 10 minutes of the boil
-5 ounces bakers chocolate last 20 minutes of boil

 

[IronBrewingCompany]

I just brewed my own version and it came out fantastic! Was definitely a crowd pleaser. My recommendation would be to skip the molasses and vanilla in the boil. I would substitute bakers chocolate and add Vanilla beans in the secondary for a week prior to racking into keg/bottling. Here is my original recipe below: please note though I did change it up some as I used Fuggle hops instead of goldings and I added 8 oz of chocloate vs 5oz. Also not shown is I added 0.5lb of smoked malt as well to give it that campfire flavor. I made that decision on the fly at my LHBS and I am glad i made it. Def a nice subtle smokey flavor.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smore Cream Stout
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.54 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.85 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 36.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 72.1 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.0 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.0 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.7 %
4.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.3 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 7 16.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 8 12.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 9 -

-Mash in with 28ounces of Graham Cracker crumbs
-1lb of Lactose last 10 minutes of boil
-2 jars of Jet Puffed Marshmallow creme last 10 minutes of the boil
-5 ounces bakers chocolate last 20 minutes of boil

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jet puffed marshmallow? very interesting I am shocked that didn't impart odd flavors. I may have to piggy back off this recipe a bit. Thank you.

 

[rocketsan]

Was going to say the same thing about the marshmallow cream...


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[rwing7486]

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jet puffed marshmallow? very interesting I am shocked that didn't impart odd flavors. I may have to piggy back off this recipe a bit. Thank you.

Nope no off flavors noticed with it. You can probably omit it since I had to add vanilla beans into the secondary to get more of the marshmallow(vanilla) flavor I was looking for. Also it was a pain in the butt to work with fluff to get it into the boil - very messy and sticky. Early next year I will make another batch without the jet puffed to see the difference. Happy brewing this recipe! let me know how it comes out and what you think.

 

[rwing7486]

Also for the smoked malt i used Weyermann smoked malt

 

[jessup]

I just kegged & bottled what was supposed to be a White Chocolate White Stout and it ended up more in the neighborhood of a S'More beer. Pale Malt & Special Roast with LOTS of vanilla beans and cocoa nibs. Very light in color with solid vanilla and chocolate notes. The roast isn't quite there, but I was going for the lightest color possible. Overall it's super tasty and will be given away for Christmas gifts. Cheers!

 

[jaw005]

I just brewed my own version and it came out fantastic! Was definitely a crowd pleaser. My recommendation would be to skip the molasses and vanilla in the boil. I would substitute bakers chocolate and add Vanilla beans in the secondary for a week prior to racking into keg/bottling. Here is my original recipe below: please note though I did change it up some as I used Fuggle hops instead of goldings and I added 8 oz of chocloate vs 5oz. Also not shown is I added 0.5lb of smoked malt as well to give it that campfire flavor. I made that decision on the fly at my LHBS and I am glad i made it. Def a nice subtle smokey flavor.

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Smore Cream Stout
Brewer:
Asst Brewer:
Style: Sweet Stout
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 7.54 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.24 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 4.85 gal
Estimated OG: 1.056 SG
Estimated Color: 36.9 SRM
Estimated IBU: 29.3 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 76.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 86.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 72.1 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 7.0 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.0 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 7.0 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.7 %
4.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 6 2.3 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 7 16.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 8 12.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 9 -

-Mash in with 28ounces of Graham Cracker crumbs
-1lb of Lactose last 10 minutes of boil
-2 jars of Jet Puffed Marshmallow creme last 10 minutes of the boil
-5 ounces bakers chocolate last 20 minutes of boil

how did this turn out? i am planning on trying this one. but without the lactose and marshmallow creme

 

[rwing7486]

how did this turn out? i am planning on trying this one. but without the lactose and marshmallow creme

Turned out great!! was definitely a crowd pleaser. Next time i make it I am going to avoid using the jet puff marshmallow creme and just use vanilla beans in the secondary for a few days.

 

[CrimsonYeti]

Sounds interesting. I had great luck with a beer that tasted like French Toast!

 

[kingof14ers]

In the planning phase for taking another (3rd) crack at this next month.

My general approach is to do a 150f mash but doing a double decoction to build body without leaving too much sweetness after primary.

Reducing cocoa powder, increasing biscuit malt and graham cracker soliciting Denver beer for input as they make a killer graham cracker porter. Also going to incorporate honey malt in the grain bill as well.

So I'm probably going to make a base milk stout with graham, add vanilla to taste and then work on the chocolate last which typically has drowned out the marshmallow and graham components. I think the common cloying nature of such a concept beer muddles the flavors so I'm trying to avoid excessive sugar ingredients where possible.

 

[kingof14ers]

P.S. have a dang good tiramisu beer!

 

[kingof14ers]

I have 10g with 2 different 5 gallon approaches underway and airlocks are a bubbling (1.062 and 1.068).

Stay tuned!

 

[WhoDatDad78]

I too have been trying to decide on a label idea... Especially since my wife wants to help me on this one!

sfrisby, to answer one question of yours, I had a lot of success with an extract from Olive Nation (Google it) - I used their hazelnut extract in a coffee stout and it was marvelous. I even went pretty heavy on it - 3 ounces for just 2.5 gallons.

One of my local brewing-club buddies (one of those serious "Hey I've spent $25,000+ on this hobby" types of folk!) said he uses products from Nature's Flavors (also easily Googleable) but I haven't tried anything from there yet.

I personally don't see this working as a porter, but I also have had very few porters that I enjoyed. I think that with the right balance - one that might take a few experiments to achieve - this would work well as a vanilla cream stout or oatmeal stout style.

In fact, I think "balance" really will be the biggest challenge with this beer, as there are a lot of flavored irons in the fire... Chocolate (and all the good and bad ways to ge this flavor alone), graham cracker, marshmallow-or-vanilla-or-caramelized-sugar, to smoke or not to smoke... Lots of ways for this to go badly.

And all the more reason for 1-gallon batch experimentation!

I want to try a Citra IPA next (because who hasn't?) and then this is next.

EDIT - I've browsed the Nature's Flavors website and they have both Marshmallow and Graham Cracker Extracts and Concentrates. Prices are on par with the Olive Nation site above - $11 for 2oz's, ~$15 for 4oz, and on upwards.

Oatmeal stout served on Nitro would be amazing on this one I think.

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

.

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Early next year I will make another batch without the jet puffed to see the difference.

Hi rwing7486

This is one of the longest and oldest threads regarding how to clone a S'more (either a porter or a stout) but even though there are so many great contributions to the thread it doesn't appear that anyone can honestly say they totally nailed it without any defects in either the aroma or the taste.

Did you ever take your recipe to the version? or was this one of those beers that I sometimes say to myself that it's sort of OK, but not worth brewing again?

It seems like you were getting very close.

Cheers !

 

[rwing7486]

Hi rwing7486

This is one of the longest and oldest threads regarding how to clone a S'more (either a porter or a stout) but even though there are so many great contributions to the thread it doesn't appear that anyone can honestly say they totally nailed it without any defects in either the aroma or the taste.

Did you ever take your recipe to the version? or was this one of those beers that I sometimes say to myself that it's sort of OK, but not worth brewing again?

It seems like you were getting very close.

Cheers !

Ive only made this recipe twice now ( once each fall). I plan to rebrew again this October with wlp007 yeast to dry it out some to help balance the sweetness. Also I am going to try using softer water to see how that impacts the beer. IMO it is a solid beer as is.

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Apologies to the moderator.

When I posted a few days ago and now today, both times when I selected EDIT to edit the post, the forum software created a 2nd posting which is identical to the first posting.

The other day I simply changed the content of the first posting to a "." to avoid the appearance of a double post.

I am using IE-11 with Windows 10.

Any advice?

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

I plan to rebrew again this October with wlp007 yeast to dry it out some to help balance the sweetness.

That's good enough for me !

I noticed that towards the end of your different postings on this thread there were a few tweaks here and there. Including the one yesterday about using the WLP007 which according to the poster on the wall behind me is an English Dry Ale Yeast.

Can you please post (summarize) your latest recipe that you are about to brew this weekend that includes all of your latest tweaks?

Like I said above, that's good enough for me because you seem to be the brewer that is closest on the forum to nailing this beer Rwing7486!

Thx for sharing.

 

[rwing7486]

That's good enough for me !

I noticed that towards the end of your different postings on this thread there were a few tweaks here and there. Including the one yesterday about using the WLP007 which according to the poster on the wall behind me is an English Dry Ale Yeast.

Can you please post (summarize) your latest recipe that you are about to brew this weekend that includes all of your latest tweaks?

Like I said above, that's good enough for me because you seem to be the brewer that is closest on the forum to nailing this beer Rwing7486!

Thx for sharing.

Here is the recipe I would brew for your first run. You can make tweaks as you prefer. If you feel like you want more chocolate or vanilla flavor you can add cocoa nibs or more vanilla beans to the secondary. When I get home from work I can update my brew day numbers as in SG and FG. I do recall that the sugar from the graham cracker boosted my SG number

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs 12.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 66.0 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.4 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.4 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.4 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 5 4.25 %
8.0 oz Wyerman Smoked Malt (2.0 SRM) Grain 6 4.25%
4.0 oz Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 7 2.13 %
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 60.0 Hop 7 16.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 8 12.7 IBUs
1.0 pkg Irish Ale Yeast (White Labs #WLP004) Yeast 9 -
28 ounces of crushed graham crackers added to the mash for 60 minutes

Mash at 151F for 60 minutes

1lb of Lactose added last 10 minutes of boil
5 ounces unsweetened Cocoa Powder added last 15 minutes of boil

1 Madagascar vanilla bean in the secondary for 7 days - bean cut, scraped and soaked in pinnacle marshmallow vodka for at least 1 week or longer before adding to the secondary.

 

[rwing7486]

Here is the version I'm going to try and brew next. Hopefully will get to it within a month. I first have to brew my barleywine this weekend. As for the beer goes you can expect a higher starting gravity when adding the graham crackers. Should be a starting gravity around 1.072 and FG around 1.020. Adjust your mash water for the extra graham crackers and adjust hop additions according to your pre boil gravity and your expected post boil gravity (based on your systems boil off rate).

Cheers

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.22 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.10 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 40.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 89.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 53.1 %
12.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 6.1 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.1 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.1 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5 6.1 %
8.0 oz Midnight Wheat (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 4.1 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7 4.1 %
8.0 oz Smoked Malt (2.0 SRM) Grain 8 4.1 %
4.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 9 2.0 %
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 70.0 Hop 10 32.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 11 11.9 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 12 -
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) [Boil for 15 min](0 Sugar 13 8.2 %
1.0 pkg Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) [35 Yeast 14 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 14.06 qt of water at 162.5 F 151.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 4 steps (Drain mash tun, , 2.12gal, 2.12gal, 2.12gal) of 168.0 F water
Notes:
------
ADD 28 ounces crushed honeymaid graham crackers to the mash
6 ounces unswetneed Hershey's chocolate powder last 10 minutes in boil
ADD 2 vanilla beans soaked in vodka for 1 weekin the secondary

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Here is the version I'm going to try and brew next. Hopefully will get to it within a month. I first have to brew my barleywine this weekend. As for the beer goes you can expect a higher starting gravity when adding the graham crackers. Should be a starting gravity around 1.072 and FG around 1.020. Adjust your mash water for the extra graham crackers and adjust hop additions according to your pre boil gravity and your expected post boil gravity (based on your systems boil off rate).

Cheers

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 8.22 gal
Post Boil Volume: 6.50 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.50 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.10 gal
Estimated OG: 1.062 SG
Estimated Color: 40.0 SRM
Estimated IBU: 43.9 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 89.8 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
6 lbs 8.0 oz Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 1 53.1 %
12.0 oz Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain 2 6.1 %
12.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3 6.1 %
12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 4 6.1 %
12.0 oz Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 5 6.1 %
8.0 oz Midnight Wheat (500.0 SRM) Grain 6 4.1 %
8.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 7 4.1 %
8.0 oz Smoked Malt (2.0 SRM) Grain 8 4.1 %
4.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 9 2.0 %
2.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 70.0 Hop 10 32.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [5.00 %] - Boil 30.0 Hop 11 11.9 IBUs
1.10 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 mins) Fining 12 -
1 lbs Milk Sugar (Lactose) [Boil for 15 min](0 Sugar 13 8.2 %
1.0 pkg Dry English Ale (White Labs #WLP007) [35 Yeast 14 -


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 12 lbs 4.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 14.06 qt of water at 162.5 F 151.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 4 steps (Drain mash tun, , 2.12gal, 2.12gal, 2.12gal) of 168.0 F water

Notes:
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ADD 28 ounces crushed honeymaid graham crackers to the mash
6 ounces unswetneed Hershey's chocolate powder last 10 minutes in boil
ADD 2 vanilla beans soaked in vodka for 1 weekin the secondary

AWESOME !

Thx for sharing the latest version of your recipe.

As I previously mentioned, I am so glad to be a part of this forum and I appreciate the contributions that brewers post when they think they have come up with the ultimate recipe, but then they brew it only to find out that it sucks.

(I recently did a custom recipe for a Vienna IPA for the SJ Poor Challenge only to crack one open and it smelled like cat piss)

You seem to have achieved or are the verge to achieve the holy grail of what seems on the surface to be an easy recipe to clone.

My inspiration to attempt a clone came from a bottle of S'More from Saranac. My other inspiration to seek out this recipe came from my older daughter who said "Dad you need to brew this for us".

Thx again Rwing7486. I will begin to order the ingredients tomorrow.

 

[rwing7486]

Awesome good luck!

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

Ready . . . Set . . . Go !

Last night I emailed my LHBS the recipe from Rwing7486, and they had everything in stock except for the WLP-007.

Uh-Oh ?

I'm pretty anal when it comes to having to substitute ingredients when a fellow brewer says to use specific ingredients. Especially when it comes to yeast because it contributes at least 25% or more to the flavor.

But after about an hour of research I discovered that Safale S-04 is the perfect substitute for the "White Bread" Dry English Ale yeast strain.

I'm going to get the yeast starter brewing on the stir plate tonight, and if it turns out that the Safale S-04 can't fully attenuate the beer down to the calculated AVB then I will add some Lalvin EC-1118 to finish up the job one week before I cold crash.

Thx again Rwing7486 for the recipe !

 

[rwing7486]

US04 will get the job done just fine. Also just rehydrate the dry yeast it and pitch it right into your wort.

Im brewing my barleywine tomorrow and then hopefully the smore stout the weekend after. I did make some minor tweaks to my S'more recipe, i took out the the victory malt and added that weight back into the MO. I also am going to to try brewing it this time with pale chocolate (200L). Do you use beersmith? reason I ask is make sure to measure your pre boil gravity so you can understand where your FG will be. You want to target a IBU/SG ratio of between 0.5 to 0.6.

Good Luck and let me know how brew day goes!

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

You want to target a IBU/SG ratio of between 0.5 to 0.6

I never really paid much attention to the IBU/SG field. In fact I had removed it from the field selections.

But now I see how important it must be when developing a recipe for a potentially overly malty style like a stout that really needs the bittering hops to compensate for the sweetness.

I spent some time changing the quantity of the base malt and the quantity of bittering hop additions and the bitter hop times but it seems like once I got the ratio between .5 and .6 as you suggested, the total IBUs dropped from your recommendation of 43.9 to about 39.

But I was actually able to nail both of your recommended numbers by changing the base malt from 6.5 pounds to 8.5 pounds. The IBUs calculated to 43 and the ratio calculated to 0.6 just like you wanted. But that one simple change also increased the ABV by 1%.

So how do you personally best utilize this field? Meaning, if you're looking for a specific ratio but still want to end up with the recommended IBUs, what fields do you start changing first? (base malts, hop quantities, hop addition times, etc)

 

[rwing7486]

I never really paid much attention to the IBU/SG field. In fact I had removed it from the field selections.

But now I see how important it must be when developing a recipe for a potentially overly malty style like a stout that really needs the bittering hops to compensate for the sweetness.

I spent some time changing the quantity of the base malt and the quantity of bittering hop additions and the bitter hop times but it seems like once I got the ratio between .5 and .6 as you suggested, the total IBUs dropped from your recommendation of 43.9 to about 39.

But I was actually able to nail both of your recommended numbers by changing the base malt from 6.5 pounds to 8.5 pounds. The IBUs calculated to 43 and the ratio calculated to 0.6 just like you wanted. But that one simple change also increased the ABV by 1%.

So how do you personally best utilize this field? Meaning, if you're looking for a specific ratio but still want to end up with the recommended IBUs, what fields do you start changing first? (base malts, hop quantities, hop addition times, etc)

So if you are targeting a specific ratio of IBU/SG you need to understand your brewing equipment with most important being your boil off rate. From doing many brews I learned my boil off rate is 1.15 gallons/hr. This number is different for every brewer as it is based off the material of your boil kettle and the amount of BTU's your burner is smacking the bottom of your kettle with. You can change this number in beersmith by clicking on the equipment box and changing it from the default boil off rate ( i think its 0.5 gallons/hr) to whatever boil off rate your system is.

On brew day once you reach your pre boil volume take a gravity reading using a hydrometer or a refractometer. I prefer to use a refractometer as you only need a couple of drops of wort to get a gravity reading thus the wort cools really quickly. You can use a hydrometer but you need to measure the temperature of your wort sample and apply the temperature correction to your reading as the hydrometer is calibrated for 60F. After I have my pre boil gravity reading I go back into beer smith and adjust the "total efficiency" at the top of the screen until I see the "estimated pre boil gravity" in the bottom right side of the screen match my reading. Now that they match take a look at what your "estimated SG (post boil gravity" and "IBU/SG" ratio are. I will adjust my hop additions in both amount and boil time until i see the ratio change to where i want.

So the good thing about knowing your efficiency is you can use this as a starting point when you formulate your next recipe and can adjust hop additions as needed on brew day based on your in process gravity readings. Only warning i will give is you will see a large drop off in total efficiency when you start brewing beers that are 8% to 9% and above. To give you an idea most my standard ales between 5% and 7% are around 78% to 80% efficiency. For the barleywine i brewed this weekend I had a SG of 1.114 (target 12% abv with 80% attenuation) in which my efficiency was 66%.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any clarification!

Rob

 

[BlackDog-Brewery]

So if you are targeting a specific ratio of IBU/SG you need to understand your brewing equipment with most important being your boil off rate. From doing many brews I learned my boil off rate is 1.15 gallons/hr. This number is different for every brewer as it is based off the material of your boil kettle and the amount of BTU's your burner is smacking the bottom of your kettle with. You can change this number in beersmith by clicking on the equipment box and changing it from the default boil off rate ( i think its 0.5 gallons/hr) to whatever boil off rate your system is.

On brew day once you reach your pre boil volume take a gravity reading using a hydrometer or a refractometer. I prefer to use a refractometer as you only need a couple of drops of wort to get a gravity reading thus the wort cools really quickly. You can use a hydrometer but you need to measure the temperature of your wort sample and apply the temperature correction to your reading as the hydrometer is calibrated for 60F. After I have my pre boil gravity reading I go back into beer smith and adjust the "total efficiency" at the top of the screen until I see the "estimated pre boil gravity" in the bottom right side of the screen match my reading. Now that they match take a look at what your "estimated SG (post boil gravity" and "IBU/SG" ratio are. I will adjust my hop additions in both amount and boil time until i see the ratio change to where i want.

So the good thing about knowing your efficiency is you can use this as a starting point when you formulate your next recipe and can adjust hop additions as needed on brew day based on your in process gravity readings. Only warning i will give is you will see a large drop off in total efficiency when you start brewing beers that are 8% to 9% and above. To give you an idea most my standard ales between 5% and 7% are around 78% to 80% efficiency. For the barleywine i brewed this weekend I had a SG of 1.114 (target 12% abv with 80% attenuation) in which my efficiency was 66%.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you need any clarification!

Rob

Thanks for your response Rob.

And whoops . . . I already brewed it yesterday. Oh well. But based upon your advice at least I know from now on how to properly use this ratio in the future.

But hopefully all is not lost. I came up with about 5 different combinations by changing the quantity of malts and the quantity of bittering hop additions and the bitter hop times in order to get the ratio between .5 and .6 as you suggested while still keeping the total IBUs at 43.

The whole challenge of brewing this S'More Stout is all about the taste. So in order to get the IBU/SG ratio and the total IBUs where you wanted them, I decided to chose the least invasive combination that didn't require changing the hops or the specialty grains. In order to get your suggested numbers I simply raised the quantity of base malt and left everything else intact. It did result in a 1% bump in the ABV.

I'm hoping that the slightly higher ABV is inconsequential as long as I achieved the "perceived bitterness" that you suggested.

Thx again for your "best practice" of using the IBU/SG ratio in BeerSmith, and I will be sure to follow your method during future brew days.

Here are a couple of pics taken while sparging. This wort was like "graham cracker black gold" . . . . .