Which type of smoke should I add to my Wee Heavy?

[TyTanium]

Good points PVT. I agree. There's a lot of calling things what they aren't these days and I'm not a fan.

 

[AlexKay]

Kringle Stout (5 gallons)

6 lbs. English pale ale
3 lbs. pecan-smoked
0.5 lbs. Fawcett medium crystal
0.5 lbs. Briess extra special
0.5 lbs. Simpsons GNO
0.5 lbs. chocolate rye
0.75 lbs. lactose

3 g Magnum (~15% AA) @ 60
1 ounce ground cinnamon, in "cinnamon stand," 10 min @ 160 F

Lallemand Nottingham

More of a milk stout with something (several things) extra, but I bet this would actually be pretty good.

 

[pvtpublic]

What's the mash temp?

 

[AlexKay]

152 F, single infusion. Could mash lower; the lactose will be the main story as regards unfermentable sugar no matter what you do.

Could also swap in Simpsons DRC for the Extra Special in order to stick to more British malts.

 

[TyTanium]

That actually looks pretty great. HBT never disappoints. Cheers Alex!

 

[dmtaylor]

Also dmtaylor I need to seek out some Uncle Mike's - thanks. At least something is going right in Green Bay

Indeed! You will not be sorry.

 

[Miraculix]

I'm not talking them down at all. And I agree 100%

Guidelines are like dictionaries, it sets a definition to styles. It's a means of having a base of communication, so that we know what it is that we're talking about. I also agree, brew what you want, however you want. You don't need to adhere to the guidelines. But when you have your final product, you can use the guidelines to communicate what that beer is. You wouldn't call a stout a pilsner, just because you wanted a pilsner that looks, smells, and tastes exactly like a stout. An extreme example, I know. But I'm illustrating my point.

May i add to the list that with "style guideline" preferably the way the style is brewed in it's original country should be meant? And maybe not how some bjcp people think the original country's people should brew it....

 

[pvtpublic]

May i add to the list that with "style guideline" preferably the way the style is brewed in it's original country should be meant? And maybe not how some bjcp people think the original country's people should brew it....

You nailed it! However, your pallet goes dead after a few. I had to judge 2 flights of märzen, and then 2 flights of hazies, and I'm sure that I did not give accurate notes at the end. In fact, I think I was slurring my handwriting a little, too. I picked up heavy DMS early in the first flight, and it screwed me up, I was picking it out on damn near every märzen after that. Fortunately, we weren't using BJCP scoresheets, so I didn't have to write much. It was for a beerfest in Missoula, MT and was meant more for picking a winner than anything.

 

[AlexKay]

That actually looks pretty great. HBT never disappoints. Cheers Alex!

I should clarify that I’ve used cinnamon in Americanized wits, and cinnamon at that quantity, while above the taste threshold, is well below the “whoa, cinnamon!” level. You taste something, but it doesn’t necessarily even present as cinnamon.

 

[TheMadKing]

I'm thankful for Texas versions of things. Big guns, big smokers full of beef, and giant hop-forward beers always pushing style boundaries.

There are quite a few pecan/mesquite/oak smoked beers down here that are excellent. I happen to think a strong scotch ale base fits those really well. Nuts to style guidelines. If you want to smoke some malt and add it, DO IT. Authentic and true to style? Heck no. But absolutely tasty.

I also agree with TheMadKing. I've never found smoke in a beer in Scotland, not even on Islay. And he's right on whisky too, it's generally just the Islays that get peat, and some of them don't even (and they are amazing, btw...unpeated Islays). Incidentally I was just at a brewery bar in Inverness and they had a bunch of American styles. Not great...they were too balanced, too subtle. But the room temp hand pump cask ale at the local pub down the street was perfect. There are some great threads on here how to brew those authentically. Traditional UK cask ales are soul food beers. Smoke is absolutely out of place.

So OP - where is that kringle beer recipe. Also dmtaylor I need to seek out some Uncle Mike's - thanks. At least something is going right in Green Bay

I was just in Inverness!

Which pub?

 

[Northern_Brewer]

I'd guess the brewery bar was Black Isle - who are great, particularly their barrel-aged stuff.

As a Brit I don't think it's possible to be "too balanced"!!!

 

[TyTanium]

Black Isle! That's the one. Great spot. Was not expecting a place like that in northern Scotland. Just didn't love their hoppy offerings. I pretty much stuck to cask ales/bitters the whole time. I do recall a few barrel-aged winners too.

I love a west coast IPA or Texas pecan smoked beer as much as anyone, but man those UK pub bitters are something special. I can't get enough.

 

[dwightr8]

All this talk of smoke has me excited, so I rummaged through my hoard and came up with these two. Chilled to 35F, not a bunch of warm Scotch ales, but ice cold lagers. Which should I drink? Both?
View attachment 785818

Love the old Olympia opener. Haven't seen one of those for a while.

 

[bracconiere]

3 g Magnum (~15% AA) @ 60

i want to ask what the point of adding 1 pellet of hops was?

 

[AlexKay]

i want to ask what the point of adding 1 pellet of hops was?

Hey, that’s about 10 IBU!

I usually do small batches, 1.25 and 2.5 gallons, with the occasional 0.25-gallon batch thrown in. Your average hop pellet weighs about 0.2 g, and I’ve certainly been in the position of counting them out on some of those smaller batches.