Yeast Mix up - Belgian Stout?! Imperial Black Beer?!

[Chrispy92]

Hey all,

So i wanted some input and thought id share a bit of a mess that has occurred. I've just identified this glorious f*k up now, sipping on a delicious red ale after deciding to do a SG check on a few brewskies bubbling away.

For context, two weeks ago I brewed a split batch, half became said Delicious red ale, the other was destined to become a belgian dark ale (which i had planned to bottle up and age). Last weekend, i decided to brew up a big imperial stout .. which again i planned on sitting for 6 months for our Aussie winter mid next year. I pitched the Belgian with Belgian yeast (mangrove jack M47) and the stout with nottingham, both second generation yeasts which were saved from previous brews.

So what happened today, well i started pulling a sample from the stout, which had shown signs of significantly slowing over the last few days. SG was higher than i expected for Notty (1028)... and boom straight away i got a big whiff of phenolic belgian yeast. For a sanity check i grabbed the "belgian beer" which had been sitting for two weeks and my concerns were confirmed, SG at 1008 and not a whiff of yeasty. So my labeling system had failed me, and somehow when salvaging the yeasts at the same time i stuffed them up (to be fair they were both from dark beers!).

Well there's the prelude, Im going to share the recipes for both beers and i'd love some feedback on what you think or if you've done something similar. I think i'd get away with the belgian stout, I am considering pitching Notty on top to try get the FG down (M47 is notorious for finishing high) ?? i have no idea..... the other dark beer, well sh*t... what style is this now?? I guess this is what's fun about home brewing.... I will ride these out and keep the post updated.

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Red Ale/Dark Belgian (30 L batch, split)

5kg Pilsner
2.5kg Munich
0.6 Caramunich1
0.3 Dark Crystal
0.12 Chocolate

Mashed at 68 C for one hour. 60 min boil
Full 30 L got:
25g Columbus FWH
20g Simcoe @ 15
25g Citra @ 15
10 g Enigma @ 15

2 packs of dark 240 belgian candi syrup were added two days into fermentation.
OG: 1074
FG: 1008
ABV 8,6% !

Anyone want to put a style on the above!? hmmm.

Big Stout (24L batch)

6kg Pilsner
1.5kg Flaked Wheat
0.5kg Chocolate Malt
0.3kg Caramunich1
0.3kg Dark Crystal
0.2kg Carafa 1
0.2 Roasted Barley

45g Columbus @ FWH

OG 1080
FG ?
SG 1 week after pitch 1.028

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What are your thoughts!?

CK

 

[Sammy86]

Well fellow brewer you can take solace in the fact that both will be beers...weird beers but beer none the less.

You're probably going to get some sweetness from the Belgian yeast in the stout...which might cover up that roasty, chocolate flavor...definitely sounds like an interesting experiment!

As far as the notty...it's probably going to come out super clean and showcase those hops.

 

[Chrispy92]

Sammy cheers for the response.. I can report back now that both beers are kegged (literally kegged the stout yesterday).

The notty is super clean, but showcases the D240, heaps of dark fruit complexity which is so almost Belgian tasting even without the phenolics... Downside is its a bit dry with an almost slightly syrupy boozyness on the back. Don't get me wrong it's still a very good beer and i plan on bottling the majority for cellaring.

As I said the stout was just kegged so I've only had one pint, its fuller and way more chocolatey which is what I wanted from the base, unfortunately I feel the phenolic yeast really detracts from the malt bill and almost dulls it, to the point where I didmt really enjoy it...I'll have to bottle this up also, maybe six months and it will mellow into something incredible, I definitely see potential!

Anyway. For those interested theres my wrap... Maybe ill come back in 6 months and update yall