My miraculous drunken megabeer creation

So I brewed a Red Hook ESB clone all grain kit last month with some buddies. Typically don't drink more than one or two when I'm brewing but with the fellas...we put some back.

Well, I made a miscalculation for the final water addition after getting the wort cooled off. Turns out I didn't add nearly enough water to get the intended OG. I recorded this insanely high reading without realizing I needed to dilute it more. Didn't realize this mistake until today.

Today was bottling day. Took my FG and realized we made a 10.5 ABV beer! Was supposed to be 5.5. Only made about 35 bottles worth of beer with the condensed wort but the taste...amazing.

Cannot wait to see how this miscalculation carbs. Very excited to see how this megabeer goes down in a month.

I guess it's true, as long as you're not screwing up during sanitation processes (or driving!), relaxing and having a homebrew really does have a way of making things turn out alright. Brew on. :rockin:

 

So, not a mistake - an experiment!

Cheers,

 

I love it when a plan falls apart - and works anyway!

 

Mmmmmm. Sounds awesome


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Might want to age that one a bit and let the booze calm down.

 

Also might want to add some yeast at bottling time; stressed yeast from primary/secondary will have a hard time carbonating your brew.

 

How? Was this an extract kit and you didn't add any top off water?

10.5%.... Put that in the Barley Wine closet and let it sit until Christmas.

 

Yeah, I agree with masskrug. This will require more bottle conditioning that you are used to doing to be all it can be. Nothing wrong with aging this until Christmas. I make a lot of barleywines and I'll tell you now, nothing at that ABV will be ready to crack open and drink in less than 8-12 weeks of bottle conditioning. That time isn't allowed just for carbonation. There are lots of bio-chemical magical processes at work beyond the carbonation that will make this beer great. Allow them the time they need to work.

 

That is fun. I remember when I first started brewing I had this novice drive to create beer with high alcohol content. Had some horrible disasters and some awful hangovers. Since then I've brewed for taste , but have fun with it. I did a purple haze clone at 10% or so, sure everyone complained about the taste at first but after a couple of drinks no one could feel their face.


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Serendipity


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I had something like this happen early with one of my early brews, though not as dramatic... due to a too-large container of malt extract and some bad math on my part, an extract batch that was supposed to be a spiced amber ale for the holidays turned into a spiced black-as-night who-knows-what, OG 1.075ish instead of 1.045ish. Still not sure what happened there, but the result was delicious! Almost resembled a belgian strong dark to our tastebuds. Sad thing is it was a one-gallon batch.

 

Excited to see how it turns out. I've relegated it to the carb closet for at least a few months as you guys recommended.