06.06.06 Brew day, post your results, tips, gripes...

[SwAMi75]

I think I am going to add some amalayse enzyme to this batch to see if it will help break down the remaining sugars in this sucker. Right now it is just too sweet for tolerance. I read on the GB the other day that the enzyme addition will possibly help. I think this beer really has potential but not the way it is.

What do you guys think?

Think I should pitch a packet of dry S-56 first?

I don't see anything wrong with that.

 

[Dude]

I don't see anything wrong with that.

To which one?

 

[Tony]

I use amylase often, and use it for this recipe as well. I also pitched a huge starter, and between the two, this dropped my gravity from 1.080 to 1.004 in three to four weeks. There still is an upfront sweet taste, but its just a hint actually.

And like Pumbaa's, mine has a huge alcohol punch for sure. I took a gravity reading, and then sampled the sample. Wow! It was potent for sure. This one is doing just fine I believe.

I racked mine to the secondary last week, and added the oak chips and one ounce of Willamette today. Im going to add another ounce next week, and then let it go for 2 more weeks probably, before bottling and stowing them away.

 

[SkewedBrewing]

Its been almost 4 weeks now and I added the oak chips to the secondary a couple days ago. I took a small sample and WHOA! this is really high in alcohol flavor and I also noticed something else, too much chocolate. I added almost half a pound (about 7 ounces) of chocolate malt to the recipe and it was too much. This brew is way too chocolatey right now.

I think I might change the name to ".06.06.06 Devils Food Beer" instead.

 

[Dude]

Okay...I'm in the process of racking this off of the oak chips and now I'm going to add some amylase enzyme. After a week on that I will take a gravity reading and then hopefully dry hop. The gravity right now is 1.016. If I can get this down to 1.010, I think this is going to be one outstanding beer. Other than that sweetness, it tastes awesome now, especially after riding on those oak chips for a week. It is very hot though, hopefully that mellows.

I think I am going to bottle this entire batch.

 

[SwAMi75]

To which one?

Oh....oops! I meant repitching. I know nussing of amalayse enzyme.

 

[RichBrewer]

Yesterday I dry hopped (second dry hop addition) in the keg with 1 oz. E C Goldings. It is now under gas and in the fridge. We shall see how it turns out. It's up to the beer gods now.

 

[budbo]

Mine has been in the bottles for 2 weeks now.. thinking it will be ready to sample next week and ready to drink by 6 June

 

[BrewStef]

Dude,

With all the comments and suggestions posted on this recipe, could you perhaps repost a V2 version on the recipe thread that incorporates the lessons learned from this brew so far?

Cheers!

Stefan

 

[Dude]

Dude,

With all the comments and suggestions posted on this recipe, could you perhaps repost a V2 version on the recipe thread that incorporates the lessons learned from this brew so far?

Cheers!

Stefan

We definitely will. Give it some time young grasshopper.

 

[Rhoobarb]

I took mine off the oak chips and, wow, is that oak flavor prominent! I dry hopped it and have let it sit for ~ a week and a half. The gravity was still 1.020. It doesn't taste heavy on the tongue, which I expected with this gravity. I'll probably bottle it next week.

 

[RichBrewer]

I was really worried about this one but I just tasted my first glass and I'm encouraged with it. Got a very nice dense head and I noticed a bunch of sediment swirling around. This is good because I left the keg at 68 degrees for an additional week in hopes that it would ferment some more. The gravity at kegging was 1.020. The Bourbon/whiskey taste is still there but it has mellowed. The malt profile has started to come through and it is very much to my liking. I'm getting a bit if hop bitterness and aroma but it is still over powered by the Bourbon flavor. I'm pretty sure I'm tasting the oak and rye.
This one may take awhile to be at it's best but I think it is going to be worth the wait.

 

[Some Hasbeen]

My first attempt of this beer is currently bubbling away in the primary as I type this. Looking ahead to the remaining steps got me thinking. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on skipping the oak chips step. I'm not sure I'm all that interested in the oak flavor. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good bourbon, just not in my beer. Any thoughts?

 

[budbo]

Tried one tonight, was actually suprized at the hop taste I got..I was expecting much sweeter but it had a pleasant bitter bite to go with the fruity flavor, and a hint of smoke. Mine spent 10 days primary 4 weeks secondary and has been bottled for 2 weeks now. this is going to be very nice by June.

I would like to hear from other extract brewers but IMHO you scored with the extract recipie Dude. :rockin:

 

[ErikN]

I had thought about the same thing but figured with all of the discussion about the potential sweetness this brew would have the oak might tone it down a bit. I added an ounce of oak chips and plan on racking to a tertiary after a week then bottle after to more weeks. It won't be ready by 06.06.06 but so far it tastes great.

 

[ErikN]

I racked mine over to a secondary yesterday. The SG had gone from 1.076 to 1.012 after ten days. I decided to add the hops and oak chips in with out a hop bag, not sure if that was a good idea, I couldn't get all of the beer in the secondary.

Do you guys find better results using a bag to bring the hops to the bottom of the secondary so the infuse their aroma or can the same effect be had by having them float on top?

 

[Tony]

Any updates on anyone elses?

 

[EvilTOJ]

Mine's currently in bottles right now. I used the extract recipe, and only had 1/3 cup of corn sugar left, so I also used 2/3 cup of DME on top of that. The citrus/smoke aroma was still there at bottling, and it tastes VERY strongly of alcohol. The oak flavor in mine was subdued, but that's probably because I didn't toast my cubes, I just used fresh ones from Home Depot. I found a hint of sweetness, but wasn't overpowering. In the glass, it looks almost exactly like budbo's picture above and was at 1.012 when bottled.

All in all, I will definitely be making this one again.

 

[Pumbaa]

ok after almost 4 weeks in the Teriary I bottled tonight. Of course I had to have a sample and all I have to say is . . . . .













This will now be in my regular rotation. Even uncarbonated this **** is great. Cant wait to try some but gonna force myself to wait to crack the first bottle on 06 June . . . so looks like you'll get 1 more update from me in about 6 weeks.

 

[jackmoe]

I did the extract version of this and just checked it a couple of days ago. I missed the OG by a bit and ended up with 1.066. I got caught up with getting my all-grain set up going and never got to transfer this, so it has been in primary for over a month and a half. In the long run I think I'm glad I did this! Checked gravity and got it down to 1.008!!!! And it tastes great. Could use a little more color but I definitely want to try it again on the all-grain system.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Finally got around to kegging mine today. The keg is also serving as the tertiary cuz that's the only container I have that will accomodate the oak chips. I gave it a quick taste- not bad even when flat. I'm going camping over the holiday weekend and when I get back the oak chips will come out and then that sucker goes on the gas and the first official glass will be poured on 06-06-06! BTW the FG was the same as jackmoe-1.008 giving me an ABV of 7.4 % according to Beersmith.

 

[Tony]

Mine is still in the secondary, but Im probably going to keg it this weekend. I pulled off the airlock and took a whiff yesterday, and loved what I smelled.

 

[Dude]

*cues up "Cadence to Arms" on the pipes*

Mine is dead.

I must have picked up an infection from the wood chips. Lately it has been giving off a ton of pressure in the keg, so it made me curious. I tasted it--and it is definitely getting infected. I'm not bummed at all because the beer pretty much sucked from the beginning IMHO. I am going to revisit the recipe and go through this thread for suggested changes, and brew it again ON June 6.

I'll probably add more smoked malt and I am definitely upping the hops significantly. I wouldn't do it again at all but I'm confident we are really close on a killer recipe.

 

[Darth Konvel]

Ahhhh, bummer to hear that, Dude. I'll be looking forward to our revised recipe though.

 

[Bernie Brewer]

*cues up "Cadence to Arms" on the pipes*

Mine is dead.

I must have picked up an infection from the wood chips. Lately it has been giving off a ton of pressure in the keg, so it made me curious. I tasted it--and it is definitely getting infected. I'm not bummed at all because the beer pretty much sucked from the beginning IMHO. I am going to revisit the recipe and go through this thread for suggested changes, and brew it again ON June 6.

I'll probably add more smoked malt and I am definitely upping the hops significantly. I wouldn't do it again at all but I'm confident we are really close on a killer recipe.

How did you go about sanitizing the wood chips??? Now you've got me worried........

 

[magno]

Dude sorry to hear about your infection. PM me your address and I'll send you a pint by June 6.

- magno

 

[RichBrewer]

Sorry to hear about your beer loss Dude. At least it was a learning experience. I think if I make it again I want a more attenuating yeast. My batch is drinkable but it is on the sweet side for me so I can only drink one.

By the way, I took my IHA to the LHBS tasting they had about a week ago and it received rave reviews. I think it is a decent recipe that is on the verge of being a great recipe. It just needs tweaking and for me I think the yeast needs to be changed.

 

[Dude]

Sorry to hear about your beer loss Dude. At least it was a learning experience. I think if I make it again I want a more attenuating yeast. My batch is drinkable but it is on the sweet side for me so I can only drink one.

By the way, I took my IHA to the LHBS tasting they had about a week ago and it received rave reviews. I think it is a decent recipe that is on the verge of being a great recipe. It just needs tweaking and for me I think the yeast needs to be changed.

What yeast did you have in mind?

I actually thought the Edinburgh Ale yeast was a pretty good attenuator....if we got 70-75 out of it I think that is what we were shooting for. I'll see what my numbers came out to after I look at my notes. I'll get back to you.

I agree, I think the recipe needs some tweaks and it will be a hellion (pun intended). I think more smoke and more hops. I'm doing another one soon. No kidding, brew day for it is going to be 06.06.06.

:rockin:

 

[RichBrewer]

What yeast did you have in mind?

I actually thought the Edinburgh Ale yeast was a pretty good attenuator....if we got 70-75 out of it I think that is what we were shooting for. I'll see what my numbers came out to after I look at my notes. I'll get back to you.

I agree, I think the recipe needs some tweaks and it will be a hellion (pun intended). I think more smoke and more hops. I'm doing another one soon. No kidding, brew day for it is going to be 06.06.06.

:rockin:

I'm not sure what yeast to use. Mine finished out at 1.020 and, as I said is just too sweet. I've always used 1056 in the past so I'm far from an expert. The one thing I do know is that 1056 wouldn't be good at all. It performs well but to me it strips the malt profile way too much.
I agree with more smoke malt. I can't even detect any smoke in mine. The guy at the home brew store suggested using British peat smoked malt. He said it is much stronger than what we used.
I added 1/8 pound chocolate malt and I'm considering bumping it up to 1/4 pound to add more ruby to the color.
For some reason I only added 1/4 pound special B and I'm definitely going to make that 1/2 pound.
As for hops? I used what I had here and even after dry hopping twice once in the keg, it just doesn't have much hop presence. I think next time I'll go with you hop heads for the hopping schedule.

Edit: I'm drinking a pint right now and I'm really getting the whiskey profile. I think I will drastically reduce the oak chips in the next one. That malt back bone is there but it is very muted. I think I'm actually tasting a combination of the rye and oak. A whiskey drinker would like this for sure!

 

[jackmoe]

I would be very interested in what you guys come up with as I want to try this out on my new all grain set up. I did a batch with the exteact version but had to make a couple of slight changes.

Used Smoked Rauch instead of Smoked Germany (not sure there is any difference there).
Used Crystal 120 instead of Special B.
Used Wyeast 1728 instead of the WLP028.

I got an OG of 1.064 and it got down to an FG 1.006. So that may be a yeast you want to try. I did pitch 2 smack packs into a 5gal batch. I also skipped the dry hop and the oak (have had issues with oak and didnt want to use it on this until I understand hwo to use it better. Last batch I had with it tasted like furniture polish).

Dude, send me your address and I'll get a bottle of mine out to you.