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

[chillHayze]

First to post in 6-6-6 forum on 6-6-6!!!!

 

[Darth Konvel]

Woo, the great day is upon us ... and mine isn't ready to drink yet I haven't quit kicked the keg it'll be living in yet. It'll probably be another week or two before mine is ready for consumption. I can't wait.

 

[budbo]

Mine is rather tasty

 

[Dude]

I'm brewing another right now--but I have a question for those that have either tasted it or have input....would this be better with cali ale yeast?

I have a nice healthy cake sitting here right now, and I had serious concerns about how the edinburgh ale yeast attenuated with the high gravity. I'm thinking the cali ale would make this a pretty decent beer. What do you guys think?

 

[Bernie Brewer]

The long-awaited day is here. I poured myself a tall cold one, took a sip and............... YUCK!!!!! must've gotten infected. Every taste thus far has been positive, but the stuff is awful. The only thing I've done different thus far is the wood chips. I guess steaming them isn't enough of a sanitation procedure. Man my first infection ever.......I'm so bummed.

 

[Dude]

The long-awaited day is here. I poured myself a tall cold one, took a sip and............... YUCK!!!!! must've gotten infected. Every taste thus far has been positive, but the stuff is awful. The only thing I've done different thus far is the wood chips. I guess steaming them isn't enough of a sanitation procedure. Man my first infection ever.......I'm so bummed.

Hmmmm...sorry to hear that bro. I think that is where I picked up my infection too. Makes me think twice about using the chips again...but.....

FWIW, I soaked the chips in star-san for 5 minutes only. What did you other guys do?

 

[Beer Snob]

Hmmmm...sorry to hear that bro. I think that is where I picked up my infection too. Makes me think twice about using the chips again...but.....

FWIW, I soaked the chips in star-san for 5 minutes only. What did you other guys do?

How do the wine folks use em? Aren't they a common ingrediant?

 

[Bernie Brewer]

Hmmmm...sorry to hear that bro. I think that is where I picked up my infection too. Makes me think twice about using the chips again...but.....

FWIW, I soaked the chips in star-san for 5 minutes only. What did you other guys do?

It's all good. I gave it the obligatory moment of silence & dumped it. Cleaned & sanitized all the lines and threw on my Bock that was brewed in Dec and has been lagering since Feb. To hell with the beer from hell- A good Bock- mmm now that's heaven!

 

[magno]

Mine turned out good, if a bit oaky. I used 4 ounces of oak on this batch, and will cut that down to 2 next time (and there will be a next time) Probably will up the hops a bit too. SWMBO and my sister say that the oak is in the background, but it is too much for me.

To sanitize the oak, I steamed the chips for about 10 min, let them cool for a few min then put them in the secondary.

- magno

 

[EvilTOJ]

I boiled my oak cubes for about 10 minutes then dumped em right into the secondary. I don't taste it that much, I can taste the alcohol more, and the smoke flavor. I'm currently genting watsed on tihs wundruful brew rite now.

Also, for work I dressed up in an all black suit except for a bloodred button-down shirt. Dress code is usually business casual. Frickin idjits thought I had a job interview DON'T YOU PEEPLE KNOW WHAT TODAY IS???

 

[RichBrewer]

I'm brewing another right now--but I have a question for those that have either tasted it or have input....would this be better with cali ale yeast?

I have a nice healthy cake sitting here right now, and I had serious concerns about how the edinburgh ale yeast attenuated with the high gravity. I'm thinking the cali ale would make this a pretty decent beer. What do you guys think?

I'm probably too late but I'll chime in...
The Cali yeast is cleaner and more attenuating. I've actually used Wyeast a lot and to me it makes the beer less malty. Thinking about it though I might be interested in trying it.

 

[Ize]

How do the wine folks use em? Aren't they a common ingrediant?

My question too. Would steaming for 5 mins be enuf to remove any funk from the chips? And would a Star San soak accomplish the same? Never having done it, I'm wondering if sacrificing a whole batch is worth something that maybe a bottle of Liquid Smoke might accomplish.

Sorry about the lost batches tho guys...


Ize

 

[Bernie Brewer]

My question too. Would steaming for 5 mins be enuf to remove any funk from the chips? And would a Star San soak accomplish the same? Never having done it, I'm wondering if sacrificing a whole batch is worth something that maybe a bottle of Liquid Smoke might accomplish.

Sorry about the lost batches tho guys...


Ize

That's what I did- steamed the chips for about 5 mins in a muslin bag and tossed it into the carboy.

 

[budbo]

I drank 3 22oz Of this puppy yesterday.. Man was I blasted Mine came out very mild (after ageing) the flavors have blended really well no one taste is over powering it is slightly sweet with a smooth after taste and a big kick

 

[Brewsmith]

Well, this is my 666th post, so I figured this should be the place for it. I never got around to brewing this, but I think I'll get it in pretty soon. Can anyone give a quick summary on some of suggestions on modifying the recipe. I briefly saw one about using CA ale yeast and another about less oak chips and sanitation probablems with them. Any others?

 

[Darth Konvel]

The only thing I need to make sure of next time is to use plenty of hops. I soaked my chips in vodka for a few days before throwing them in the brew without any trouble.

 

[Dude]

I read a good article in Zymurgy about a neat procedure used by Stone Brewing Co. for soaking/pitching oak. When I get back from Alabama this weekend I will post it. Sounds like a winner.

 

[Rhoobarb]

I tried mine for the first time last weekend. It had conditioned in the bottle for about a month. My impression: too much oak and not enough hops. The oak flavor had mellowed since I tasted it at bottling, but it was still too prominent.

If I were to do this over I would either halve the amount of oak chips or take it off the oak chips sooner and add more bittering and dry hops. It's drinkable, but after a couple, you're ready to move on to something else.

OTOH, if I were doing a really bold beer - for instance, a high-alcohol imperial or bourbon stout for winter, this amount of oak chips would lend a nice flavor.

 

[autoferret]

Hey guys,

been a while sence i've been on so i just wanted to tell everyone how my 060606 came out.

We had the keg at my 5th of July party. (I do fireworks shows so i never get a beer on the 4th)

I did mine w/ the oak chips and once chilled was very smoth and get us really really trashed!!! i'm geting ready to brew another batch! Great recipe guys!!!!!

 

[Dude]

Well, I just put v.2 into tertiary with some oak chips, and while still a little hot, this baby is exactly what I had in mind when we designed the recipe. I tweaked it some--added another pound of smoked malt (subtracted a lb. of base malt to keep OG the same), and used cali ale yeast to get it to attenuate more.

The smokiness comes through much better now, and it is much drier. I still think it would be better with a different yeast, but I had a nice cali ale cake and just racked onto it.

Still a great beer. Oaking it for a week, then a quick dry hop, and bottling for some aging.

Another winner.

 

[RichBrewer]

Well, I just put v.2 into tertiary with some oak chips, and while still a little hot, this baby is exactly what I had in mind when we designed the recipe. I tweaked it some--added another pound of smoked malt (subtracted a lb. of base malt to keep OG the same), and used cali ale yeast to get it to attenuate more.

The smokiness comes through much better now, and it is much drier. I still think it would be better with a different yeast, but I had a nice cali ale cake and just racked onto it.

Still a great beer. Oaking it for a week, then a quick dry hop, and bottling for some aging.

Another winner.

Man that sounds good! I think you have hit on a great recipe. Maybe there is a yeast that will take the middle ground for this. Chico makes great beer but I think it strips the malt profile too much.

By the way, I brought some of mine to the tasting at the LHBS and people went nuts over it. A certified judge there suggested I eliminate the dry hops. He liked the beer but he said it would have been a perfect scotch ale without the strong hop nose. My hop schedule was lighter than the original recipe and I'm sure that factored in as well.
Here is what I used for hops:

Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.00 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 7.00 24.3 60 min.
1.50 oz. Northern Brewer Whole 7.00 18.6 30 min.
2.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 5.00 5.8 5 min.
2.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 5.00 0.0 Dry Hop
1.00 oz. Goldings - E.K. Whole 5.00 0.0 Dry Hop

 

[Dude]

By the way, I brought some of mine to the tasting at the LHBS and people went nuts over it. A certified judge there suggested I eliminate the dry hops. He liked the beer but he said it would have been a perfect scotch ale without the strong hop nose.

That's really cool, Rich.....

 

[Some Hasbeen]

Just wanted to chime in on my results. I brewed mine back in mid-April and transferred it to a corny after letting it sit in the primary and secondary for a total of approx 1 month. The corny sat in my cool basement for most of the summer while I ran a combo of a nice crisp pale ale and a very light honey ale out of my dual tap for most of the hot months. In early August I drank the last of the honey ale and decided it was time to hook up the 666 to the tapper. After a long weekend vacation I took my first taste and was blown away. It has a great nose, very smooth taste and surprisingly drinkable given how thick I thought it would be. My wife, who loves a good beer, has proclaimed it to be one of my best. I had a couple glasses last night while moving the sprinklers around the yard and am still blown away.

A couple things on my brew. I did not do the dry hopping or the wood chips for a couple reasons. I'm not a huge fan of the dry hopping for a couple reasons. The main one being I have 2 kids under the age of 3 and any added steps are often hard to fit in to the schedule. Also, unless my beer is absolutely devoid of hop flavors/aroma, I think dry hopping is often a little overkill (just my opinion). I also read about all the problems of the wood chips and figured I could just skip that process as well. The results are one outstanding beer. Probably my favorite so far. Thanks for the recipe, Dude.

My 2 cents.