12-12-12 Wee Heavy Recipe Formulation

[Piratwolf]

Anyhow - Welcome to the swap

thanks, man! This is pretty exciting!:rockin:

I'll be brewing the approved recipe (rough #s: 20# MO, 3.5 oz RB, 8 oz C120, plus EKG). One question--do we all use the Scottish Ale yeast or can we play w/ options on that?

Cheers!

 

[bottlebomber]

do we all use the Scottish Ale yeast or can we play w/ options on that?

So far we all have, but there was another yeast from a smaller company that was being discussed at the beginning of the thread. I don't think anyone would try to exclude you for using whatever you want.

 

[smokinghole]

I used East Coast 07 Scottish Heavy yeast for mine because I was able to get it when I went to a homebrew comp. I went to the comp. in Philadelphia and with Trenton being a quick hop away I stopped and got lucky with it being in stock. I might oak and I might not. I'll decide when my gravity stops. I have 7.5-8gal of beer in the fermentor and if I transfer it for bulk aging with oak I'll do like 6.5gal of clean oak with the remainder going into smaller bottles with some brett just for the hell of it.

azscoob, I think with two burners and two pots you'll be a little more streamlined than I am. I have one burner and one kettle with a small 4 gal pot for misc. use. If I had two burners and two pots I'd be much faster as a brewer but I can deal with my low $$ setup till I am at a house with more space.

 

[MDVDuber]

I am using the East Coast 07 as well - thanks to smokinghole!

It's finishing up a 70/- right now and I'll be washing and then pitching from that into my Wee Heavy - which is semi-on-hold pending the completion of my fermentation chamber.

I am most definitely behind schedule - but I'll get there soon.

 

[BenS]

I'm in the process of brewing this at the moment. Going to be a long brew day though. I had to modify the recipe slightly because I had less MO than I thought. Grain bill turned out to be: 17lb MO, 2lb Vienna, 1lb wheat malt, 4.5 oz Roast Barley. Hope everyone is alright with the mods, I'd still like to take part in the swap.

 

[BenS]

I wouldn't know where to start to put this in the wiki. I could copy all the info to a new thread though, so that it wasn't buried.

A how-to on toasting and charring oak and the effects would be great!

 

[smokinghole]

I'm in the process of brewing this at the moment. Going to be a long brew day though. I had to modify the recipe slightly because I had less MO than I thought. Grain bill turned out to be: 17lb MO, 2lb Vienna, 1lb wheat malt, 4.5 oz Roast Barley. Hope everyone is alright with the mods, I'd still like to take part in the swap.

How is it going or how did it go for you?

 

[Piratwolf]

So far we all have, but there was another yeast from a smaller company that was being discussed at the beginning of the thread. I don't think anyone would try to exclude you for using whatever you want.

Thanks, bottlebomber! I'm thinking of using London ESB just because I'll have huge cakes of it from three beers. Can 1968 stand up to 1.110? Will it be way out of style?

Also, with my work and brew schedule, I'm looking at brewing this one on the 27th. Is that cool? I'll still be able to age/condition 11.5 months

 

[seabass07]

Thanks, bottlebomber! I'm thinking of using London ESB just because I'll have huge cakes of it from three beers. Can 1968 stand up to 1.110? Will it be way out of style?

Also, with my work and brew schedule, I'm looking at brewing this one on the 27th. Is that cool? I'll still be able to age/condition 11.5 months

Im sure it will be cool. At least i hope so since im making it sometime next week.

Im sticking with 20lb mo and 4oz rb. But im only boiling down 1.75 gallons of first runnings to .5 gallons.

 

[Golddiggie]

Wyeast lists 1968 as having a 9% ABV tolerance... I wouldn't count on it going above that (it MIGHT, but don't count on it)...

 

[Piratwolf]

Thanks, Golddiggie! I was just looking that up. I'm thinking it'll be wiser to go with the Scottish ale yeast instead. Truer to the intent here, and less prone to stress from the alcohol.

Edit: on further reading, I've decided to go with the simple recipe (no crystal) so as to see the variations by process. However, I'll be open to swap w/ the deviants as well.

 

[Golddiggie]

Aye... I'm on the fence about the yeast I'll be using... I'm giving serious thought to targeting at least 12%, maybe even 15%, here. In that case, even 1728 might not get through all the sugars. Even if I give it enough O2, with a good size starter, and step feed it for the above 12% sugars (thinking of using local wildflower honey once fermentation has been going for a week, or so)... I have some 1728 on hand (two packets) as well as two vials of White Labs 099 on their way. One of those (at least) is destined for a batch of mead (target: 25%). The other could go into this brew.

 

[acuenca]

Im using 1728 cake after a porter...

 

[BenS]

How is it going or how did it go for you?

It went well. From start to finish, a little less than 8 hrs but that was to be expected. Boiled down 10 gal to 6. Reduced first runnings to syrup. That syrup tasted awesome too. OG - 1.114 17 IBU. Pitched 1L of 1728 last night, bubbling this morning. I decided to ferment it at ambient temps 65-68F because I did not want any smokey flavors from the yeast in it. If it's a good candidate in a couple months, I will be adding a charred, alcohol soaked piece of oak to secondary.

 

[xeerohour]

I'm going to get in on this, assuming I'm welcome.

Just ordered my sack of Maris Otter, and I'll be brewing up a modified 80/- in the next couple weeks to use as a yeast starter. This looks like a lot of fun, and I for one will definitely be throwing this in a five gallon oak barrel.

 

[Stephonovich]

I'm going to make a 2L starter, then step up to a 4L. My 1728 will be about 3 weeks old at they point. Mr Malty says it should be OK with shaking. Also, I'm doing olive oil and yeast energizer. I've had great results with olive oil.

I'm debating if I want to make a 10 gallon batch, though. I have the equipment now. Would require another fermenter, though.

 

[AnonyBrew]

Too funny. I'm making a wee heavy of my own this weekend and I just read this thread for the first time. lol

 

[azscoob]

Too funny. I'm making a wee heavy of my own this weekend and I just read this thread for the first time. lol

I may swing by and hang out if I can. Depends on workload of the honey-do list.

 

[smokinghole]

I raised my fermentor temp to a sweaty 58 today. I'm still operating below the recommended temp range for the yeast. A majority of the fermentation was happening at 54 then the heat from the fermentor held itself nicely at 55. Now for the last few days I have it sitting at a balmy 58 to allow the yeast to finish out at a ever so slightly higher temp. I will check my gravity sometime next week.

 

[MDVDuber]

Well my brew went well. I boiled my 3 gal down to under 2 qts. My OG is at 1.114 which is a bit higher than I had planned for but I'll just roll with the gravity. I have it in the garage with the temp stabilizing at 54F waiting for some yeast. The wort tastes awesome. I will let it sit tonight and toss the yeast in tomorrow morning first thing. I suspect this thing will ferment something crazy. My first runnings were boiled down till I only got one drip basically to fall off the spoon I was stirring it with. The main kettle boiled for 4 hours and due to the intensity of the boil I had to add about .5gal of water to the boil in the last 30 min.

Was the 4 hour boil intentional - or a result of how long it took to boil down the first runnings?

 

[smokinghole]

The 4 hour boil was intentional. I did it for increased extract efficiency and to aid in kettle caramelization ensuring I got good flavor. I figured a 4 hour boil coupled with the 3gal boil down was good strong insurance for intense malt flavors and caramel notes. I took a taste of this last night using one of my long pipettes to pull a quick sample. It's tasty! I don't know what the gravity is yet, as I'll check that next week. I still have fairly active fermentation but held it at 54/55 all week. Just yesterday I bumped it up in the high 50s to finish out. So the way mine's behaving it will be a long fermentation at this temperature but it's ooh so smooth tasting and there no alcohol heat I could detect at this point.

 

[smokinghole]

Okay guys I just took a gravity reading this morning. My beer is at 1.064 only. I raised the temp of my controller to an even hotter 64F for the next few days. Hopefully I can get the last 30ish points to come off with the yeast being able to work at warmer temps. I still have a decent krausen on top and it has a wonderfully smooth caramel malty flavor. I don't know how the heck some of you fermented out in 4 days, mine's only half done after a full week.

 

[bottlebomber]

Can't explain that either, except for some reason my beer always ferments super quick, I hit TG for smaller beers in 2 days frequently. I sometimes don't get the lower FGs that some people do though. And for this beer I pitched it onto a whole yeast cake.

 

[KingBrianI]

It's proabably temp related. Fermenting in the 50s is tough, and while the wyeast strain can do it, the ECY strain may have more problems.

 

[acuenca]

It's proabably temp related. Fermenting in the 50s is tough, and while the wyeast strain can do it, the ECY strain may have more problems.

That's what I was wondering...I've never fermented that low but... I was going to use a whole cake of 1728 and try to keep it between 62-64...We'll see...

 

[smokinghole]

It's proabably temp related. Fermenting in the 50s is tough, and while the wyeast strain can do it, the ECY strain may have more problems.

Got to be it, I had a very active fermentation but I figured I'd wait to take a gravity reading. So now I know and it should finish up since there's plenty in suspension still with a small krausen. I don't mind experimenting by pushing the temp envelope a bit.

 

[bottlebomber]

That's what I was wondering...I've never fermented that low but... I was going to use a whole cake of 1728 and try to keep it between 62-64...We'll see...

64 is almost balmy for this strain. I started my fermentation at 53 and it started strong, then I let it drift up to 56 and it did great. Its almost as cold hardy as a lager yeast. You will definitely not have any trouble at those temps.

 

[acuenca]

64 is almost balmy for this strain. I started my fermentation at 53 and it started strong, then I let it drift up to 56 and it did great. Its almost as cold hardy as a lager yeast. You will definitely not have any trouble at those temps.

Al right ill try to ferment lower...

 

[DMartin]

How does one get "in" on this? How does it work exactly? Can I just make some and sign up? Should I bottle in 12's or 22's?

I neglected the 11-11-11 thread because I was still new to brewing back in '10 when you all made them. I think I'd like to participate next year.

 

[bottlebomber]

How does one get "in" on this? How does it work exactly? Can I just make some and sign up? Should I bottle in 12's or 22's?

I neglected the 11-11-11 thread because I was still new to brewing back in '10 when you all made them. I think I'd like to participate next year.

You get in on it by brewing a beer by one of the agreed upon recipes. Then, you hang on to it till next year. Then we all swap sometime before 12/12/12. I would personally do 12s, since your going to want to make this one last.