12-12-12 Wee Heavy Recipe Formulation

[BenS]

I am. I better bottle a 12 pack of my keg though. I've been sipping on it for the past 3 months in my kegerator. It got a 3rd place in its cat in my clubs HBC. I am still up for trading.

 

[bottlebomber]

I am. I better bottle a 12 pack of my keg though. I've been sipping on it for the past 3 months in my kegerator. It got a 3rd place in its cat in my clubs HBC. I am still up for trading.

Did you enter under wood aged? I've been thinking about entering this but hadn't been sure which category.

 

[CA-LT1]

I'm in!

 

[BenS]

I did not age it on wood, so no. I entered it as a strong scotch ale.

 

[sapperxl]

I'm still planning on swapping, I need to bottle in a week or two, I've been bulk aging since dec. Hopefully with some extra yeast it'll still have time to carb. I've got a two year old barleywine that never carb'd, it was closer to 12% tho.

 

[bottlebomber]

I'm still planning on swapping, I need to bottle in a week or two, I've been bulk aging since dec. Hopefully with some extra yeast it'll still have time to carb. I've got a two year old barleywine that never carb'd, it was closer to 12% tho.

Did you add yeast for the BW? I've had trouble with big beers carbing in the past, so I always rehydrate some champagne yeast in the priming sugar solution with anything over 9%. I did a half pack for this beer. I don't see there being any problems - I used the same technique on a 16% IPA and it carbed in 2 weeks - take that Revvy

 

[smokinghole]

I am up for the trade. Also since Brian ended up not making the beer I could organize the swap I suppose.

 

[sapperxl]

Did you add yeast for the BW? I've had trouble with big beers carbing in the past, so I always rehydrate some champagne yeast in the priming sugar solution with anything over 9%. I did a half pack for this beer. I don't see there being any problems - I used the same technique on a 16% IPA and it carbed in 2 weeks - take that Revvy

No I didn't bulk age it long so I figured there'd still be plenty in it. Oh well was a learning experience and my BIL loves it so I bribe him with it whenever I need help doing stuff around the house, tastes like rocket fuel to me. I was gonna add some fresh 1728 slurry for this one. I'm afraid of getting gushers using champagne yeast, but I guess if regular yeast can't eat it champagne yeast can't either so maybe I'll try it.

 

[bottlebomber]

No I didn't bulk age it long so I figured there'd still be plenty in it. Oh well was a learning experience and my BIL loves it so I bribe him with it whenever I need help doing stuff around the house, tastes like rocket fuel to me. I was gonna add some fresh 1728 slurry for this one. I'm afraid of getting gushers using champagne yeast, but I guess if regular yeast can't eat it champagne yeast can't either so maybe I'll try it.

Actually champagne yeast is less likely to try and munch on the more complex malt sugars... That's why I use it. Plus it doesn't seem to have any trouble starting up in a high alcohol environment

 

[Cromwell]

I'm eager for the trade, so long as everyone's heads-up that mines a little light.

 

[Ezekielsays]

I'm willing to trade, but want to give mine a taste before I commit. We moved this summer, and transport/storage may have taken it's toll. It was kegged and sealed, but I don't want to make assumptions. Probably another week before i'm unpacked enough to get the kegging system online.

 

[bottlebomber]

I'm willing to trade, but want to give mine a taste before I commit. We moved this summer, and transport/storage may have taken it's toll. It was kegged and sealed, but I don't want to make assumptions. Probably another week before i'm unpacked enough to get the kegging system online.

C'mon man, you can't think like that. We are always WAY harder on our beer than we need to be. You're in.

 

[bottlebomber]

I'm just having my first bottle of this, and I have to say I am 100% satisfied with how it came out. It had some boozy and vinous notes from the fermenter, but carbonation has fixed all that, and lightened the body just enough to balance the sweetness. It is damn good. I am looking forward to trading.

 

[CrystallineEntity]

I brewed the recipe a bit late. Want to let me in on the trade? On 12-12-12, mine will be just over 8 months old.

I still need to try it to see if it's worthy. I fermented @ 58 for a month and the sample was reely good. I then raised it to 65 to shave off a few more points, and it did, but tasted a lot hotter. It went from 1.109 to 1.019.

 

[Cromwell]

I want to trade with you, CrystallineEntity. So you're in.

 

[bottlebomber]

I brewed the recipe a bit late. Want to let me in on the trade? On 12-12-12, mine will be just over 8 months old.

I still need to try it to see if it's worthy. I fermented @ 58 for a month and the sample was reely good. I then raised it to 65 to shave off a few more points, and it did, but tasted a lot hotter. It went from 1.109 to 1.019.

Mine tasted a little hot too until I carbed it. I betcha it will be killer.

 

[CrystallineEntity]

Well then. I'm in as long as mine passes my quality test. I'll put it on gas and sample soon.

 

[Ezekielsays]

C'mon man, you can't think like that. We are always WAY harder on our beer than we need to be. You're in.

you've convinced me. I'll trade. If the beer couldn't take the handling and turned out terrible, I'll be swapping a few bottles of overheated stinky malt bombs for some tasty Scottish goodness!

 

[bottlebomber]

you've convinced me. I'll trade. If the beer couldn't take the handling and turned out terrible, I'll be swapping a few bottles of overheated stinky malt bombs for some tasty Scottish goodness!

Sounds great!

 

[steelersrbrun]

Decided to see how this was coming along. It finished at 11.8%ABV. Zero head retention. Also a little under carbonated. Pretty darn sweet. A lot of raisin and plum in the taste and aroma. Not too bad but 3/4 of a pint and I'm full. If I brew it again I will bump up the hops a bit to cut the sweet, Add some carafoam and more torrified wheat.

 

[Stephonovich]

Bottled mine today. I pitched a 1/2 packet of EC-118 with priming sugar. I was shooting for 2.2 volumes of CO2; we'll see.

Tasting notes, it's still boozy. It's smooth, but you can smell the alcohol. Other than that, it's like chewing on a big, dense loaf of bead. An entire bottle would be quite an undertaking.

/Need to get a kegerator and Beer Gun...

 

[azscoob]

Reading these posts of bottling and tasting notes reminds me of my poor beer and its demise. My cat seems to have largely stopped eating, being 17 years old, when she kicks off I will be rebrewing this beer, she was the tool of the first batches destruction, and like the Phoenix, this beer shall rise from the cats ashes, not literally, but figuratively, I wouldn't brew with the cats ashes, it would be too bitter, wouldn't cremate her either, just dig a hole and plunk.... In she goes.

 

[MDVDuber]

Hooked mine up to CO2 this morning. I'll check it out in a couple weeks - can't wait to see what a little carbonation will do to this beer.

 

[weirdboy]

So, I didn't exactly make the recipe in the OP, but I DID write a recipe and brew a ~12% ABV wee heavy at the end of last year to go along with this thread.

Mine had a pretty strong raisin/prune thing going on, so I thought I'd try a weird experiment. I entered it in two categories: Strong Scottish Ale, and just for kicks, Belgian Strong Dark Ale. It ended up getting first place for Scottish Ales, and scored an unbelievable 35 as a Belgian.

 

[MDVDuber]

You can't throw that kind of tease out there without posting the recipe!

 

[weirdboy]

Type: All Grain Date: 12/11/2011
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 8.18 gal
Boil Time: 120 min
Equipment: 15 gallon Megapot + 12 gallon Ice Cube MLT
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage
Taste Notes: Scored 37 and won 1st place at 2012 Pacific Brewers Cup.
Also scored 35 and 3rd place entered as a Belgian Dark Strong Ale (!) in the same competition.

Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
19 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (92.1%)
0.5 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L (2.4% )
0.5 lbs Melanoiden Malt (2.4%)
0.25lbs Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) (1.2%)
0.25lbs Smoked Malt (1.2% )
2.1 oz Black (Patent) Malt (0.6%)
0.50 oz Northern Brewer [10.90% AA] - Boil 60.0 min 18.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 % AA] - Boil 20.0 min 11.0 IBUs
1.00 Items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 0 mins)
2.0 pkg Nottingham Yeast


I did a double decoction for the mash:

30 min Protein Rest @131F Add 30 qt of water at 141.3F
45 min Saccharification @156F Decoct 12 qt of mash and boil it
10 min Mash Out @168F Decoct 8 qt of mash and boil it

Batch sparge with ~3.4gal of 168.0 F water

To get more kettle carmelization, I pulled ~1 gallon of sweet wort to a separate, smaller pot, and boiled it down to about 1 quart, while the rest of the wort was heating up to a boil in the main BK. Then I added that back to the main boil.



Other notes: the hop variety for the bittering hops--I chose Northern Brewer only because my club had an "Iron Brewer" competition using three specific ingredients. In this case it was smoked malt, NB hops, and bitter orange peel, that all had to be in the beer. I added the orange peel as a tincture to the bottles later on for the Iron Brewer competition. In Scottish Ales the variety of hop doesn't matter. Just try to hit the tiny IBUs with whatever you've got laying around for a bittering addition. Also, for what it's worth, it won that competition.

 

[JuanKenobi]

Bottled on Sunday. Had an issue with the champagne yeast. I think I shocked it maybe when I added it. It was all sitting at the bottom of the bottling bucket. I think impatience got the best of me as I didn't wait for it froth up in the priming solution. Ended up adding a few grains to each bottle so hopefully it will still carb in a timely fashion. I hate bottling.

 

[JuanKenobi]

Just popped my first tester after a month in bottles. Hallelujah! Nice soft carbonation. Feeling much better about it and looking forward to the swap now.

 

[bottlebomber]

I went for very light carbonation on mine as well. It's pretty darn oaky, and very little head retention at its 11% ABV. I'm hoping the head retention improves a little with continued bottle conditioning. Really good though, drinks easier than I'd thought it would.

 

[CrystallineEntity]

Mine has little to no head. I bottled it off of the keg. It came in at 11.8%.

I entered it in a comp today. I'm curious to see what the judges say.