12 Beers of Christmas 2012!

[jtakacs]

let me know when i'm a go bio and mike, i can hang on the sidelines for a while... thanks for the recipe also bio - the reason i asked was because the first thing that came to mind was a brett-c finished abbey weizen. the recipe will help me be more "normal" - lol... i just may brew this anyway.

 

[Piratwolf]

RDWHAHB...

I pretty routinely add sugar additions during the primary. I'm not sure you even need to break it down into the 1/2 lb increments. I've added 1 lb for sure without any problem. There may even be some advantage to doing it this way...for especially high gravity brews, you're not shocking the yeast right up front with the whole gravity...they can get started with less osmotic stress, then you give them more food once they're rocking. The only thing is that those sugars won't get the full effect of the 60 or 90 min of boiling, and you may miss out on some caramelization that could happen. Also, you need to take into account the effect that the lower boil gravity may have on your hop utilization...

Thanks. I read some threads here re: sugar additions in primary & it definitely seems ok, which is a relief. I hadn't considered the hop utilization aspect until you mentioned it and I don't know how to do the math off the top of my head. But I was on the high end for style anyway, so lower utilization shouldn't knock me out of the range.

Cheers!

 

[jtakacs]

range, shmange. rock it.

brewing ranges are for people that follow directions.

**** happens = once in a lifetime brews, happen. have a beer (HAB)... way shorther than rahawb, rhahb, rdwahahb, or whatever the acronym for the decade is...

 

[biochemedic]

let me know when i'm a go bio and mike, i can hang on the sidelines for a while... thanks for the recipe also bio - the reason i asked was because the first thing that came to mind was a brett-c finished abbey weizen. the recipe will help me be more "normal" - lol... i just may brew this anyway.

But you may be 'abbey normal'...

I haven't heard back from mikeysab yet, but it certainly wouldn't hurt to start brewing if you think you'd like the brew for yourself anyway!

 

[biochemedic]

Just heard back from mikeysab...he's officially bowing out. jtakacs, it's all you!

 

[jtakacs]

i'm in! i'll be out of touch for a week or so, but i'll catch up... i'll build the recipe tonight.

 

[sfrisby]

Even though the recipes are filled, if there are any interested lurkers, make yourself known. Even after brewing began last year, accidents happened and we needed reserves.

 

[Draygon]

So, took another reading this morning and was surprised to see that it is now at 1.016...and still going down.

Tbe imperial Stout is currently sitting at 12.5% ABV officially the biggest beer ive ever made!

 

[jtakacs]

happened to be down in concord today so i stopped at morebeer and picked up my yeast (abbey II 1762)... if'n you guys don't mind, i'm going to turn this more into a winter-ish beer instead of the lighter gravity version from radical brews... won't be "imperial" per se, but i'm going to try to make it a little bold and brash. gonna ferment slightly warm, more aggressive hop character, but i'll keep the color light and the wheat percentage high...

 

[Draygon]

happened to be down in concord today so i stopped at morebeer and picked up my yeast (abbey II 1762)... if'n you guys don't mind, i'm going to turn this more into a winter-ish beer instead of the lighter gravity version from radical brews... won't be "imperial" per se, but i'm going to try to make it a little bold and brash. gonna ferment slightly warm, more aggressive hop character, but i'll keep the color light and the wheat percentage high...

Fine by me!

 

[dgez]

happened to be down in concord today so i stopped at morebeer and picked up my yeast (abbey II 1762)... if'n you guys don't mind, i'm going to turn this more into a winter-ish beer instead of the lighter gravity version from radical brews... won't be "imperial" per se, but i'm going to try to make it a little bold and brash. gonna ferment slightly warm, more aggressive hop character, but i'll keep the color light and the wheat percentage high...

Fine with me too...I think these recipes should be treated as loose guidelines. Follow the recipe to the letter or stray and add your own personality to it, whatever you want to do!

 

[RedBeard1]

in my opinion, recipes are what you right down AFTER you brew (or cook), not something you use before you start!

 

[biochemedic]

Fine by me!

+1...the section on this brew in the book does suggest that it could certainly be brewed higher gravity, and it totally fits with the project to have something a little more robust!

 

[Clanchief]

+1...the section on this brew in the book does suggest that it could certainly be brewed higher gravity, and it totally fits with the project to have something a little more robust!

Another +1. I totally agree. I'm brewing mine next weekend, and plan on going from a suggested recipe OG of 1.050 to something closer to 1.065. I'll try to have the same characteristics of the recipe, while still making this MINE.

 

[sieglere]

Would anyone be interested in the 8 beers of Chanukah? I made a thread but haven't gotten any replies. It's called "8 crazy delights" if anyone is interested

 

[Draygon]

Beers done fermenting, so the final abv (before the liquor addition) is 13.1%, a real winter warming spiced bourbon imperial stout, going ti rack to secondary onto the spice mixture either later today or tomorrow.

 

[biochemedic]

...the final abv (before the liquor addition) is 13.1%, a real winter warming spiced bourbon imperial stout....

DAMN, boy! You ain't fooling around! Going to have to age the other two of yours a couple of years!

 

[bobdozer]

I missed the selection for the 12 beers of christmas. I would be interested in making some hanukkah (sp) beers. I'm not Jewish but the lord loves a drinking man. What kind of recipes did you have in mind

 

[usfmikeb]

Beers done fermenting, so the final abv (before the liquor addition) is 13.1%, a real winter warming spiced bourbon imperial stout, going ti rack to secondary onto the spice mixture either later today or tomorrow.

Nice...

 

[usfmikeb]

Biochem - if anyone else has to back out, let me know.

 

[SavoryChef]

Update on the Fruitcake Old Ale:

My fermentation is stuck at 1.028, OG was 1.070.

Brewed on 5-30-12
I ran out of propane and didn’t realize until about 20 minutes or so, (based on evaporation) the temp was 185 when I realized, So I boiled for 110 minutes to get correct volume.

I did a mashout to 168 and sparge water was 190

6-21-12 racked to secondary thinking fermentation was done and measured 1.032. So I washed the yeast.

6-24-12 Made a 1 ltr starter at 8 pm, and it was very active within an hour

6-25-12 added starter to secondary and gravity was 1.028 at 8am

6-26-12 no activity and 1.028 at 9pm.

So any suggestions? Should I let it sit for another week and see what happens?

I read that Windsor yeast can have low attenuation. Also I fermented at 65 degrees.


Here is the recipe.

Fruitcake Old Ale
Old Ale
Type: All Grain Date: 5/30/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 11.00 gal Brewer: Clay
Boil Size: 14.29 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min Equipment: My 25 Gallon Setup
End of Boil Volume 11.44 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 78.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 10.00 gal Est Mash Efficiency 78.0 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
20 lbs 4.3 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 1 67.3 %
6 lbs 15.2 oz Brown Malt (65.0 SRM) Grain 2 23.1 %
2 lbs 5.1 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) Grain 3 7.7 %
9.3 oz Carafa II (412.0 SRM) Grain 4 1.9 %
2.75 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 5 20.3 IBUs
0.75 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 90.0 min Hop 6 5.2 IBUs
1.14 oz Liberty [4.30 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 3.9 IBUs
1.14 oz Saaz [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 3.6 IBUs
2.0 pkg Windsor Yeast (Lallemand #-) [23.66 ml] Yeast 9 -
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.075 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.070 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.0 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 7.9 %
Bitterness: 33.0 IBUs Calories: 235.0 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 39.2 SRM
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Light
Body, No Mash Out
Total Grain Weight: 30 lbs 1.8 oz
Sparge Water: 8.49 gal Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 159.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.20
Mash Steps
Name Description Step
TemperatureStep Time
Mash In Add 43.65 qt of water at 159.4 F 150.0 F 75 min
Sparge Step: Fly sparge with 8.49 gal water at 168.0 F

 

[biochemedic]

Update on the Fruitcake Old Ale:

My fermentation is stuck at 1.028, OG was 1.070.

Brewed on 5-30-12
I ran out of propane and didn’t realize until about 20 minutes or so, (based on evaporation) the temp was 185 when I realized, So I boiled for 110 minutes to get correct volume.

I did a mashout to 168 and sparge water was 190

6-21-12 racked to secondary thinking fermentation was done and measured 1.032. So I washed the yeast.

6-24-12 Made a 1 ltr starter at 8 pm, and it was very active within an hour

6-25-12 added starter to secondary and gravity was 1.028 at 8am

6-26-12 no activity and 1.028 at 9pm.

So any suggestions? Should I let it sit for another week and see what happens?

I read that Windsor yeast can have low attenuation. Also I fermented at 65 degrees.

Looks like your mash temp was low enough (150*F) you should be more fermentable than your current FG, and the current ABV isn't all that high...seems weird you'd be stuck at just over 5.5% ABV... I'd warm it up a bit to see if you can get things going again. Perhaps you could also finish it with some sort of high gravity yeast...you should have more than enough fermentation with your primary yeast to have that character be dominant.

 

[Draygon]

I sampled the imperial stout yesterday....wow is the star anise very dominant in the flavor profile. Almost wish I had only used only 1/2 of one, hopefully this will mellow out during bottle conditioning.

 

[sfrisby]

Update on the Fruitcake Old Ale:

My fermentation is stuck at 1.028, OG was 1.070.

Doing any session beers soon? Maybe try racking onto a lower gravity yeast cake. Other than that, I'd say throw in some champaign yeast and cross your fingers. I think your best chance is a yeast cake.

 

[SavoryChef]

Looks like your mash temp was low enough (150*F) you should be more fermentable than your current FG, and the current ABV isn't all that high...seems weird you'd be stuck at just over 5.5% ABV... I'd warm it up a bit to see if you can get things going again. Perhaps you could also finish it with some sort of high gravity yeast...you should have more than enough fermentation with your primary yeast to have that character be dominant.

Go with champagne yeast?

 

[SavoryChef]

Doing any session beers soon? Maybe try racking onto a lower gravity yeast cake. Other than that, I'd say throw in some champaign yeast and cross your fingers. I think your best chance is a yeast cake.

Just brewed a 1.035 blonde on Sunday using us-05. So i will throw that on the cake this weekend.

 

[sfrisby]

Just brewed a 1.035 blonde on Sunday using us-05. So i will throw that on the cake this weekend.

If that doesn't work, you can still throw champaign yeast in a week or so later. We're all rooting' for ya!

 

[SavoryChef]

Cool thanks. Will keep you posted. Worst case I will rebrew in two weeks with a different yeast.

 

[usfmikeb]

I sampled the imperial stout yesterday....wow is the star anise very dominant in the flavor profile. Almost wish I had only used only 1/2 of one, hopefully this will mellow out during bottle conditioning.

I seem to recall the same thing happened last year...

 

[Piratwolf]

@usfmikeb--did it fade?

I have two questions for those involved or with past experience. I made 10gal of the base Tripel wort, split it into two 5gal batches. I fermented one with WLP530, the other with Wy3711. Both finished at 1.012. However, the half with 530 is MUCH more Tripel-like. Soooooooooooo...
1) should I only send out the 530 batch? Or would you like to try the very orange citrus 3711 version as well (2 bottles to 1)?
2) I want to try using Brett Bruxellensis--should I add that to the 3711 batch, and would anyone like to try it?

Cheers!