9-9-9

[Evets]

I'm doing a "Celebrator" now and can't do a lager in the summer, and I've done three tripels in the last 7-8 months. Hmmm.

 

[ScubaSteve]

I'm all for a gigantic trippel. Doppelbocks are great, but for reasons stated above, people can more easily ferment a trippel in the house. Plus, I think a trippel will age better over time.

 

[Yooper]

I was thinking that if it's a dopplebock, I'd make it in the winter, and have the lagering part done by May or June anyway. Whatever we decide as a group is fine- but I'm still going to make that golden dopplebock!

 

[CBBaron]

Yes, but any brew in August is going to need temperature control. It could be that people wait a couple months and brew it at a time when the temperature is cooler. I would still advise temperature control if we did a triple so the alcohol isn't too "hot".

Brewpastor, you forget about us northerners with basements. My brew room never gets above 70F even in the summer. So I don't need temp control for ales at any time of the year.

A dopplebock sounds like a great idea for this brew but I will probably have to skip this one due to lack of temp control. Maybe I will take the recipe and make a Barleywine instead.

Craig

 

[CBBaron]

If everybody's down with planning this far ahead, a sour beer would be no problem Any possibility for future X-X-X date Brewpastor?
Its not my fav style, but I'd brew this one. They can't all be everybody's fav beer, and I do brew to share as well. Sounds like a good beer/plan.

Now a sour beer sounds like an idea. It might scare off even more people than a lager but everybody could do it. I'm up for a sour beer for a future X-X-X even if it is my first sour. Just expect plenty of stupid questions from a newbie.

Craig

 

[rabidgerbil]

I would up for that. I wanted to participate but was hesitant on the 8-8-8 because I'm not a huge fan of RIS.

I like one everyone once in awihle, but 5 gallons is a bit much stout for me.

+1 on the above comments

 

[Professor Frink]

It sounds like temp control might be an issue with the Doppelbock. I'm all in favor of a sour beer, I've been thinking of making one for a while, this would give me a great excuse.

 

[rabidgerbil]

I guess I need yet another spare fridge in my garage!

the wife is all over my case for wanting to bring another freezer into the house... i already have a beer fridge and an upright freezer, and I have a line on a chest freezer, maybe even two of them...
i mean, how can you pass up a working freezer for FREE...

"What do we need ANOTHER freezer for?"
"well, duh... beer of course..."

was NOT a good conversation...

 

[PseudoChef]

It sounds like temp control might be an issue with the Doppelbock. I'm all in favor of a sour beer, I've been thinking of making one for a while, this would give me a great excuse.

I can't lager either. Even being in Nashville, I don't really need much temperature control in the summer for my ales. I could easily keep them at 65 with just a water bath and frozen water bottles.

I could just make the recipe and use a Kolsch or German Ale yeast, though.

 

[BrewDey]

This just reminds me that the local Hoffbrahaus (the one a few miles from my house- not the one in Munich) has their Dopplebock as the next beer of the month:
http://www.hofbrauhausnewport.com/beer.html

Last year the Adulterator was 11-12%...so tasty too. Needless to say, SWMBO was unable to get out of bed for the entire next day.

As far as 9-9-9, I'm open to whatever. The initial fermentation would be a trick, but I have a fridge for lagering. I'd be more comfortable with a Trippel, but I guess nothing would stop me from doing that either.

 

[Chriso]

I don't know how I missed this. I'm in for the Blondoppelbock, no doubt about it. I'd like to nominate myself as Brewpastor's Official Lackey again, I love gruntwork.

Sure, I don't have temp control or anything.............but I have a few months to shop.

 

[Brewsmith]

I'd be up for the doppelbock as well, but I still like tripel idea. If you haven't seen the recipe in post 29, check it out.

 

[Brewing Clamper]

Sure, I don't have temp control or anything.............but I have a few months to shop.

Yeap, that's the direction I'm going!

 

[Evan!]

I'm so effing in for the blonde doppelbock idea. I've got enough Tripel in backstock to inebriate a small village, so a nice clean golden bock would be very cool...

 

[Soulive]

I like to get in on this assuming we don't have to lager. If we go with the doppelbock, would it be cool for me to use the kolsch yeast?

 

[Chriso]

I like where Soulive is going with this - I might actually make 1 batch of lagered Doppelbock, and a 2nd pilot batch with Kolsch yeast like you're suggesting. Should be fun!!!

If the tripel is chosen for "the" recipe, I will probably not participate. Not a fan of Dubbels/Trippels. Sour beers, however, are delicious, even if they're hard to make and take a lot of time. But I won't let myself get into sours until I've got all my other equipment whipped into shape, and can focus on buying a 2nd set of gear.

 

[Kaiser]

Hmmm, I may call mine "The Blonde Imperator" which makes for a nice contrast to my more classic Doppelbock.

As with any big beer, temp control is very crucial. I had many bocks in Germany that had a fairly sharp alcohol taste. Which means that even many German breweries don't get it right. This is actually more important for a big lager than lagering at near feezing temps.

I'm in on this and may want to try to push the efficiency boundaries with my 5 gal set-up to get to 20+ *P.

Kai

 

[Rhoobarb]

I'm down for either one, but would definitely favor the Doppelbock. And I already have all the ingredients on hand! That Capitol brew Yooper mentioned is good stuff. I should be able to get some soon. Would be perfect to sip whilst brewing this 999.

I'd think those that are lager-challenged could sub with a good Koslch yeast or even a Cali Common/Steam yeast like White Labs WLP810 or Wyeast 2112 and come up with a tasty brew.

 

[Chriso]

A doppelsteamer. Interesting!

Big things that I think are "Pro"s:
- Simple grain bill means Steep or PM are both very easy to accomplish
- Simple hop schedule means that we're not at a huge risk for shortage-related incidents
- Many yeast choices ensure that we have the opportunity to experiment while still maintaining conformity
- Has a very good "commercial" counterpart to drink whilst brewing!

MAN I'm getting excited now. There's no way I'm waiting till August. I might just have to brew 3 of these puppies!!!!!!

Again, I know we're... oh, only 18 months early...... but if you need a swap manager.

 

[Brewpastor]

Hmmm, I may call mine "The Blonde Imperator" which makes for a nice contrast to my more classic Doppelbock.

As with any big beer, temp control is very crucial. I had many bocks in Germany that had a fairly sharp alcohol taste. Which means that even many German breweries don't get it right. This is actually more important for a big lager than lagering at near feezing temps.

I'm in on this and may want to try to push the efficiency boundaries with my 5 gal set-up to get to 20+ *P.

Kai

Temp control makes such a difference, especially if you are trying to nail a style and balance. Those hot alcohols can really funk out big beers, ales included, but it really comes through on these clean lagers.

Kai, what about the recipe? Thoughts and ideas anyone?

In making the recipe I was once again trying to work with the "9" factor and so the color, IBUs, and gravity set some boundries. The piece I am bouncing around with is the Melanoidin malt. I think with this beer and its blonde character we will want to be careful not to get too much of that character in the beer. Don't want to gum it up with flavors.

 

[paulthenurse]

BP
I have not used melanoidin before. What are it's charactoristics that concern you?

 

[Brewpastor]

BP
I have not used melanoidin before. What are it's charactoristics that concern you?

It gives a toasty character, which will also come out of the Munich, so It may not be needed. I don't want the malt character to be too one sided.

 

[Madtown Brew]

I'm definitely in on this one, and I even have experience to boot where blonde doppelbocks are concerned. Here's the thread I posted regarding a blond doppelbock I made Nov of '07:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=44752

**note: the final recipe ended up being 8# pilsner malt, 6# vienna, and 2# Munich (5 gallon batch).
OG: 1.094 @ approx. 80% eff.

A few comments I have since sampling my version:

- While it's not too far off, it's certainly no "clone" of Capital's blonde doppelbock -A beer I think we should attempt to emulate w/ the 9-9-9.

-I performed a triple decoction and the color ended up just a shade too dark. Perhaps about 8-9 SRM, where I was shooting for 6-7.

-I would like a bit more bready character than I acheived, though I'm not sure how to get it w/out increasing the Munich which would throw off the color even more.

-Also, dispite the triple decoction, it's still not malty enough. I think that a small addition of aromatic malt could help liven it up some in that regard. I'd stay away from melanoidin malt though, unless you cut back on the Munich. IMO, the key to a great blonde doppelbock is to make it drinkable enough that the unsuspecting person doesn't even recognize it as a doppelbock until it's too late - i.e. they're on the floor. If you give it too much body, you may reduce that drinkability.

-I'm torn between Vienna and Munich malts. I'm not sure if the recipe needs a combination of each or just one or the other.

As far as yeast goes, my suggestions would be the WLP833 or Wyeast 2308 munich lager (or WLP838).

That's all I got for now.

 

[Madtown Brew]

It gives a toasty character, which will also come out of the Munich, so It may not be needed. I don't want the malt character to be too one sided.

I thought melanoidin malt mostly just added body w/out affecting flavor/color much.

edit: I'm wrong.

Move along... nothing to see here.

 

[Kaiser]

Kai, what about the recipe? Thoughts and ideas anyone?

No, the recipe is nice and simple. It's bascally a Maibock or Oktoberfest at Doppelbock strength. I haven't used Melanodin before though, so I can't say much about its effects. It would be nice if it gives the beer some redish hue.

Kai

 

[DeathBrewer]

i'm still 100% with the doppelbock...a triple would be a maybe (although i'll probably do one before that.)

i'm kinda thinking i'd just drop the melanoid and aromatic malts, up the munich a bit and go for a true triple-decoction mash...make a day of it. hopefully i'll have my process down by then. looks like it's time to do another hefeweizen and get some practice in!

i'm also with madtown on possibly some vienna. isn't vienna lighter in color, btw? couldn't you drop your munich and JUST have vienna...making it a lighter brew that still has a malty backbone?

 

[Brewsmith]

If it looks like we're goingthe doppelbock route, I'm all aboard. And I'll make my own stinking tripel!

 

[DeathBrewer]

how could anyone deny brewpastors idea anyway? he's the triple-digit guru!!!!

 

[McKBrew]

When would we actually be brewing this beer? I definately want to be a part of the experience, but a lager is definately not feasible right now. I imagine since we are a year and a half away that this isn't something that's going to happen anytime soon, unless we are planning on some serious bottle aging.

 

[DeathBrewer]

at the beginning of the thread someone mentioned 08/08/08, which would give you over 6 months and which is why i agreed (not doing lagering yet, but looking for a good deal!)