A Tribute to Hunahpu

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Finished brewing a couple hours ago. Pitched a two step starter of wlp002 into a 1.126 OG wort.

Easily my biggest brew yet. It's going to be a LONG wait for this one.

:D
 
speaking of long waits - what is general time frame people are letting this age in the fermener/bottle?

what is the initial product tasting like?
 
I brewed last night. OG came in at 1.122. Sticky, black and slippery. I'm hoping that I'm going to get down below 1.040. I split it between two carboys since everyone is commenting on the vigorous fermentations. Also added about a teaspoon of yeast nutrient to it to give my 1968 a hand up. I split a 2L starter between the two carboys. I can't wait for the final result. The flavor was incredible.


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speaking of long waits - what is general time frame people are letting this age in the fermener/bottle?

what is the initial product tasting like?


I moved mine to secondary at the 2 month mark and left it there for 3 more months. I put the Irish whiskey soaked wood chips in for 3 weeks and bottled with cold steeped coffee and CDC-1. I opened a bottle at the 1 month mark and it was pretty boozy from the whiskey, but super chocolatey.
 
I moved mine to secondary at the 2 month mark and left it there for 3 more months. I put the Irish whiskey soaked wood chips in for 3 weeks and bottled with cold steeped coffee and CDC-1. I opened a bottle at the 1 month mark and it was pretty boozy from the whiskey, but super chocolatey.

great feedback - thanks for sharing.

I am really enjoying this thread/effort and look forward to giving this recipe a shot soon.


I have an 11% ABV RIS fermenting right now based on Jamil's classic style recipe. I used WLP090 which took it from 1.102 to 1.021 - samples are pretty boozy so it's it's good info to learn about how other folk's beers are developing over time.

Long processes like make for slooow learning curves.
 
I am currently wishing I split my latest batch in two fermenters. Lost at least a half gallon if not more. Insane! Fun to watch haha. The buckets lid looked so bowed out I was scared it was going to explode while looking at it and cover my scrubs in motor oil colored sugar water.
 
I'm temporarily using a kegerator as a ferm chamber in my basement. From upstairs I can hear the off-gassing from the blowoff tube in star san :D
 
Reminds me, I need to take a sample glass from the keg of my version. Pappy van Winkle aged oak. It's right at a year old I think now.. if not a year old, it's days away.
 
speaking of long waits - what is general time frame people are letting this age in the fermener/bottle?

what is the initial product tasting like?

Mine was real nice early on, bitter ( 95 IBU ) and had a ton of roasted malts in it, so it was really burnt/roasty/heavy coffee and the most thick silk mouthfeel.

I drank it a little after it was around 4 months old and kegged. Had some back when it was around 6-7 months old, and I haven't had any more since. I commented that it's around a year old now, so the oak and the bourbon should be pretty meshed and the roast should have died down a little. It's been seal up in a keg for the year now.

About to pull out the blichman beer gun this weekend to get it out of the keg and into some bottles to age for a couple years. I'll post some tasting notes tonight.
 
As promised..
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It is about 20 days shy of 1 year old, according to my keg label. I poured a "half pint" as I'm not really in the mood for a 14% RIS tonight, this late, on a weekday. ;)

The beer is substantially smoother, and has a much more melded flavor. The alcohol burn from early on, it's pretty much gone, but the body is still there. This is a thick beer. I move it in the glass expecting it to be like syrup. Slight alcohol on the tounge when you breathe out after the sip.

Smooth and silky from the oats in the mash. The burnt, acrid taste from the tons of black patent and roasted barley are still very fresh. The beer almost taste like a very dark french roast coffee, and I used no coffee anywhere near this beer. Has some solid dark chocolate notes, and some nice fruit/chocolate/vanilla notes in the nose. The nose of the beer is probably the part I like least about the beer, as it's pretty muted.

The head stays pretty well, and gets down to a think cocoa head across the top and leaves some pretty sticky lacing down the glass. I carbed it pretty low, like around 1.7-1.8 volumes I think it was. Has enough to not be cloying, but low enough the beer isn't prickly, and has a smooth feel, with some nice fine bubbles.

Good beer.. Not my favorite I guess, but I'm not in the mood for a big beer all that often.. It's probably a shade heavy on the roast, and despite the smooth vanilla and fruit notes from the wood and the PVW, it's not enough to bring it back to where I expected it. Taste like a fresh Stone RIS would be like edge wise.. Has the body and flavor closer to a bigger Marshal Zhukov, but with some bourbon vanilla notes. I will brew this again for sure, but back down the roast just a shade.
 
This may have been mentioned earlier but I couldn't find it... How does everyone prep the peppers, vanilla, cinnamon before secondary? Boil a short time to sterilize? Soak in vodka for a week? Just throw it in and assume the alcohol will kill any bugs?
 
That WLP002 is a beast. No visible ferm and almost complete flocculation after a few days. Checked gravity today (day 6) and it's gone from 1.126 down to 1.044.

The sample isn't too sweet either, lots of roast and some bitterness balances out. Hope to drop a few more points, but it's going to be good, I can already tell :D
ImageUploadedByHome Brew1397835401.857703.jpg
 
This thread is great. My mash tun can't handle that grain bill so I am going to have to supplement with some extract. Maybe Amber dme or lme? Any suggestions? I've never used extract before except for making yeast starters


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I figure it will be about 4.5 gallons anyway. I was really looking for suggestions on a quality extract, as I have never used it before


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I made a 4gal batch but missed my pre-boil gravity target and supplemented with DME. I used light DME and it worked great. The wort looked and tasted great.
 
This thread is great. My mash tun can't handle that grain bill so I am going to have to supplement with some extract. Maybe Amber dme or lme? Any suggestions? I've never used extract before except for making yeast starters


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I would use light DME if using any extract
 
So I think I may have hit a roadblock with this brew. After a week of very vigorous fermentation, my OG dropped from 1.122 to 1.056. There it has stayed for the last week. I sprinkled a little S-04 on the liquid to see if that would drop it any further, but after 4 days, it only dropped 2pts. The target is FG 1.035, but I be happy with anything around 1.040 at this point. Should I just leave it for another week or two and see if it drops, or do I need to take more drastic measures (ie. repitching a starter at high krausen)?

Most of the time I would be content to just let it ride, but I have a lot if time and money invested in this particular brew and I would at least like to get it somewhere close to the target FG.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.


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Make up a well-oxygenated starter of something like WLP090 San Diego Super or WLP099 High Gravity Ale, and pitch it at high krausen. That should help it. With a high gravity ale like this, you're already at 9% ABV, on the top end of most yeast's tolerance levels. The two I mentioned above should be okay up to an ABV of 11-14%.

If you can't get your hands on those, I might try rehydrating a couple of packets of US-05 and hitting the wort with a little oxygen. It's definitely not the best option if it doesn't take back off, but it MIGHT MIGHT MIGHT work. Definitely try the White Labs products first.


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So I think I may have hit a roadblock with this brew. After a week of very vigorous fermentation, my OG dropped from 1.122 to 1.056. There it has stayed for the last week. I sprinkled a little S-04 on the liquid to see if that would drop it any further, but after 4 days, it only dropped 2pts. The target is FG 1.035, but I be happy with anything around 1.040 at this point. Should I just leave it for another week or two and see if it drops, or do I need to take more drastic measures (ie. repitching a starter at high krausen)?

Most of the time I would be content to just let it ride, but I have a lot if time and money invested in this particular brew and I would at least like to get it somewhere close to the target FG.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.


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Whats wrong with 1.054 FG? you are right around where Hunahpu's normally finishes. Your starting gravity is a bit lower, but you are still over 9%. I bet its beautifully thick.

My vote goes to don't mess with it anymore. You are going to have a good beer, don't worry.
 
It is wonderfully thick. Like motor oil. I was just wanting a little higher ABV for longevity's sake. Was hoping to build some verticals of this beer. I'm only going to make it once a year so I was hoping to age some bottles 5 years or more and I'm not sure 9% will get me there.

I would just like to get it to 10%.

I'm sure it will be fine and it is a learning process for sure. That's why we do this, right? Well that and the great beer.

Thanks for the feedback.


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I'll be honest. Mine finished at 1.033 and it is too thin for Zhukov/hunahpu. I'd love to get above 1.045 next time and your grav seems good.

Ultimate test is the taste test!


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I'll be honest. Mine finished at 1.033 and it is too thin for Zhukov/hunahpu. I'd love to get above 1.045 next time and your grav seems good.

Ultimate test is the taste test!


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Thanks. I guess I'll just leave it where it is. I mashed higher than I really wanted at 158*, and also had a 120 minute boil, so getting it lower may not even be an option at this point. Going to rack to secondary tomorrow and toss in the additions. And see where it takes me.

The taste is good, if not a little green which is to be expected. It has a certain tartness to it that is probably acetylaldehide created by the 1968. That should condition out over time.

The roast comes through nicely, like fresh-roasted espresso beans. A little bitter from all of the dark malt and the 3oz of Magnum, but it should condition into a well-balanced brew over the next several months.

Thanks.


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I went out and got the stuff for secondary, including cacao nibs. I've never used those before, but I tried some and they taste very bitter and not very tasty. Is this normal? I'm hesitant to put them in secondary...
 
Yes they are bitter. That's how they are supposed to taste. 4oz for 6 weeks works well as a base.


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I went out and got the stuff for secondary, including cacao nibs. I've never used those before, but I tried some and they taste very bitter and not very tasty. Is this normal? I'm hesitant to put them in secondary...


I actually just added 4oz to mine in secondary last night. Along with 2 split vanilla beans, two crushed cinnamon sticks and 5 oz of freeze-dried sour cherries that were all soaked in enough aged rum to bring my total ABV up to 10.25%.

The aroma of everything soaking in the rum was incredible. The chocolate comes through with the vanilla first, then the cinnamon hits you and then the sweet cherry finishes it out.

Pretty excited about this brew.


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I actually just added 4oz to mine in secondary last night. Along with 2 split vanilla beans, two crushed cinnamon sticks and 5 oz of freeze-dried sour cherries that were all soaked in enough aged rum to bring my total ABV up to 10.25%.

The aroma of everything soaking in the rum was incredible. The chocolate comes through with the vanilla first, then the cinnamon hits you and then the sweet cherry finishes it out.

Pretty excited about this brew.


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Sounds damn tasty!


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My plain versions is so so. The oaked version is fantastic. Almost too one note roasty for the plain. Maybe special b instead of caramel 80 will add beter complexity. Don't know.
 
Going to brew this in the next week or so to prepare for a holiday BBQ. Split the flaked barley weight and used flaked oats for the difference. Not sure why, just love oats in my stouts.
 
For some aging clarification, Cigar City goes from grain to bottle on this beer in about 10 weeks.

After Hunahpu day, then made another batch for the people that did not get their guaranteed beer. Huna day was on 3/8/14, so I imagine they started on it the following week. They just announced that those bottles are ready now: http://cigarcitybrewing.com/the-mak...erial-stout-is-ready/?age-verified=5b5e509fe7.
 
FYI, it already had treatments by 4/5. Tasted this batch straight off the tank that day and it was tasting awesome.


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Just a heads up on the CBC-1. I regret using it, led to over carbonated and dried out beer. It is definitely way more attenuation than the WLP002 I initially used. Next batch I will try champagne yeast. Very disappointed with the CBC for this beer. Also that was on beer that conditioned for 4 months before bottling.
 
Damn. That is aweful! I love champagne yeast. Doesn't like complex sugars and eats priming sugar fast.


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Yeah that's my plan on my next batch. Bottles some delicious imperial stout on Sunday, horrible part is it was before I realized the attenuation of CBC-1 and used it again. At least it was just half the batch. The oter half went on oak and bourbon. Brewing another iteration Thursday so I'll have a stream coming through. So annoyed cause the taste was wonderful but the more it dried out and the more carbonic aid destroyed the beer. Champagne yeast from now on.
 
Just a heads up on the CBC-1. I regret using it, led to over carbonated and dried out beer. It is definitely way more attenuation than the WLP002 I initially used. Next batch I will try champagne yeast. Very disappointed with the CBC for this beer. Also that was on beer that conditioned for 4 months before bottling.

Thanks for the heads up on this! I just purchased a packet of CBC-1 to use on my batch. I certainly don't want it to dry out any further. Looks like I'll be using Champagne yeast as well.

BTW...I gave my batch another taste this past weekend. It has been conditioning on the treatments for four weeks now.

The greenness has definitely given way to a rich and complex brew. The cinnamon is really only noticeable on the nose and the cherry is almost nonexistent except at the very end of the finish as a mild tartness. But the cocoa and the vanilla have melded well into a chocolate-covered espresso bean flavor that is really nice.

Still stains the glass like a mother, though. Even after almost a full bottle of Appleton VX aged rum, the body is still there.

Everyone else keep us posted on how your brews are evolving. I hope to bottle this in another 2-3 weeks. Then it will sit in bottle for another 3-4 months before I decide to crack one open. I am using 750 Belgian Bottles under cork and cage.
 
I had one of mine last month, pitched CBC-1 at bottling, the carb was perfect. I did shoot for the very low end of the style, it has been bottled 5 months now
 
Did you pitch a whole packet into 5 gallons? How much sugar did you add?

I was only going to do a half packet into my 4 gal batch, but since mine ended high (1.044), I might do a whole packet and less sugar. I wouldn't mind it drying out a bit more, but don't want to over-carb it either...
:/
 
I pitched the whole pack in mine. I did primary mine for 2 months followed by a 3 month secondary. It only dropped 4 points in secondary over that time
 
For some aging clarification, Cigar City goes from grain to bottle on this beer in about 10 weeks.

After Hunahpu day, then made another batch for the people that did not get their guaranteed beer. Huna day was on 3/8/14, so I imagine they started on it the following week. They just announced that those bottles are ready now: http://cigarcitybrewing.com/the-mak...erial-stout-is-ready/?age-verified=5b5e509fe7.

are you sure they didn't just use a batch of Zhukov that had already been aging? that seems awfully quick for a beer this size....
 
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