Beamish clone ~20%abv

[planimal]

Hey, first time visiting, long time brewer.

I wanted to get your input on this before I started the brew. I'd like to make a beamish clone with a medium vanilla and smoke flavor and the addition of a bit of everclear to around 20 percent abv. sort of barley wine for deserts.

5 gallons of .05 abv plus 2 liters of everclear should put me in the ballpark

found a beamish clone recipe for extract brewing, but i might end up doing a full mash

3.7# coopers stout malt
2.5# dark dme
.25# roasted barley
1/2oz cascade and willamette(finishing)

3 vanilla beans and oak chips soaked in 2 liters of everclear, added when racking.


really my only concerns are whether or not this will allow the bottles to prime properly. any tips or suggestions would be wonderful

 

[bierhaus15]

Sorry, but this sounds horrendous. First, that recipe wouldn't come close to a beamish stout and with all that everclear you will get something that A) wont carbonate and B) will probably be undrinkable even to your local fratboys.

Why not just make a drinkable irish stout or barleywine and then add vanilla or oak to your liking??

 

[MrInternet]

It's going to be hard to take this post seriously. If you've been brewing for any length of time, as you claim, you should know better... 2 LITERS of Everclear in a 5G batch?? That's over 32 oz of nearly pure grain alcohol... most reasonable bourbon-infused beers use half that or less... and that is alcohol that is less than half the strength and it actually supposed to taste good. Most bourbon beers use between 8-16oz to get a nice forward flavor, and you're proposing putting 4 times that strength into a rather thin-bodied beer, and using alcohol that tastes like Satan's anus.

Like I said, it's hard to take seriously. Not to mention that if you're doing a stout with vanilla and smoke flavors, it's certainly not a Beamish clone, so I'm not sure why you're worried about finding a "clone" recipe... just do a normal dry stout and have at it, since any Beamish "clone" wouldn't be recognizable as a Beamish clone once you've done all that to it anyway. And if you really want a "desert [sic]" barleywine, why not make an actual barleywine? Stouts don't automatically become barleywines just because they're high in alcohol..

And no, if you add enough Everclear to "bump" the ABV from ~5% to four times that amount, you'll shock the crap out of your yeast and kill them... no yeast, no carb.

There are plenty of good Imperial Stout recipes that are *balanced* and provide 10-13% alcohol... what on earth is the point to creating a 20% Beamish Stout clone that isn't a stout, isn't a Beamish clone, and isn't going to taste good?

BTW, welcome to HBT!

 

[Pappers_]

really my only concerns are whether or not this will allow the bottles to prime properly.

No it won't, ale yeast cannot survive in that high an alcohol environment.

Brew a beer, carbonate it, then mix it with whatever you feel like when you are pouring. I used to make beer-based cocktails - my favorite was with an orange liqour. But you have to start out with a good beer.

 

[Freezeblade]

YHBT. HAND.

seriously though. Can't be a serious post.