Black Ale Mash Design

[Jimbob]

I'm about brew a Black Ale aged with wiskey soaked oak chips. I want the beer to have a lighter crisper mouth feel. Does anyone have any ideas/suggestions for how I would design my mash temps to achieve this?

 

[avidhomebrewer]

If you want a lighter, crisper mouth feel, I would probably mash around 148 or so, but don't go too high in the alpha amylase range-that will give your beer more body because of the unfermentable sugars left behind. For the whiskey part, I would soak the chips in whiskey for about 1-2 months and add those to the secondary when it comes time. You will probably have to use a bucket to do this, so watch out for oxidation from oxygen permeation through the plastic, not unless you have a barrel.

 

[WBC]

A longer mash will help as well as a low mash temperature. What is your recipe or what would you like to brew. So far It sounds like you want to make a black beer but with ale yeast?

 

[Jimbob]

Yes it's a black beer with ale yeast. One similar to a beer that a local brew pub makes, North By Northwest in Austin. It's a really nice beer. The local HS as a clone recipe so I'm giving it a shot as my second AG.

Would you recommed just a single temp mash with no rests? Or multiple temps? Alonger mash..how long would you suggest?

 

[Jimbob]

the recipe is
9 lb 2 row
1/2 lb Vienna
1/2 lb Cara Vienne
1/4 lb Black roasted barley
1/2 lc Munich 3 oz Chocolate malt

 

[WBC]

Yes a single infusion at 148F sounds good and let that go for 90 minutes. Aging it longer helps too with a beer like this. The flavors mellow and merge like a schworzbier. I make a shworzbier every year and use wlp830 yeast (lager). It takes 2.5 months lagering to get the grains to mellow out and the sweetness to dry out. I hope you are fermenting in a refrigerator so you can hold it at 66F so it will turn out really clean and crisp.

 

[Jimbob]

I'm on craigslist now looking for one...and i might go get a lager yeast instead of the ale yeast