Brewing my 1st high ABV beer!!

[Topher79]

I picked up the ingredients for this beer at my LBHS and I'm stoked to be brewing this one! All the beers i have brewed so far have been in the 6-6.7% ABV range, and this one promises to be slightly above 9%....

Oatmeal Coffee Proter:

OG: 1.092 FG: 1.022 IBU: 50

6.6 lbs. Amber malt extract
3.0 lbs. Briess Sparkling Amber dry malt extract
4 oz. Malto-dextrin
2 lb. 6 row barley
1 lb. Flaked oats
14 oz. U.S. Chocolate malt
6 oz. German Carafa I Special
6 oz. 80L Crystal
8 oz. Rice hulls
1 quart cold steeped coffee
1 oz. Magnum
1 oz. Willamette
2 Packs Wyeast 1084
1 pkg. primimg malt (for bottling)
1 pkg Safbrew T-58 (for bottling)

I'll be brewing this the day after Christmas, and hope to be drinking it sometime around March-April.

 

[COLObrewer]

Need more yeast, make a starter or get 2 more packs or pitch on slurry, or, . . . . . . .something, this is the most important thing about your high abv beer. You can calculate how much you need here: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

 

[dbsmith]

Not to burst your bubble, but with a beer with that much grain and alcohol, it's doing to need a lot more than 3-4 months to age. Of course you can drink it whenever you want, but I bet it won't even reach it's 'prime' until at least 6 months to a year. I'm terrible at holding out that long, so good luck!

 

[Topher79]

Thanks for the suggestion on the starter, COLObrewer, I am hoping to get by with not doing one on this one. Both yeast packs were manufactured this month, and this owner of the LBHS (as this is his recipe) stated he has not done a starter, nor have others that have replicated it , and it has done just fine.

I know that March-April is early, dbsmith, but that is when i plan on trying it. I have beers in the cellar going back to 2008, so holding onto it shouldn't be a problem Patience has definitely been a learned trait since i have been brewing. I'm just now starting to enjoy a cherry stout I brewed in September! Thanks for the advice/tips so far!!

 

[COLObrewer]

Thanks for the suggestion on the starter, COLObrewer, I am hoping to get by with not doing one on this one. Both yeast packs were manufactured this month, and this owner of the LBHS (as this is his recipe) stated he has not done a starter, nor have others that have replicated it , and it has done just fine. . . . . .

It took me a little while to glean a sociably acceptable response to this, not sure I have it yet but here goes:

You can hope in one hand and pour beer in the other and see which one fills up first, heheh. Either way it's a waste of time and effort as well as beer.

Or try this response:

If you pitch two packs of liquid yeast on this beer it may eventually create enough yeast to ferment it and it may reach full attenuation, however the off flavors the stressed yeast may produce is one of the reasons you may have to wait longer for the beer to be "just fine".
However I submit that if you do pitch enough yeast that are already geared up for the task of such a fermentation and your wort is aerated sufficiently you will reach full attenuation and you will have a good chance of making a beer that is "great".

 

[Goose5]

Not to burst your bubble, but with a beer with that much grain and alcohol, it's doing to need a lot more than 3-4 months to age. Of course you can drink it whenever you want, but I bet it won't even reach it's 'prime' until at least 6 months to a year. I'm terrible at holding out that long, so good luck!

I agree with the above. I did a strong ale that I like so well I tried it again, but upped the OG to about 1.11. Everything took longer and finished at 1.025. I aged for 3 1/2 months and it was not so hot. Starting to get better at 4 months. I doubt I will try another beer this big currently equiped. I'll have to get a spare keg so I can just squirl it away and forget about it.

 

[Yooper]

One thing that concerns me (besides the yeast, already covered, ha!) is the amber extracts, along with malto dextrine, and all the crystal malt. I think that it's WAY too much unfermentables and it will be a struggle to get it to ferment low enough to be drinkable. No WAY will it hit 1.022, especially if underpitched as well.

I'd leave out the malto dextrine (it can be added at bottling if needed, but it won't be, as the body will be cloying as it is). You don't need 8 ounces of rice hulls- that's a LOT and you don't need it. I use a handful in a 10 gallon batch to prevent a stuck sparge. That's not a concern at all in a partial mash and they suck up a ton of water, unless you rehydrate them first.

 

[Darwin18]

Your LHBS owner gave you terrible yeast handling advice. In my experience pitching the right amount of healthy active yeast and controlling fermentation temperatures is critical to brewing great beer. It would be a shame to spend what you did on ingredients for a high gravity beer and not get the best results because you didn't take 15 minutes a day or so before brew day to make a starter. Might as well save your money and stick to dry yeast if you're not going to make a starter.