Help with a Wee Heavy

[mumblingsages]

So I'm thinking about creating my first Wee Heavy. What makes this one interesting is a tie-in with a local brewpub and my HBC. Each member will be receiving 5gals of wört from the brewpub. It's supposed to be only 100% Golden Promise and at something close to 1.050 pre-boil.

First please note that this is for an 5gal EXTRACT recipe. It assumes that (outside of top up water) that all the water is coming from the wört supplied by the brewpub.

Also note, this is the first time I've tried to come up with my own recipe as I typically have done kits. Not because I don't want to, but because I kinda thought I needed to master the basics first and trust in the wisdom here and other places before advancing.

Anywho.... below is the "plan"....

Malt & Speciality Grains
---- 6lbs Sparkling Amber LME
---- 1lb Carapils - steeped for 20min @155
---- 8oz Caramel - 60L - steeped for 20min @155
---- 4oz Roasted Barley - steeped for 20min @155

Hops
---- 3oz East Kent Goldings - Boil 60m
---- 2oz East Kent Goldings - Boil 20m
---- 1oz Fuggles - Boil 5m

Plugging all that into BeerSmith seems to yield a recipe within BJCP guidelines. However, when I compare it against other recipes on here or BeerToad, the hops seems kinda high. Any thoughts / suggestions?

 

[JKaranka]

You don't need the carapils. That's a lot of it anyway. Hops look good but I'd either remove the 5m addition or reduce the 60m or 20m addition. Fuggles / EKG is a good combo. Either one with something like Hallertau works well too.

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

My first instinct is that you're right to be skeptical of that much hop, particularly in a wee heavy. o.o Considering utilization, it might be all right. What's the expected OG - and hop content! - of the wort you're adding all this to?

 

[mumblingsages]

The OG is supposedly 1.050 with zero hop additions when we receive it. The more I play around in BeerSmith the more skeptical I get of the hop calculations. Pretty sure I have something wrong that throwing off the hop utilization....


Thanks for the help!

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

The OG is supposedly 1.050 with zero hop additions when we receive it. The more I play around in BeerSmith the more skeptical I get of the hop calculations. Pretty sure I have something wrong that throwing off the hop utilization....


Thanks for the help!

Just made a Beersmith recipe based on your grain bill, simulating the wort you're getting by adding enough Pale Extract to bring it to ~1.050 (1.051, didn't feel like going back and changing it) before adding the other grains. Getting 30.7 IBU using Beersmith's default values for AA content.

That's definitely hoppier than I'd prefer, but it does appear to be within style guidelines...numerically. The later hop additions will give you some hop flavor and aroma, though, and Strong Scotch Ale/Wee Heavy traditionally doesn't have much.

My suggestion would be to boil the first EKG for 45 minutes instead of 60. You lose like 2 IBU, and I find that gives a less harsh bitterness.

I'd also suggest finding one or two other IBU calculators and comparing the numbers, since this could be a limited-range-of-application issue with the approximation equations in Beersmith.

 

[JKaranka]

I think 30IBU sounds good. You might want to have less aroma than the 5m addition (e.g., move some Fuggles to 20m).

 

[GuldTuborg]

I'd switch to light DME and cut the carapils in half. The late additions are probably not necessary, either. If you really want, a small 30 or 20 minute addition is fine, but not more than 1oz.

And what's with spelling "wort" as "wört?" Some heavy metal thing?

 

[zmanzorro]

According to the OG/IBU charts (see here: www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=157803), that recipe will come out around Slightly Hoppy, definitely not style for a Wee Heavy.

I'd do less hops or later additions to bring it somewhere around 20 IBUs for that OG. Or you could also scale up the malt bill to at least 1.080 OG.

 

[slym2none]

And what's with spelling "wort" as "wört?" Some heavy metal thing?

Pronunciation, I'd guess. Wort is supposedly pronounced more like "wert", just pucker up your lips (as if you were going to kiss someone) to get the full effect.

 

[GuldTuborg]

Pronunciation, I'd guess. Wort is supposedly pronounced more like "wert", just pucker up your lips (as if you were going to kiss someone) to get the full effect.

I know how it's pronounced, but that's not how it's spelled. It's not really the same sound as the northern European ö/ø sound anyway.

 

[slym2none]

It was only a guess...

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

that recipe will come out around Slightly Hoppy, definitely not style for a Wee Heavy.

This. Although, one day at the LHBS I wound up getting rung up behind someone getting supplies for a Hoppy Scotch Ale. Apparently some people like this idea.

I need to brew a Malty IPA just to spite them. >.>

 

[te-wa]

shoot for around 22 ibu, imho.
ditch that carapils.
replace the c-60 w/ something more "robust" like c-120 or better yet, special B.
if you don't use scottish yeast like Edinburgh, it won't be as tasty as it could be -

have fun, and cheers!

 

[GuldTuborg]

It was only a guess...

It's all good. Better rehydrate after all those shed tears with a few beers.

 

[mumblingsages]

ok , so far the consistent theme I'm seeing... 1)Cut or ditch the carapils. can I ask why? plz forgive the naïve question and 2) my spelling sucks. [emoji12]


Would also some what appear the recommendation would be to lower the hops a tad either by reducing the amount or shorten their boil by 15mins. I'm open to suggestions on that one for sure...

 

[mumblingsages]

It occurred to me this evening that I didn't mention what I was going to use for a yeast.

I'm thinking White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale yeast. Any comments on that too?

 

[zmanzorro]

I used the White Labs European Ale yeast WLP 011 in mine. Not huge contribution to the typical yeasty flavors, but really showcased my malt profile.

 

[GuldTuborg]

It occurred to me this evening that I didn't mention what I was going to use for a yeast.

I'm thinking White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale yeast. Any comments on that too?

If it's anything like WY1728 (and it should be fairly close), it'll be exactly what you want, and a great strain. I used this strain regularly some years back. I really should bring it back.

 

[NoIguanaForZ]

It occurred to me this evening that I didn't mention what I was going to use for a yeast.

I'm thinking White Labs WLP028 Edinburgh Ale yeast. Any comments on that too?

I figured. (Well, that or Wyeast 1728. I used that one for my Wee Heavy, and also for the Scottish Ale I brewed last summer; so far I've only used WLP028 in a baltic porter, which I was quite happy with).

Good choice.