Imperial Brown Ale, Suggestions??

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Eastside Brewer

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Okay so I am going to attempt a 6 gallon batch of a Imerial Brown Ale, something that will be ready for this winter. I want it to be big and bold, but I also want it to be balanced and smooth. I am even considering putting some kind of wood in it during secondary to layer it even more. Not sure if oak would work??

Recipe:

11 lbs. marris otter
6 lbs. 2 row (us)
.75 aromatic
.50 chrystal 10
.40 chocolate
.25 chrystal 120

Estimated OG - 1.101 FG - 1.022 (10.38%)

Hop schedule
.50 warrior 60 min.
.50 columbus 60 min.
.50 centennial 30 min.
.50 cascade 30 min.
2.0 cascaded 5 min.
2.0 columbus 5 min.

1 lb. of dark brown sugar for 5 - 15 min. (not sure on this yet)

77 IBU's

3 viles of WL cal ale yeast in a 3500 ml starter to ferment this big B**ch!


Any comments or suggestions?

Eastside
 
I brewed one almost two weeks ago that was very similiar to this, but I also added 12oz of pure maple syrup. Before the syrup addition my OG was 1.088. I will rack to my secondary this weekend. First tastings were very promising.
 
I had something like this at Bell's and it was fantastic. Hope your's turns out as good.
 
I brewed one almost two weeks ago that was very similiar to this, but I also added 12oz of pure maple syrup. Before the syrup addition my OG was 1.088. I will rack to my secondary this weekend. First tastings were very promising.

Did you add Maple syrup to boil? Was this in addition to the Brown Sugar? How is the fermenting going? I am really hoping that I can get this thing down to a 1.020 range. Thanks for the response.

Eastside
 
Well I brewed this beast and I badly missed my OG, instead of a 1.100 I ended up with 1.080. I added 1 lb. of light brown sugar to the last 5 minutes of the boil. It was the most explosive fermentation I have ever had! the inside of my fridge is wasted! Today is day 12 and I just pulled a sample, It is sitting at 1.012 wich is fine by me. The one problem is that because of the low OG and low efficiency, the hops got out of control, it is a real tongue burner! I need to add something to it but I am not sure what. Any fermentable sugar will just ferment out and raise the alcohol.

So what is a unfermentable sweetner that I could add to the secondary to help balance this beer out?

Eastrside
 
Pretty sure splenda isn't fermentable. Not sure on the amount you'd need to balance.
 
I would add 1# Maltodextrine boiled in water and cooled.

Then I'd let it age at least 4-5 months, minimum.

Sounds very good! Like a slightly stronger DFH India Brown Ale.
 
I would add 1# Maltodextrine boiled in water and cooled.

Then I'd let it age at least 4-5 months, minimum.

Sounds very good! Like a slightly stronger DFH India Brown Ale.

DFH indian brown ale was what I was styling it after. Thanks for the tip, I will look into maltodextrine. How much water would you boil for 1 # and how sweet is it? I sampled it again today and the bitter seems to have softened slightly. I'm wondering if I just leave it alone and bottle it, if it wouldn't mello just right in 3 to 4 months??

Thanks again,

Eastside
 
It's not sweet, per se. It just increases thickness/viscosity to make up for what you hoped for in OG. I remember DFH IBA being pretty bitter, in a brown ale sort of way, so I think you're safe. I'd add either .5# or 1# of Malto - I think you could boil it in about 1 Quart of water, I would guess? - do the 1/2 lb if you want to just thicken it a little, do the full pound if you REALLY want this beer to be chewy and rich. :) You could always add a small quantity of molasses when you add the malto - Molasses will ferment out a little, yes, but it will leave a few residual sugars that help to create that great smoky-sugary dark taste that DFH IBA has.

I think Splenda might be too cloyingly sweet for what you're looking for, unless you only use a little.

I bet 3-4 months would be exactly the trick to take the edge off the bitterness and make this a really great beer. :D
 
What timing... I was just searching for info on making this bier a couple of days ago! I'm gonna make this one of my next brews, or at least an interpretation of it! I came across a recipe here:
http://www.brew365.com/beer_dogfish_head_indian_brown_ale.php
It's based on the same recipe from the book. I'm planning to do this beer at about 5.5% abv so I'll be scaling the recipe as needed (looking for something I don't have to age so much). As my backwards butt state has a 6% abv limit we hardly have any selection here I've tried the DFH IBA only once a couple weeks ago and FELL IN LOVE! Wow what an awesome concept. It was not overly hoppy at all but well bittered with a little hop flavor, just really really flavorful, amazing caramel, toffee, and other burned sugar notes, and very well balanced. Alot like any well crafted brew it was VERY drinkable!!!! :ban:

Keep us posted on how this one progresses especially on how it taste!

Schlante,
Phillip
 
Well I brewed this beast and I badly missed my OG, instead of a 1.100 I ended up with 1.080. I added 1 lb. of light brown sugar to the last 5 minutes of the boil. It was the most explosive fermentation I have ever had! the inside of my fridge is wasted! Today is day 12 and I just pulled a sample, It is sitting at 1.012 wich is fine by me. The one problem is that because of the low OG and low efficiency, the hops got out of control, it is a real tongue burner! I need to add something to it but I am not sure what. Any fermentable sugar will just ferment out and raise the alcohol.

So what is a unfermentable sweetner that I could add to the secondary to help balance this beer out?

Eastrside

Uh..use lactose

Lactose. A milk-based sugar, not fermentable by beer yeast. Add to the boil for sweet stouts.

Scroll down past the carb drops
NORTHERN BREWER: Sugars
 
Update:

Well I have to say the beer came out great overall. It has a clear yet dark ruby red color, carbonation is perfect and it carries a nice creamy head. It has been almost 8 weeks and she is holding strong on the Bitter!!

2 things I would do different;

1. brimg mash temp up from 149 to 152. Maybe get it to finish at 1.014 or 1.016.

2. Lower 60 min. hops to 45 min. adjusting IBU's from 77 to 66.

I love bitter and dry, but for this beer I just wish it were a little less bitter. Is ther anything I can do to it, now that it is already kegged and carbonated?

I have about 3 gallons left, I was thinking of bottling it. Maybe bottle condition it with something?

Eastside
 
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