Historical Beer: Kentucky Common "Kiss Yer Cousin" Rye Kentucky Common Ale

[ChuckCollins]

Just brewed up 10 Gal of this !!!

 

[jglazer]

Just out of curiosity, how many people were able to control themselves and leave this in primary for 30 days? Its tough...

 

[mrklueber]

Just out of curiosity, how many people were able to control themselves and leave this in primary for 30 days? Its tough...

The first time I brewed it, i left it in primary for 30 days. Then ~ 10 days to carbonate it. The first taste told me that i had hit a home run with this beer.

Second batch, I moved it to secondary after two weeks because I needed the primary fermenter for an IPA I brewed. The 2nd batch was done with a different yeast and it was also very good but not quite as good as the 1st batch. I will be going back to the original yeast, Wyeast 1272, American Ale II, when I make my next batch in a couple of months.

 

[biestie]

Just out of curiosity, how many people were able to control themselves and leave this in primary for 30 days? Its tough...

I was able to control myself and keg it when it was ready to be kegged (about 2 weeks after brewing).

 

[ChuckCollins]

Would this beer fit in 10b or 10c under BJCP or where in the Guidelines ??

 

[jglazer]

Just tasted and measured gravity for the first time last night. Taste is amazing. Gravity is 1.020 after 2 weeks though....and my original gravity was 1.046 so I am extremely surprised at how slow this is fermenting...its been at a steady 62-64, so I just raised the temp to 65 and will measure again in a few days, but I've never had US 05 work so slowly. I will also make sure to verify the hydrometer is accurate by measuring some water.

 

[mrklueber]

Would this beer fit in 10b or 10c under BJCP or where in the Guidelines ??

Because of the rye and the corn, this beer does not fit either of those two categories. It also does not fit in category 6d because of the corn and the dark malt (black patent in the original recipe). I would enter this beer in Category 23, Specialty Beers.

 

[fvirzi]

i am brewing this tonight and am using 2.5 lbs of 2 row and 3 lbs of dme to make up for the other 2 lbs. will this work?????and i am using galena hops. would using the whole oz be a bad idea. thanks

 

[KidLightning]

i am brewing this tonight and am using 2.5 lbs of 2 row and 3 lbs of dme to make up for the other 2 lbs. will this work?????and i am using galena hops. would using the whole oz be a bad idea. thanks

3lbs of DME is closer to the equivalent of 5lbs of malt, but really it depends on your efficiency. I would use a recipe calculator. BeerSmith, which costs money but has a free trial, or any of the free online calculators should suit you well.

For the second question, it depends on the AA% of the hops you have, but using the whole oz would probably make your beer FAR too bitter. The original recipe calls for only about 6 AAU (AA%, expressed as a whole number, times oz of hops) and an oz of Galena is probably in the 12-14 AAU range. Again, a recipe calculator is your friend, but you'd probably only end up using about 0.4-0.5oz of Galena for this recipe. And yes, Galena would be a suitable substitute for Cluster.

 

[KidLightning]

Just got the Austin Homebrew newsletter for this week and it had this listed–

WLP050 White Labs Tennessee Whiskey Yeast

Suitable for American-style whiskey and bourbon. This yeast is famous for creating rich, smooth flavors. Clean and dry fermenting yeast. Will tolerate high alcohol concentrations (15%), and ester production is low. Also popular in high-gravity beers.

Attenuation: 75-80%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 75-79 F (24-26 C)
Alcohol Tolerance: 15%

Might be an interesting experiment for this beer given its "reverse bourbon" grain bill. I may give it a shot if I find this yeast at my LHBS some time soon.

 

[jglazer]

Has anyone ever added bourbon/whiskey and/or some oak chips to this? I may siphon off a gallon to experiment and just wondering if anyone has experience with amounts of chips and whiskey.

 

[Baileisdad]

Tried this one last week. Screwed up and add 2 lb. of the stuff that was supposed to be 2 oz. now I will be adding knob hill soaked oak. Guess next time I better pay attention to what I am doing!!

 

[mpride1911]

Tried this one last week. Screwed up and add 2 lb. of the stuff that was supposed to be 2 oz. now I will be adding knob hill soaked oak. Guess next time I better pay attention to what I am doing!!

Holy crap.

 

[Baileisdad]

Holy crap.

Kiss ur cousin stout?

 

[KidLightning]

Tried this one last week. Screwed up and add 2 lb. of the stuff that was supposed to be 2 oz. now I will be adding knob hill soaked oak. Guess next time I better pay attention to what I am doing!!

2lbs of each or 2lbs total? Either way, that's probably going to be borderline undrinkable.

 

[Pastorken]

Guess you could always blend it with a lighter beer and nor'easter the whole batch.

 

[Revvy]

... nor'easter the whole batch.

Ok, I'm intrigued....what's that mean?

 

[Baileisdad]

2lb black &2lb crystal. Wort tasted ok. Going to add oak and bourbon after couple weeks in prime. Then let it age for some time. Hoping it turns out. Going to try again next week but follow recipe with more attention to detail

 

[Pastorken]

Ok, I'm intrigued....what's that mean?

Meant "not throwout" damn spellcheck! We don't even have nor'easters in Colorado!

 

[Baileisdad]

Would never throw it out. Can always find a way to useit

 

[SuperNintendoChalmers]

Finally got around to brewing this last month, tapped a couple weeks ago. Holy crap, this is good beer! Across the board raves, craft beer and bmc drinkers alike! I undershot the mash at around 146, and had a sorta crappy efficiency (1.038 OG), but it fermented (vigorously, spraying through the airlock all over the wall. i used us05) all the way down to 1.004 for a respectable final ABV of 4.5%. But even with all my terrible technique, this one is definitely a gem.

The first sip definitely has a lot of corn sweetness, but that moderates quickly. I have it at a fairly high carbonation - it just feels appropriate, regardless of historical accuracy. Gorgeous crystal clear deep mahogany color. Decent head retention with nice lacing, and more body than you'd expect from such a low mash temp. Both refreshing and full flavored, but with a great rye finish. I've been on a little bit of a hop-heavy bender, and this one is just the perfect contrast to that. Great bbq/porch-sitting/hockey-watching beer. Can't wait to make it again - this one is definitely going in the standard rotation!

 

[b-boy]

Gorgeous crystal clear deep mahogany color. Decent head retention with nice lacing, and more body than you'd expect from such a low mash temp. Both refreshing and full flavored, but with a great rye finish.

I had to re-read this to make sure you weren't describing the perfect woman...

 

[Setesh]

I've had this fermenting for 6 days now and the krausen is still up a about an inch and airlock is still going pretty good. I may have to leave this one in primary for 3 weeks just to make sure it's good and finished. The color is gorgeous on this one.

 

[jglazer]

Yea I recently brewed this and it was crystal clear after 14 days. I took 1 gallon out of the primary after week 3 and put it into a 1 gallon jug and put 2 ounces of bourbon soaked oak chips (soaked 2 ounces of chips in 1/4 cup makers for 2 days beforehand) in the 1 gallon for 4 days then bottled it. It was absolutely fantastic after 4 days on 2 ounces of oak chips, but we'll see how it turns out after being in the bottle for 2 weeks.

 

[knuckleheadbrewing]

I had forgot about this guy with my move to North GA....I have to add it back to my list of must brews.

 

[jglazer]

Took 1 gallon off the primary and aged it on oak for 4 days. 2 oz of oak was soaked in 1/4 cup bourbon for 2 days then both the oak and bourbon was added to the jug. I was tasting daily bc I had a ton of oak and bourbon for only 1 gallon, so 4 days was when it was ready and I really liked the taste. I am also planning on consuming this within 3-4 weeks of bottle, if I was planning on aging longer I would have prolly left the oak in for at least another week or two.

 

[JimmytheGeek]

Mashing now!

 

[Hopelesst]

This was my first all-grain BIAB recipe, and its about to be the first batch to go through my new mash tun. All I have to do now is finish building it...

Success! I stepped up the recipe a bit so I would be covered for a no sparge mash (worried about kinks in my process). Looks like the I'll end up with 5.5 gallons of 1.046 wort in the fermenter.

Boiling now. Can't wait.

 

[FarmBoy530]

So I'm getting my full size fridge today for fermentation control! This means my keg fridge can be used for serving only and I can brew any time! So what I'm saying is I think this will be my first recipe! Revvy, what do u think about using cali ale yeast 001? It would be nice to use a yeast I can reuse and save some money.. but I understand if it ferments too dry. Maybe cali 5 would be a better choice but I'm less likely to reuse it. I know either would make a good beer, but will 001 be way off the mark, flavor wise?

 

[Revvy]

I can't remember if I've used a liquid Cali yeast on it before, but I have used US-05 which is a dry cali yeast. I don't think there's a problem with using it.