Laphroaig Ale

[Bashiba]

So comments in my thread about my first Imperial Stout on how strong Peated Malt is got me thinking about the worlds best scotch - Laphroaig, probably the Peatiest Scotch out there, if someone knows of one more so I would love to hear it.

So here is what I'm thinking, a nice Ale inspired by my favorite Scotch.

6lbs of Vienna
3lbs of Rauch malt
2lbs of Peated Malt
3lbs of Brumalt

not sure on hops really, but thinking Centennial full boil, then hit it a couple times later with fuggles. Probably use Nottingham for the yeast.

Also will ad some bourbon soaked oak chips to simulate barrel aging.

Forget about there being to much Peat, Any thoughts on the rest of the batch.
Is that enough Brumalt to bring some sweetness or should I kick it up a bit?
What kind of Mash Temp should I be looking at?

 

[masonsjax]

I love Laphroig too. I have to be in the mood for it, but yeh, it has so much character. If you make this, maybe I could swap you a couple bottles? I typically keg, and I think 5 gals of this would use up a tap forever at my house.

Oh, and I think a lot of scotch uses golden promise as the base malt.

 

[Yooper]

2 pounds of peated malt is a LOT. I mean, like about 1.75 pounds too much. It's very strong flavored. Even 4 ounces would be strong, I believe. I know, I know, you didn't ask about that, so I'll shut up now!

I've never used brumalt, but I think that would be awesome. I wonder if you want some crystal malt, to balance it out with some sweetness. I know you'll get intense maltiness from brumalt, but I don't know about sweetness. (Like I said, I've never used it).

 

[Bashiba]

I would definitely do that Mason. And I'm going to make this in some form or other, I love the idea of a Peat Bomb.

 

[Bashiba]

Thanks Yooper, I was just thinking maybe I need to ad a little Crystal 60 for color and body.

 

[nostalgia]

Don't know about the beer, but have you tried Lagavulin? If not and you like Laphroaig, you'll like Lagavuilin. Ardbeg is also very peaty, but more smoky. Too much so, in my opinion.

-Joe

 

[Bashiba]

Ya Lagavulin is great as well, I also really dig Ardbeg and Talisker. Connemara Single Malt Irish is also worth checking out if you dig the peat.

 

[nostalgia]

Talisker is one of my all time favs. I have a bottle of the 175th anniversary special edition, which is fantastic.

Well...had a bottle

-Joe

 

[Yooper]

I've never had the others mentioned, but I LOVE Laphroaig!

 

[EdYy2]

Firstly, i think you've got a great recipe idea here. I recently moved to Edinburgh and i have since fallen in love with heavily smoked whiskies.

I am planning a similar peat smoked Stout/Porter recipe my self, but haven't started formulating a recipe yet. I ordered a small sample of peat smoked malt and it smells fantastic!

Try and get your hands on a bottle of Laphroig Quater Cask. It's their attempt on what Laphroig would have tasted like traditionally (however long ago that may be) and it is very very nice, much more oaky than the 10 y/o. Their website will do a better job describing it than i can.

You would definately enjoy ardberg and lagavullin as they have a similar smoke character. Infact, generally, any whiskies produced on the Isle of Islay (pronounced eye-la) can be expected to be heavily peat smoked. Other Whisky producing areas in Scotland produce peat smoked whiskies but none of them, in my opinion, live up to the reputation and character of the Islay single malts.

Alot of people would say that there is too much smoked malt in this recipe; but if you're a smokehead like me, you'll want the smoke flavour and aroma to dominate and this should do the job. Holding back on the smoked malt will only take you further and further away from the character of Laphroig. In this case i'd use little or no late hops and a nice clean, neutral bittering hop. (for my stouts i usually use 60g Northdown and nothing else)

Using smoked malt will result quite a dry beer, so i'd suggest mashing at a higher temperature (153-158 F) in order to produce a less fermentable, and therefore, sweeter wort in order to balance the dryness. This will also lend body and mouthfeel to the beer, which would very much suit this beer's style.

Good call on the bourbon soaked oak chips, this will lend an oakiness and slight sweetness which should balance out the smoke, whilst giving the oak-y flavours found in the whisky itself (if left long enough; definately do not rush the secondary/aging steps with this recipe. The longer on the oak the better i would suggest).

I can't say i have any experience of Brumalt. But take time to choose a yeast which has a lower attenuation and gives a sweeter finish, as opposed to a dry one. I will be looking into this one.

Good luck and keep me updated with how it goes!

 

[Bashiba]

Thanks for all the great tips.

Do you have a yeast in mind, right now I have Nottingham, Windsor, Saf04 and Saf05 all on hand, any of those be ok?

I have had the Quarter Cask, as well as cask strength, and the now defunct 15year version. I probably like the 10year the best as it seems to be the most aggressive with the other versions being either just a touch hotter or slightly more mellow. I do like the Distinct almost Medicinal Taste of the Quarter Cask.

Ya I'm very familiar with the Islay Scotch's and have had most of them, looking forward to trying to get my hands on this one.
http://www.scotlandwhisky.com/distilleries/islay/Kilchoman

So thinking about calling it Islay Ale or the Peat Monster.

Good Timing as I just got an email this morning from Austin Home Brew and they have free shipping today, so I'm going to order the stuff up and make this very soon.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

1st. I don't think you're beer will be drinkable for a long ass time if ever. I hope you try it and return with results but that stuff is seriously intense and not in a good way IME. If I were to try this, I would try my hand at some home smoking with peat. I home smoke grain for my smoked porter and it is rather easy with good results. Plus, you can control the levels of smokiness and avoid harsh tones.

2nd. Laphroaig 15 is one of my favorite scotches. I think Lagavulin is the peatiest out there but that stuff is a bit rich for my blood. I drink my scotch neat with a very small dram of ice water (1/2 cube). My dad love scotch to but always drinks it with 10pounds of ice... then he says he loves the big rich scotches, he drinks almost exclusively Islay. he makes me laugh, but to each his own. Plus, when you are paying for the scotch, you can drink it however the hell you want.

FTR, Caol Ila 18 is the best scotch in the world (at least for my tastes, right now).

 

[Bashiba]

I'm a neat drinker as well with 2 drips of water just to open it up a bit. I'm in need of a some new bottles maybe I'll have to give the Coal Ila a try. I did a favor for a friend and he gave me a Glenmorangie Nectar D'or, so I'm looking forward to giving that a try this week.

The home smoking is a cool idea, but I think at this point I'm just going to go all in and try the peat, maybe I"ll back it down a bit, but if I have to cellar it for years that could be fun as well.

Maybe even, bottle 1/2 after 2 months and move the other 1/2 into a smaller secondary and age it that way for and extended period.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

I think I would do a standard infusion mash at 153º and if you have the capability do a no sparge or single batch sparge. My concern would be astringency and I would take every measure to avoid it.

Also, while brewing this you MUST make a hot scotchy. This is a Scottish brewing tradition where you take a glass of hot wort during the sparge, add some scotch to it, and drink it during the boil. They are great, and great fun!

 

[Bashiba]

So Batch Sparging would be better than Fly Sparging this? I usually fly sparge, but I can do it with a batch sparge easy enough.

Cool idea, I'll have to give it a try.

Did something odd like that last night.

My friend and I were drinking Aventinus and the Distilled Aventinus side by side comparing them, then decided a mixture of the two would be fun, it was dangerously good.

 

[Boerderij_Kabouter]

Fly sparge would be fine, I would just be overly cautious about the final running gravity. I would probably stop run-off at about 1.015 or 1.018 just to be safe you are not over sparging.

The advantage of no-sparge or a single batch sparge is you are basically guaranteed you will not over sparge.

 

[ericd]

What about making a Wee Heavy and fortifying with Laphroaig?

 

[Neonsilver]

For yeast why not use a scotch ale yeast? Should lend a sweeter taste and a few more esters for a more complex flavor. Also, trying to make a beer based on Scotch just screams to me to use a yeast for Scottish ale.

 

[masonsjax]

Check out the similar thread linked at the bottom of the page:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f12/laphroaig-ale-78009/

 

[Emian]

I made something very similar - came our really nice...didn't use quite as moch smoked and peated as you're suggesting - but it had plenty of peat smoked flavor.

You've inspired me to make it again - it's been a year. (I mashed at 152F)

Ale
Type: All Grain
Date: 11/29/2008
Batch Size: 11.00 gal
Brewer: Ian
Boil Size: 13.48 gal
Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min
Equipment: Bulldog's
Taste Rating(out of 50): 39.0
Brewhouse Efficiency: 79.00
Taste Notes:​

26 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 83.20 %
1 lbs 4.0 ozCaramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.00 %
1 lbs Peat Smoked Malt (2.8 SRM) Grain 3.20 %
1 lbs Smoked Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 3.20 %
8.0 oz Aromatic Malt (26.0 SRM) Grain 1.60 %
8.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 1.60 %
8.0 oz Victory Malt (28.0 SRM) Grain 1.60 %
4.0 oz Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 0.80 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 0.80 %
1.50 oz Magnum US [15.00 %] (90 min) Hops 29.4 IBU
0.75 oz Fuggles US [3.90 %] (15 min) Hops 1.8 IBU
0.75 oz Fuggles US [3.90 %] (3 min) Hops 0.4 IBU
1.1 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min)
Misc 0.56 oz Polyclar (Secondary 1.0 days)
Misc 2 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale​

Measured Original Gravity: 1.085 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.017 SG
Actual Alcohol by Vol: 8.91 %
Bitterness: 31.6 IBU
Calories: 390 cal/pint
Color: 16.9 SRM​

 

[Bashiba]

Looks like a great Recipe Emian, I will have to give it a try.

Waiting on grain to brew this, I will update it once its been made.

On the Scotch conversation I had a couple of new single malts in the last Week
#1 - Glenmorangie Nectar D'Or - I was really unimpressed with this, it seemed to be one dimensional, just very sweet with a lot of honey and alcohol. Maybe the worst 70$ bottle of scotch I have every tried. I don't mind a lighter sweeter scotch, but this was just to much with no real complexity.

#2 Oban 14year - This was better, very balanced with a light smokey flavor and some light sweet fruit notes, kind of a long dry finish. It wasn't bad, but I didn't think it was great either.

 

[masonsjax]

I'm probably not your typical scotch drinkers. Most settle on one style and usually one brand and stick with it. I tend to like a variety and try new brands constantly.

I love Oban, it's one of my favorites when I'm in the mood for a lighter scotch.
I'm also a huge fan of anything from Aberlour.
If you like Irish whiskey at all, Redbreast is amazing.
For bourbon, I can't find anything I like more than Blantons, but my everyday bourbon is Elijah Craig.

 

[nostalgia]

I'm probably not your typical scotch drinkers. Most settle on one style and usually one brand and stick with it. I tend to like a variety and try new brands constantly.

I think that's like coming here and saying you're not a typical beer drinker I'd guess most of us that are adventurous enough to try craft and homebrew will not be happy to stick to one whisk(e)y. My current stock is over 20 bottles without a single duplicate.

And I agree, Redbreast is my favorite Irish whiskey.

-Joe

 

[Bashiba]

Finally made the Peat Monster today, here is what I decided on.
6lb Vienna
3lb Honey Malt
3lb Rauchmalt
2lb Peated Malt
1lb Crystal 60

1oz Willamette at 60
1oz Willamette at 30
1oz Willamette at 15

Windsor Yeast

Have Oak Chips soaking away in some Single Barrel Weller 7 Bourbon to add to the secondary.
I'll report back when its done and let everyone know if its drinkable or not, lol.

 

[Bashiba]

Just reporting back in on this one, it spent 2 weeks in primary and 3 weeks in the secondary with the bourbon soaked oak chips and just recently hit 3 weeks in bottles.

It is very good, has a great smoky and peaty flavor and isn't nearly as overpowering as you think, the oak sneaks through along with a nice bit of light sweetness and a hint of mild bitterness.

Going to make it again soon and I don't think I'll change a thing except for maybe going to a Scottish ale yeast.

 

[prosper]

Nice. I'm considering a peat bomb soon, one of the best beers I've ever had was a smoky peaty hoppy IPA that had been aged in an islay scotch cask. I have about 2lbs of peat and rauchmalt kicking around

 

[jgourd]

Just reporting back in on this one, it spent 2 weeks in primary and 3 weeks in the secondary with the bourbon soaked oak chips and just recently hit 3 weeks in bottles.

It is very good, has a great smoky and peaty flavor and isn't nearly as overpowering as you think, the oak sneaks through along with a nice bit of light sweetness and a hint of mild bitterness.

Going to make it again soon and I don't think I'll change a thing except for maybe going to a Scottish ale yeast.

Would you consider upping the peat malt? How does the smokiness and peatiness compare to the Laphroaig? I too am interested in making a smoked porter that's an homage to the Laphroaig 10 (I love kick your ass peat). Oh, and what do you think about no including the smoked malt and having just peat malt?

 

[smokinghole]

This is good to hear. I have a barley wine strength brew (10.5%) aging in secondary right now with oak cubes that got a pound of peat smoked malt. I'll leave it for three months with the cubes until the end of August. I say baaah to all these naysayers telling you anything more than 4oz of peated malt is too much. I've tasted mine a few times now to check on oak flavor and I think it's fantastic maybe could use more peat like you did. I have a feeling I'll make it again and add some rauchmalt also.

 

[Bashiba]

I just did a side by side tasting with Laphroaig Quarter Cask and I think the Laphroiag is still peatier and smokier than the Peat Monster, but its not far off. The Laphroaig has that extra level of char and a slightly medicinal Iodine taste that I'm not really sure how to replicate in a beer.

The next batch will probably have more Peat. I might even double it. Its good and fairly peaty but not in an over the top way like you might think.

Also this is a great food beer, its big and complex enough to stand up to any meal, my friend and I were drinking it with BLT's and agreed that it was a wonderful match.

 

[Bashiba]

Just did a second version of this, decide to make the batch a little bigger and the beer a little bigger. Left out the Rauchmalt this time as I felt the smoked malt and peat malt were running together a bit to much, and wanted to see what it would be like with more peat.

Here is what we went with, all numbers are figured for an 11 gallon batch.
10lbs Vienna
8lbs 2 Row
6lbs Honey Malt
6lbs Simpsons Peated
2lbs Crystal 60
4oz Fuggles - 5%AA at 90min
2 packs of Safale 05

Brew went good, OG was 1.080

We will give it a few weeks to ferment out fully then put it on medium oak cubes for another 3-4 weeks.

I'll update again when this batch is complete with the results.

 

[jgourd]

Just did a second version of this, decide to make the batch a little bigger and the beer a little bigger. Left out the Rauchmalt this time as I felt the smoked malt and peat malt were running together a bit to much, and wanted to see what it would be like with more peat.

Here is what we went with, all numbers are figured for an 11 gallon batch.
10lbs Vienna
8lbs 2 Row
6lbs Honey Malt
6lbs Simpsons Peated
2lbs Crystal 60
4oz Fuggles - 5%AA at 90min
2 packs of Safale 05

Brew went good, OG was 1.080

We will give it a few weeks to ferment out fully then put it on medium oak cubes for another 3-4 weeks.

I'll update again when this batch is complete with the results.

I have been drinking my For Peat's Sake Smoked Porter for a few weeks now. Great brew and perfect for this time of year around the bonfire. But I also think the next time I will completely do away with the smoked malt and go with peat malt only. And I will increase it. Last time, it was about 9% of the grain bill. I think I want to go 25%. Go big or go home.

 

[smokinghole]

I did a full pound of peat in my barleywine and I love how it came out. I think that will be almost impossible to replicate the medicinal iodine taste in a beer due to the distillation process. However my beer has received rave reviews and I think I need to prep to brew it again or even two more times real soon. I have friends begging for more. Considering I let this thing go for three months in secondary with oak it came out super smooth.

I may up the peat slightly to 1.5lbs or two lbs for the batch. I do think however I have a good balance. My next batch may be the same grain bill except replace the american 2row with MO and add .5oz more oak over the three month aging time. Then a third batch will be a peatier stronger version.

 

[starman]

So its been a year, any updates on the Smokey Peaty effort? I suppose adding sea salt wouldn't be good for the yeast.

 

[jgourd]

Don't know about the salt; maybe someone else can chime in.

I haven't yet brewed For Peat's Sake Smoked Porter (or a variant) again. I plan to, but it's one of those things where other beers seem more important at the time. If I recall, I brewed it at the beginning of Oct 2010 and floated the keg at the very end of Dec 2010, so it lasted 3 months. It was a sipping beer (especially good around the bonfire), but my friends were split 50/50 on whether they liked it or not (you either loved it or you hated it). I'll say that I typically went for 1/2 pint as opposed to a full pint on this one. The peat level was fine, but it tended to overwhelm your palate pretty quickly. It did take on a slight leather aroma after a few months.

 

[Bashiba]

My second batch came out good, but not quite as good as the first which had both Peat and Smoked Malt. I think you probably hit a Peat flavor saturation point somewhere as the 2lbs/6gallons was just as peaty as the second batch with 3lbs/5.5gallons.

After just doing a Cherry Wood Smoked Scotch ale, Cherry Wood will probably be included in the next batch which will probably have to wait until Spring unfortunately.

The great thing about this beer is that it ages well, the peat flavors mellow a bit but don't fall off badly either.

Here is how the next batch will look. Also I will use the charred inside from a used bourbon barrel for ageing.

11 gallon batch
20lbs Vienna
6lbs Honey Malt
3lbs Peated Malt
4lbs Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
30-35 IBU's worth of bittering hops.

 

[starman]

Excellent, thanks for the updates. I'm going to mull things over and hopefully get a batch going in the next two weeks. It certainly wont be mistaken for single malt, but if its possible to replicate some of the main notes -ill be happy.

For what its worth, one of the local Scotch reps said that the coopers will re-toast a used barrel to open up the sugars (and tannins). No idea whether thats a smart move for a beer. This guy has the envious job of traveling Scotland and buying single casks for bottling.

Thanks again!

 

[Qhrumphf]

Necro thread, but I stumbled across this while searching for something else. My Islay Scotch Ale I did last fall was a similar concept, although nowhere near the levels that y'all are talking about. NHC judges hated it, but I quite enjoy it, and everyone who tried it that likes smoky single malts loved it. I've got two bottles left that I'm going to hold on to a couple years.

Batch size was 2.25 gallons w/ a 120 min boil. I mashed fairly high, but I don't remember at what. 156-158, I think.

4 lbs Maris Otter
12 oz Crystal 60L
5 oz Peated malt
2 oz Chocolate malt

.5 oz EKG at 30 mins

And then Wyeast 1728 Scottish Ale fermented at 62 for 4 weeks, during which time I had one medium toast American oak spiral soaking in Laphroaig Quarter Cask. After primary, an additional 4 weeks in secondary, with the oak, and I added the Scotch dregs the oak was soaking in too.

OG was 1.067, FG was 1.018.

 

[smokinghole]

How funny this thread resurrection happens to be. I still have one bottle of this beer that I brewed back in 2010. I rebrewed the beer with some tweaks and still have a lot of that. I used to drink it much more when I worked at a cigar shop. Now I don't smoke as much and always forget about it. Maybe next weekend I will stop by the cigar shop and open the 2010 bottle and the 2011 stuff too.

 

[Bashiba]

Still one of my favorites, I brew a batch every year now, each one a little different than the last. Here was the last version.
11 Gallon Batch
14lbs 2-Row
6lbs Munich
3lbs Cherry Wood Smoked
3lbs Peat Smoked
2lbs Crystal 90
2lbs Honey Malt
2oz Nuggett at 75 min
Wyeast 1056

We aged half on Bourbon barrel bits and the other half on Fresh Cherry wood. The Cherry wood was much drier and a touch tanic, but otherwise not much difference between the two.

This years batch is coming up soon, I haven't decided on the recipe.

I also did a Laphroaig added Baltic Porter
11 Gallon Batch
20lbs 2-Row
6lbs Munich 10
2lbs Crisp Brown
2lbs Caramel 90
2lbs Smoked Malt
1lb Peated Malt
12oz Debittered Black Malt
2oz Galena at 60
Dusseldorf Alt Yeast

Half will be bottled as is, the other half is getting a quart mason jar of oak chips that were soaked in Laphroaig Quarter Cask. Its ageing with the chips right now, I can't wait to bottle it.

Not to mention I did 10 gallons of Gratzer last week, so plenty of smoked beer on the horizon at my house.

 

[nhindian]

Subbed to this.. I love peaty scotches (Lagavulin, Bruichladdich, Big Peat) and now Lost Spirits in California is making some wonderful 'scotch-style' single malts that are heavily peated. I have a bottle of their Bohemian Bonfire which is very smokey.


I just got into brewing, but I seriously considered ordering Northern Brewer's Peat Smoked Porter kit as one to try. Maybe I'll just make my own though!