Madelines Belgian Fruit Cake Holiday Stout

[TriangleIL]

Hey all, I'm not sure if this is the right section for this or not. I'm looking for critique/feedback on this recipe. I made something similiar last year, and it took almost a year to taste good. It was pretty undrinkable after 3 months, but after 9 it started to be decent and now after 14 months, it tastes fantastic. I'd like to brew this up for the winter, which means I want to start soon. Last year, this recipe was not a belgian style stout, but was just a holiday ale. Since that recipe, I've modified the spices (toned them down) and modified the grain bill to be a little more 'belgian'. Anyways, this will be my first attempt at the style so I would love some feedback.

Thanks!

Recipe: Madelines Belgian Fruit Cake Holiday Stout
Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 4.01 gal
Post Boil Volume: 3.64 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.00 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.75 gal
Estimated OG: 1.099 SG
Estimated Color: 33.7 SRM
Estimated IBU: 15.8 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 74.8 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
1 lbs 8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 7.3 %
10 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) 48.8 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) 4.9 %
1 lbs Toasted Maris Otter (50.0 SRM) 4.9 %
1 lbs Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) 4.9 %
1 lbs Victory Malt (25.0 SRM) 4.9 %
1 lbs Biscuit (Dingemans) (22.5 SRM) 4.9 %

1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 60.0 min 9.8 IBUs
1.00 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 20.0 min 6.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Willamette [5.50 %] - Boil 0.0 min 0.0 IBUs

2.00 oz Orange Peel, Sweet (Boil 10.0 mins)
0.10 oz Cinnamon Stick (Boil 5.0 mins)
2.00 g Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 mins)
0.50 oz Ginger Root (Boil 12.0 mins)
2 lbs Candi Sugar, Clear (0.5 SRM)

1.0 pkg Belgian Stout Yeast PC (Wyeast #1581-PC) Yeast

2 lbs Fruit - Apple regular (0.0 SRM)
2.50 lb Cherries (Secondary 14.0 days)
1.00 lb Blackberries (Secondary 14.0 days)


Mash Schedule: Double Infusion, Full Body
Total Grain Weight: 20 lbs 8.0 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Saccharification Add 13.20 qt of water at 177.6 F 158.0 F 60 min
Mash Out Add 9.90 qt of water at 184.4 F 168.0 F 10 min

Sparge: Drain mash tun, Batch sparge with 1 steps (0.46gal) of 168.0 F water

Fermenation - Pitch @ 65F and let rise to 73F over a few days. Finish primary, rack to secondary and let sit with fruit for 14 days @ 73F. Finally, age at 70F for 2-3 months and then cold crash and age @ 35F for 4-5 months.

 

[BaronVonMeisterburger]

Two things:

Delete fruit cake from the title of the beer. No one likes fruit cake!

Most stout recipes I've ever seen have some DARK malts like chocolate and black patent. I think your recipe minus the fruit would produce a Belgian brown beer. Consider swapping some of your malts for some darker ones and maybe even omit one or two malts.

 

[TriangleIL]

Two things:

Delete fruit cake from the title of the beer. No one likes fruit cake!

Most stout recipes I've ever seen have some DARK malts like chocolate and black patent. I think your recipe minus the fruit would produce a Belgian brown beer. Consider swapping some of your malts for some darker ones and maybe even omit one or two malts.

I took you up on the title change. I think you are right, I shouldn't call this a stout, but rather a Dark Strong. That was more of what I was aiming for when putting this together, and really only called this a stout because of the yeast.

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name
1 lbs 8.0 oz Special B Malt (180.0 SRM) 7.3 %
9 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) 48.8 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) 4.9 %
1 lbs Toasted Maris Otter (50.0 SRM) 4.9 %
1 lbs Biscuit (Dingemans) (22.5 SRM) 4.9 %

I basically just removed the Victory and the Honey malts. All things being the same, I wanted to have the spices and the fruits to make this like a spiced fruit cake as the original title. You are right however, no one likes fruit cake, much less in their beer. Maybe I need to think of a clever name for the beer...