My God...what did I brew?

[mrphillips]

My goal was to make an Amber Ale around 6.5% with an OG of 1.060...but I had WAY more boil off than I thought I would, and ended up with an OG of 1.082! AH!

This is the recipe.

2.1 gallons (started with 3 gallons) - 90 min. boil (but regular 60 min. hop additions) - 158-162 degrees mash for 45 min. - Partial Mash

3 lbs. extra light dme
1 lb. vienna
1/4 lb. crystal 40
1/4 lb. victory

hops
.5 chinook (60 min)
.25 Kent Golding (20 min)
.5 Hallertau (5 min.)

yeast
S-05 yeast cake


My main question...what the HELL kind of style would this classify as?

 

[IslandLizard]

Double American Amber?

You could thin it with some water to or near your target OG. Then again, maybe this one is better. I hope you didn't boil all that DME...

You will get some flavor from the Vienna, but ideally that should have been mashed to convert the starch to malt sugar. If you steeped it for 30 minutes at 154° you basically mashed it.

 

[sumbrewindude]

I don't know if "Little bit of Awesome" is a recognized style, but as a fan of ambers I'd drink it.

 

[cheezydemon3]

.......................

My serious concious thought up on seeing your WAAAY over the top title was "This Guy BETTER have done something interesting.....like effing IGUANAS in the mash.



FAIL

 

[passedpawn]

I'd add water and bring it down to the target OG. Never too late to do that. I'm for experimentation, but it's best to do controlled experiments with some forethought. Good luck whatever you do, let us know how it turns out.

 

[crawforc3]

Can you split it into two test batches?

Keep one batch as it is and see if the monster is worth keeping. Then dilute the other half with water to see if if you can get your ideal gravity.

 

[mrphillips]

Just tried the ol' girl after having it in the primary for 2 weeks. It is VERY tasty. Modest hop taste, assertive hop bitterness, wonderful toasty flavors, and what I would say is just about spot on malt balance. OG 1.082 - FG 1.012 - ABV 9.2%. For such a high percent beer, you'd never guess it.

I dry hoped it with .5 oz of German Halertau. I was going to dry hop with iguanas, but they're just so d@mned expensive...plus the local shop refuses to order them. Something about the U.S. having an embargo with the Galapagos.

Even though I'm straying a little bit from the style, I'm thinking of entering it as an English IPA at the BEER BACON MUSIC festival in D.C.

For anyone still following this, thanks for all your suggestions and comments.

 

[ChefRex]

Just tried the ol' girl after having it in the primary for 2 weeks. It is VERY tasty. Modest hop taste, assertive hop bitterness, and what I would say is just about spot on malt balance. OG 1.082 - FG 1.012 - ABV 9.2%. For such a high percent beer, you'd never guess it.

I dry hoped it with .5 oz of German Halertau. I was going to dry hop with iguanas, but they're just so d@mned expensive...plus the local shop refuses to order them. Something about the U.S. having an embargo with the Galapagos.

Even though I'm straying a little bit from the style, I'm thinking of entering it as an English IPA at the BEER BACON MUSIC festival in D.C.

For anyone still following this, thanks for all your suggestions and comments.

The Mexican iguanas would have been fine, no need for the top shelf stuff unless that's the way you roll

 

[crawforc3]

Just tried the ol' girl after having it in the primary for 2 weeks. It is VERY tasty. Modest hop taste, assertive hop bitterness, wonderful toasty flavors, and what I would say is just about spot on malt balance. OG 1.082 - FG 1.012 - ABV 9.2%. For such a high percent beer, you'd never guess it.

I dry hoped it with .5 oz of German Halertau. I was going to dry hop with iguanas, but they're just so d@mned expensive...plus the local shop refuses to order them. Something about the U.S. having an embargo with the Galapagos.

Even though I'm straying a little bit from the style, I'm thinking of entering it as an English IPA at the BEER BACON MUSIC festival in D.C.

For anyone still following this, thanks for all your suggestions and comments.

Glad it worked out! Cheers! :rockin:

 

[countshockula]

The Mexican iguanas would have been fine, no need for the top shelf stuff unless that's the way you roll

Iguanas are currently being imported from Puerto Rico as well. It's part of the USA so you save on import taxes.

 

[mrphillips]

Yeah, I hear ya...but you just can't beat the earthy, spicy character from a straight-off-the-island Galapagos Iguana. I suppose Fuggle would also be a nice substitute...

 

[LLBeanJ]

Honestly, if you can detect the origin of the iguana in your beer, you used too much.

 

[chocotaco]

.......................

My serious concious thought up on seeing your WAAAY over the top title was "This Guy BETTER have done something interesting.....like effing IGUANAS in the mash.



FAIL

Little known fact: Iguana Pale Ale was the original IPA. It wasn't until PETA got involved that it was changed to emphasize hop character instead of reptile character.

 

[cheezydemon3]

Little known fact: Iguana Pale Ale was the original IPA. It wasn't until PETA got involved that it was changed to emphasize hop character instead of reptile character.

Right! That is why I made my comment "Iguanas in the MASH or something"
Dry iguanad beer is nothing new. First wort iguanaing would be inventing something new! a true, "My GOD!!!!what have I done???" moment.

 

[rodwha]

Ahhhh, the Dominican Republic! It's how I get my Cuban cigars (by way of Avo Uvezian).

 

[unionrdr]

Iguana beer? Makes me think of the thing that should not be...dundundundun da dah dun dah dun dah. lolz a lil Metallica there...

 

[roastquake]

Iguana beer? Makes me think of the thing that should not be...dundundundun da dah dun dah dun dah. lolz a lil Metallica there...

as I read that, the riff was playing in my head, but I think the solo from "one" fits this beer better deedleah deedlah deedlah weawwww

 

[unionrdr]

...a lil wah wah goes a long way. Still have that pedal,like the one Jimi used. That song one reminds me of how I felt when pop died. He went through Guadalcanal & all those islands in WWII as a Seabee,only to die from a cancerous brain tumor. The song fit...

 

[roastquake]

...a lil wah wah goes a long way. Still have that pedal,like the one Jimi used. That song one reminds me of how I felt when pop died. He went through Guadalcanal & all those islands in WWII as a Seabee,only to die from a cancerous brain tumor. The song fit...

Same with my Poppa (grandfather) he had lung cancer after serving bravely in the Philippines. I think Odin makes exceptions for entry into Valhalla for those who fight a war, survive, and then die battling cancer. It's a hard fight

 

[roastquake]

Oh and I think Raining Blood would also make the soundtrack to Iguana Ale.

 

[Hello]

It actually sounds damn tasty but why wouldn't you have topped off? Just curious really.
This was a 3 gallon batch or 5? I think I got confused.

 

[mrphillips]

1st off, where's the love for WAR PIGS? Every day's the Sabbath when Tony Iommi's around!

2nd, My original plan was to cut my 5 gallon recipe in half, yielding 2.5 gallons. I started with 3 gallons (hoping to have .5 gallon boil off), and ended up boiling off a full gallon due to my longer, 90 min. boil. Oops. This extra boil off is also why my OG was so high. Again, Oops. But I gotta say, I think in the near future I WILL do a 5 gallon batch of this stuff and keep the recipe EXACTLY the same.

I'll know how my dry hoping affected it on Saturday. I was going to let it sit in a secondary for another month, but it honestly, I think it's clean enough to bottle right away.

 

[roastquake]

Now a truly legendary beer would be dry-Tony-Iommi's-finger'ed or Lemmy's mole, that thing must be alcoholic on it's own

 

[mrphillips]

Dusselmole Lemmibier anyone?