Original "Toasty Ale" Recipe: Need Feedback

[Br3w4u]

Yeah I guess I should just post the whole recipe at once instead of little bits here and there Haha.

8# marris otter
1# 2 row home toasted
1# biscuit
12 oz. Munich 20
8 oz. c20
I mashed 3 gallons at 152 for 60 min.
Batch sparge with 4 gallons @ 165 degrees
.20 oz. Hercules @ 60 min
.25 oz Hercules @ 15 min
2 oz. experimental tangerine @ flameout with a 20 min. Hop stand.
I used distilled water and used 1 tsp Calcium chloride, 1/2 tsp gypsum, and just a little table salt.
I used 1 pack of WLP002 without a starter because it was fresh and I had a low OG.
I had a better water profile figured out for this but my batteries died in my scale and I was out of epsom salt but whatever it should still come out fine.
Also I toasted my grains half of a pound at a time and ended up with 2 different flavors blended together but I would suggest going with the 275 range for 30 min or maybe a little longer if you want. I am planning to keg it this weekend so I should have an update on Monday. Feel free to use or change the recipe however you want.

 

[Br3w4u]

As far as dry hopping goes I would say it just depends on what you want the final product to be like. Do you want a brighter hop flavor or do you want the malt to come through more? Either one would probably be good. I think if you didn’t get the toast character that you originally wanted then you might as well go for the dry hop since you don’t have to worry about covering it up with hops. That’s just my opinion though. I hope it helps.

 

[JKaranka]

No-one mentioned amber malt this far? That will give you some toast to go with the biscuit. It's quite aggressive so I wouldn't use more than a pound.

 

[Br3w4u]

I kegged this last night and it was pretty good. Very bready and slightly toasty. The tangerine hops came through more than I thought they would, not bad though. It made me think of orange marmalade on toast or something.

 

[SanPancho]

Where are the experimental tangerine hops from?

 

[Br3w4u]

Where are the experimental tangerine hops from?

Yakima Valley hops. They are my favorite experimental variety so far. I tried the exp stonefruit and BRU-1 but wasn’t impressed with either of those.

 

[SanPancho]

interesting. apart from the the flavor/aroma, would you consider these "strong" in presence or kind of soft/muted? i.e. strength of flavor/aroma vs dosage.

 

[Br3w4u]

I would say moderate. It depends on how you use them too. I used them in a wit beer and my whirlpool temp was 170 and the flavor didn’t come through as much. This time I didn’t lower my whirlpool temp and the flavor is definitely there.

 

[SanPancho]

so more of an actual flameout addition vs a temp specific whirlpool add?

 

[Br3w4u]

so more of an actual flameout addition vs a temp specific whirlpool add?

Yeah that’s what I would do with it. I think it would pair well with Amarillo and ElDorado.

 

[SanPancho]

got it. and how are we on the toasty aspect. the idea of lemon biscotti seems pretty cool. interesting to see where the recipe has evolved based on the first few batches brewed here.

ive got this one running in the background in the ol' brain computer. maybe lose the crystals,

pale ale base, say 70%
good amount of munich 20/aromatic/amber/victory/etc in the 25% range
special roast or Special X if i can find it in the 5% range
flaked barley 5%

not sure on the flaked barley, but the rest seems pretty malty/toasty to me

 

[Br3w4u]

Well after a week of carbonating in the keg the beer doesn’t taste as good as my gravity sample was. It has a very obvious dose of diacetyl so I would suggest if you use the English ale yeast that you should use a starter and give it time. I rushed mine and had it in the keg after 7 days. I think it has too much going on too. The flavors don’t mesh well. I think replacing some of the Marris with toasted 2 row would help but I don’t really know. It tastes sweet and bready with toasted notes in the end but it’s hard to figure out what I am tasting with the buttery flavor getting in the way. Sorry drubes14 I think I failed on this one.

 

[drubes14]

Well after a week of carbonating in the keg the beer doesn’t taste as good as my gravity sample was. It has a very obvious dose of diacetyl so I would suggest if you use the English ale yeast that you should use a starter and give it time. I rushed mine and had it in the keg after 7 days. I think it has too much going on too. The flavors don’t mesh well. I think replacing some of the Marris with toasted 2 row would help but I don’t really know. It tastes sweet and bready with toasted notes in the end but it’s hard to figure out what I am tasting with the buttery flavor getting in the way. Sorry drubes14 I think I failed on this one.

So mine turned out actually fairly decently, though I used WLP001 California Ale to minimize any other flavors going on.

Mine was a touch more of Meyer lemon, prob from my use of lemon drop.

In terms of malt flavors, I think mine turned out actually pretty well balanced. I only had a touch of c10 I think. Second go I would drop out some of the biscuit and do more munich20. I like the sound of Amber as well. That’s a good call.

I didn’t have the sweetness issue that you had, Br3w4U, but I think you mashed a touch higher right?

I actually split my Batch, doing one plain carbed and then the second I actually threw some Scottish heather tips into. Obviously very floral, but the heather ended up being quite good. Complex, slightly medicinal, but very tasty.

 

[Br3w4u]

I did mash higher. I am going to try again. I will update when I get closer. Working on a NEIPA but this toasty ale has me hooked like a white wale LOL. I was thinking of replacing the Munich with golden naked oats. Not sure. What does Scottish heather taste like?

 

[drubes14]

It's somewhat tough to describe, but it is very floral, earthy, almost herb-like. It is very distinctive.

I ended up using 1 oz as a dry hop in 2.5 gallon (which is a fairly high amount).

Here's a good primer on the herb and its use in brewing.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/heather/