Wood-Aged Beer Pirate Strong Ale

[rdneckbrew]

Just finished brewing this up. Took me forever! Well, seemed like it anyway. Its only my fourth batch of beer so it might be me being unorganized also.

My OG came out at 1.10! That's higher than all the others I have seen. Did I do something wrong?

 

[j1laskey]

I just kegged and forced carbed last night.... And it's ready to drink. This was my first AG batch of pirate and what I think the best so far. A little less sweet than I am use to.
All then flavors are blended well. With some time in the keg it can only get better.

1.1 is a huge gravity! Is your hydrometer calibrated? If that's correct you might have a monster or your hands! Enjoy!

 

[rdneckbrew]

The hydrometer is on as far as I know. Its brand new. Can't wait to try this thing!

 

[fvirzi]

So my batch that I messed up by putting pineapple in at beginning boil has a real strong alcohol taste and a off pineapple taste. Wondering what to do with it. Normally I would just keg it to get rid of it but being a high alcohol that's not a good idea. Any recommendations on what to put in to hide off taste? I haven't put in any vanilla. I was thinking some vanilla extract and some more cinnamon and make it kinda Christmas like. Need help thanks

 

[j1laskey]

Is it still in primary?

 

[fvirzi]

2 weeks in primary and has been in secondary for 8 days now. Also skipped oak chips this time to cut down on cost of rum if that helps. Hit og and fg #s pretty close as well. Was thinking maybe bottle conditioning for a while would help but thought some vanilla and cinnamon would be beneficial to hide off flavors

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Just brewed this up two days ago, hit OG around 1.082 or so (was hard to tell with the foam). I used two packets of Wyeast 1450, since my LHBS doesn't carry White Labs and I'm not set up to make starters yet. Hopefully these little bugs can power through.

It smelled wonderful, but the wort tasted foul! Extremely bitter and spicy, and the pineapple bits were inedible. The yeast love it, though, and my blow-off tube was bubbling vigorously this morning.

Also, I accidentally left the cinnamon stick in. Whoops!

Looking forward to this.

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Oh, double whoops. I just realized I added a whole ounce of Galena, not the half ounce. Hmm, I hope that doesn't make this crazy undrinkably bitter.

Learning!

 

[Lurch69]

So this has been in the keg a few weeks now and it's going fast! It's a great recipe and one that I'll be making again for sure! Using Pacman yeast worked great and provides a nice, clean profile. I also fermented a 1 gal portion with Unibroue yeast and while it's not bad, I'd definitely recommend sticking with a more neutral yeast vs a Belgian strain. My wife doesn't typically care for the beers I brew but she enjoyed this one so I'd call that a win for sure. Thanks again for the great recipe!

 

[blitzgp]

Saw this recipe and fell in love. Just started a batch last night with some slight modifications as a partial mash.

10 lb 2-row
1 lb 60 crystal
2 lb brown sugar
3 lb LME
.75 oz falconer's flight 60 min
.75 oz falconer's flight 15 min

when I rack to secondary I will add 1 oz oak chips soaked in sailor jerry rum and I will add a chopped up fresh pineapple (1.5 lb?)

 

[rdneckbrew]

Just racked this to the secondary tonight. Gravity sample was good. Could definitely taste the brown sugar and just a hint of pineapple. I'm hoping some of the flavors come out a bit more during the conditioning. All in all I think its gonna be great. Its finished out at 11.4% abv!

 

[Chromebrew]

I rarely comment on recipes but this one is out friggin standing. Potent in the best way. I did the all grain and opted for only 1lb of piloncillo so i ended up around 9.4abv, just where i wanted it. Couple notes from my experience with this recipe:

I would double the pineapple, i didnt get really any pineapple to come through, i used fresh and then added the juice from a whole can of segments in the secondary. Still no detectable pineapple. I was kinda bummed about this. Also, i would crank up the cinnamon, i didnt get anything there either. I did get a lot of vanilla from one madagascar bean, just perfect harmony using one split bean. Also i would avoid using spiced rum. I dont know what it is about the spice that dominates but it does. Go for Meyers or something similar. I used Sailor Jerry and it was a bit much. I soaked my wood chips in just enough to cover them during primary then added them minus the woody rum. I got plently rum from the chips but not really as much wood as i would like. Next time i will do more french oak, maybe a bit un-rummed.

Hope my tasting notes help someone out. thanks again for the recipe, its a keeper for sure!

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Just racked to secondary as well, only got 8.6% ABV which is fine. I didn't taste, but it had <i>all</i> the aromas. The pineapple and cinnamon were strong, and the citra hops aroma was powerful. Can't wait to see what the oak does to it.

 

[blitzgp]

One thing I noticed is that I shorted myself on oak chips. I am making 2 batches, and each will have 2oz of oak chips that have been soaking for a week and a half in sailor jerry, but when the rum disappeared due to absorption, I just topped it off with a little water so they were completely saturated. I am going to go with either 12oz or 16oz pineapple chunks in the hopes that the pineapple will be a tasty treat when all is done. Going to rack to the secondary this weekend and cant wait.

 

[Chromebrew]

Had to come back and let everyone know that this is a killer recipe. Everyone should try this one at least once. Everyone who tastes it is in love.

 

[fvirzi]

So the batch that I screwed up and boiled the pineapple the whole hour has been bottled for a week. I added 2 cinnamon sticks and some vanilla extract to the secondary for a week. It's finally drinkable and think I'm gonna leave it till Christmas and hope it turns into a nice Christmas ale

 

[j1laskey]

Just like the pic I posted last summer. Minus the smoker and giant Duvel glass. I think a 10oz pour is appropriate for this beer




Q

 

[pwortiz]

Ahh....I really need to get my next batch of this going! I need the base grains and yeast and I'll be good to go. After finally movin' and getting mostly settled, I now have 2 beers with North Jersey water going - both are saisons because the temps are in the 80s even in my basement :/

What do you think of using a saison yeast for this stuff, J? That just struck me....I have a couple "Belle Saisons" - that new dry saison yeast that came out people are using. May have to give it a go!

 

[j1laskey]

A "little funk" to any beer can't be a bad thing

 

[pwortiz]

Ya done sold me on it. I'ma do that sometime this week as an AG version + the Belle Saison. Will let you know how this turns out!

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Hmm, mine's been in bottles for two weeks, and it doesn't taste very good. The pineapple is overbearing, and there's a bit of an astringent taste to it, which I can't tell where it's coming from. I don't think it's from accidentally doubling the galena hops, since it doesn't taste very bitter. I'm also getting almost no flavor from the malts, which might be due to the strength of the pineapple and hops.

Has anyone else had similar problems with this beer, and did they clear up with aging? Or am I stuck with alcoholic dirty pineapple water?

 

[pwortiz]

Give it a few more weeks and it may surprise you. I didn't start that way so I'm not sure what it will turn into. I agree the hops shouldn't have caused that flavor challenge. Which rum/oak chips did you use?

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

I used French oak from my LHBS and half Sailor Jerry's (cuz I had some and wanted to get rid of it) and half Myers.

I know Jerry's seems to provide undesirable flavors according to other users, but I'm not getting an overwhelming rum flavor, so I don't think it's the problem. It does add a nice aroma, though.

 

[invivoSaccharomyces]

Welp, I think I figured out what went wrong. All my bottles turned into gushers, so I must've picked up an infection along the way.

I'm pretty sure it came from the oaking step. I assumed the rum would sterilize it well enough, but maybe not. Any of you more experienced brewers have a good method for sterilizing oak chips? And how do you add it to a carboy, getting it through that tiny hole at the top without spilling soggy oak everywhere?

 

[blitzgp]

I soaked my oak chips the same day as brew day to really soak in well for the sterilization/wood essence. After 2 weeks of fermenting, I added the pineapple and oak chips. Very awesome beer. I have a 10" funnel that could barely handle the pineapple chunks or the geometry of the bunched up oak chips, just had to shake, shake, shake.

 

[deuce40]

Going to brew this for my birthday and was just wondering, do you guys add the rum that you soak the chips in or just the chips. Not sure if this question has been answered but there's no way I can read through all of this.

 

[blitzgp]

I add everything. For an overall 5 gallon batch, the few oz of booze is insignificant for overall ABV.

 

[j1laskey]

I never have added the the extra rum that was never soaked up by the chips. I pour it back into the bottle and use it again for a future batch. But its up to you.

 

[Kuki]

I will brew this beer with adding cinnamon (ground) and candied pineapple. For secondary fermentation (30 days) 200ml Rum (54%) with 50g of oak chips (heavy toast), with a little touch of vanilla extract. To bottling another 100ml of Rum.

 

[deuce40]

Whats a good sub for caraaroma my home brew store doesnt carry it.