Wood-Aged Beer Pirate Strong Ale

[j1laskey]

Personally I think a neutral yeast is the right choice, due to the numerous other flavors.

I have not experimented with various yeast with this recipe, but whichever you decide to go with let us know how it turns out!

 

[alazar]

Took this recipe in a different direction. Agave nectar strong ale with prickly pear fruit juice aged with tequila barrel oak chips. Won a small comp. I'll dig up the recipe . . .

 

[alazar]

Took this recipe in a different direction. Agave nectar strong ale with prickly pear fruit juice aged with tequila barrel oak chips. Won a small comp. I'll dig up the recipe . . .

10gal
24lbs pale
2lbs torrified wheat
1lb caraaroma
3lbs agave syrup
1oz northern brewer
2oz citra.
Can't find the math for the juice. . . Only took ~14oz of the prickly pear to get this where I wanted. It was really strong and concentrated.
4oz tequila barrel oak chips didn't really come through as I aget it cold.
Mash hit around 152
Worked down to 1.006 8.7%

 

[pwortiz]

I have wanted to do a tequila barrel beer for a long time, but have not done it right yet (only 1 experiment so far). I put 4oz in 5 gal but should have followed the soaking time of the pirate recipe of 3 weeks minimum. I think I am surprised that 3lbs of agave syrup didn't increase the OG a bit more than that. Nice experiment there!

 

[alazar]

I have wanted to do a tequila barrel beer for a long time, but have not done it right yet (only 1 experiment so far). I put 4oz in 5 gal but should have followed the soaking time of the pirate recipe of 3 weeks minimum. I think I am surprised that 3lbs of agave syrup didn't increase the OG a bit more than that. Nice experiment there!

Try this man! You will not be disappointed. I measured the juice by the ml in samples then mathed it on up. The threshold for the flavor to over doing it is a small window.

 

[Beerswimmer]

Brewing a massive braggot version of this right now

 

[Beerswimmer]

1.121 down to 1.012 and still working, the sample tastes amazing!!!

I used WLP 545 for the yeast.

 

[501irishred]

1.121 down to 1.012 and still working, the sample tastes amazing!!!

I used WLP 545 for the yeast.

I’ve never had a braggot but the concept sounds great! If it ends up with any of the characters of this beer, it should be a big success. Besides, any brew running over 14% is worthy of recognition!

 

[501irishred]

And in goes the pineapple! Been forever since I made this, and and don’t know why because it’s a great brew. These days a 8%+ beverage is just what the doctor ordered!!

 

[pwortiz]

Try this man! You will not be disappointed. I measured the juice by the ml in samples then mathed it on up. The threshold for the flavor to over doing it is a small window.

Ok, Alazar, it is time. I picked up the agave nectar yesterday and am preparing the rest of the ingredient list. It looks like you removed the cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla? Is that right and/or were there any other changes? Yeast same, etc? Oh, and prickly pear juice - was that concentrate or ready to drink juice? Would appreciate any insight but that's what i figured based on what you posted. Thanks!

 

[501irishred]

Ok, Alazar, it is time. I picked up the agave nectar yesterday and am preparing the rest of the ingredient list. It looks like you removed the cinnamon, brown sugar, and vanilla? Is that right and/or were there any other changes? Yeast same, etc? Oh, and prickly pear juice - was that concentrate or ready to drink juice? Would appreciate any insight but that's what i figured based on what you posted. Thanks!

Looks like you get to pick up the mantle on this one. @alazar hasn’t been on the forum since that post in 2017. I for one would love to hear how it turns out for you if you decide to go for it though.

 

[pwortiz]

Looks like you get to pick up the mantle on this one. @alazar hasn’t been on the forum since that post in 2017. I for one would love to hear how it turns out for you if you decide to go for it though.

Welp, i grabbed all the ingredients for it and just dropped the cost of a simple 5 gallon batch of beer on one 12oz bottle of Prickly Pear juice (concentrate?). I am figuring to use the 7oz as i am making a 5 gal batch as usual. Will keep the wlp060, but remove the cinnamon and vanilla and brown sugar. Man i hope this works out! Probably a couple weeks until i brew, though. We'll see!

 

[Davedrinksbeer]

Made this today, Extract Version. Used 8 pounds of DME and followed the rest
Of the instructions to the letter. Pitched 2 packs of S-05 with OG of 1.080.
I just noticed this thread is 8 years old.

 

[501irishred]

Made this today, Extract Version. Used 8 pounds of DME and followed the rest
Of the instructions to the letter. Pitched 2 packs of S-05 with OG of 1.080.
I just noticed this thread is 8 years old.

The good ones keep rising to the top!

 

[Immocles]

I'm glad this got kicked up to the top. I never scour this particular part of the recipe forum and the title caught my eye. Looks like it might be worth a shot later on this year. I only read the first and last page ( I'll go back and read the in between later ), but folks have had decent luck with bottling, it seems?

 

[pwortiz]

I'm glad this got kicked up to the top. I never scour this particular part of the recipe forum and the title caught my eye. Looks like it might be worth a shot later on this year. I only read the first and last page ( I'll go back and read the in between later ), but folks have had decent luck with bottling, it seems?

You will not regret making this beer. Give it the full time to ferment and minimum 2 weeks after bottling for carbonation and all is good. Consistently well-received beer.

 

[pwortiz]

Looks like you get to pick up the mantle on this one. @alazar hasn’t been on the forum since that post in 2017. I for one would love to hear how it turns out for you if you decide to go for it though.

Brewed Alazar's version today. I realized I bought WAY more agave syrup than needed (used 1.5lbs and missed that the jug was frickin' 5KGs...oi). There are a couple things I'm doing different:

1. I'm using the original wood qty of 4 oz and am soaking those tequila barrel chips in tequila blanco (I'll have an extra anejo in the end )
2. I went ahead and threw 10oz of juice in to the boil at 15 mins just the same as I would have the pineapple in the original recipe. I did taste prior to putting in and can say the stuff I bought is definitely not concentrated. Nor is it worth $35 with shipping says I. I'm wondering how much will actually come through prior to kegging. If, in 4 weeks, I can't detect it, I may just chuck the rest in to the keg.

Those are the main things I would say are different since we couldn't confirm the lack of vanilla, cinnamon, and/or substitution of brown sugar vs the original recipe.

OG - 1.072 at ~75* when pitching. Ended up with probably .25 gal more volume than initially planned. Will ferment @ 68 per the usual.

Now we wait.

 

[pwortiz]

Took a reading and tossed in the oak today. Pics below. The extra anejo tequila that used to be blanco is TOO extra lol I need to cut this a bit. Muslin bag used for the oak, bottom of jar is how dark the tequila got after 3 weeks.

 

[501irishred]

Took a reading and tossed in the oak today. Pics below. The extra anejo tequila that used to be blanco is TOO extra lol I need to cut this a bit. Muslin bag used for the oak, bottom of jar is how dark the tequila got after 3 weeks.

Nice! The tequila should give a unique taste all by itself!

 

[Davedrinksbeer]

My Extract of the Pirates Ale has been sitting in the keg now for 10 weeks, the flavors are really starting to blend now and it’s gone from good to excellent. The first month I had a strong pineapple taste, the second month was more oak and dark rum, now it’s blending into a slightly sweet pineapple/rum flavor. Glad I made it.

 

[Snuffy]

the original recipe for this grog is intriguing. sounds like punch but might be fun... hmmmm. Definitely a small batch first attempt.

 

[Auger]

Brewing this as an all-grain batch this weekend, using Imperial Kveiking yeast. Going to find the hottest room in the house and let it rip and see what happens

 

[Auger]

Almost 8 gal at 1.061 into the kettle...right on target. I think I'm going to call it "Tropical Shipwreck". LHBS was out of citra so subbing in an oz each of cascade and motueka. Also holding the pineapple over to the secondary.

 

[j1laskey]

It's been a while since I've been on the forum. The combination of COVID19 and a 2 year old at home because day care was closed was an experience.

Anyways, did a lot of brewing lately and brewed this back in April. It's been sitting in my basement in secondary since May.

Used WLP090 on this one.

Cheers!

 

[Knightshade]

I built this out in Brewers Friend and have it mentally scheduled to try and get done sometime this month. 16 lbs is the limit of what my foundry will take (at least according to the manual) so it should be interesting?

My LHBS doesn't have the CaraAroma, so I'm looking to replace with Weyermann's Caramunich II.
and..I saw mention of it, but I'm not aware of the actual difference between Light vs. Dark Brown sugar. Will the taste profile change a lot? I'm not certain which I actually have.

 

[j1laskey]

I built this out in Brewers Friend and have it mentally scheduled to try and get done sometime this month. 16 lbs is the limit of what my foundry will take (at least according to the manual) so it should be interesting?

My LHBS doesn't have the CaraAroma, so I'm looking to replace with Weyermann's Caramunich II.
and..I saw mention of it, but I'm not aware of the actual difference between Light vs. Dark Brown sugar. Will the taste profile change a lot? I'm not certain which I actually have.

View attachment 693768

Eh. Don’t worry about light or dark brown sugar. The batch I just kegged was with light. Still taste great!

 

[pwortiz]

Eh. Don’t worry about light or dark brown sugar. The batch I just kegged was with light. Still taste great!

It great to see you back, man!

 

[pwortiz]

I built this out in Brewers Friend and have it mentally scheduled to try and get done sometime this month. 16 lbs is the limit of what my foundry will take (at least according to the manual) so it should be interesting?

My LHBS doesn't have the CaraAroma, so I'm looking to replace with Weyermann's Caramunich II.
and..I saw mention of it, but I'm not aware of the actual difference between Light vs. Dark Brown sugar. Will the taste profile change a lot? I'm not certain which I actually have.

View attachment 693768

I have tried subbing out the CaraAroma and will avoid that as much as possible from ever doing again. My LHBS also doesn't carry so i order from Adventures In Homebrewing. It surprises me how much of a difference that grain makes. Also as J1 stated, dark and light brown don't seem to have an impact as i have used both based on what I had on hand.

 

[j1laskey]

Cheers

 

[Immocles]

This brew has got to happen for me before the end of this year. I have the recipe saved in beersmith, maybe next round of ingredient purchases I will need to make this one a reality.