Problems with Mesquite Smoked chili Dog Lager
I like spicy chili dogs with a crisp bitter lager, and
maybe a little lime spritzed on top, and grilling the
hot dogs over mesquite wood. So I thought why not combine
all the flavors in a beer? Here is my recipe and
process:
7lbs Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner
2lbs " Munich malt
.5 oz 10%aa Northern Brewer hops 60 min
.5 oz 5%aa Hersbrucker 10 min
.5 oz 5%aa Hersbrucker 1 min
4 chunks of mesquite wood 3" by 1"
1 Fenway Frank
2 oz grated cheese (mexi mix)
1 cup homemade chili (jalepeno pepper, beef, beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic
but unsalted).
Juice of 2 limes
(didn't think I'd need to put in a roll, there's already plenty
of grain in there ha ha)
Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils
Distilled water, a little CaCl to help acidify the mash
Made a 2L starter starting about 4 days before brew day.
I put lighter fluid on the mesquite and let them burn
for about 10 min, then put them in the mash.
Mashed at 120 30 min then ~153 for an hour.
I did a normal boil of ~5.5 gal, hopped as above, cooled
to 50 with my immersion chiller followed by putting the
carboy in an ice bath. While the boil was going, I pureed
the food ingredients and warmed them to 160 to pasteurize,
then cooled with lid on and put them into the wort after
cooling but before pitching.
I was worried that there might be some preservatives in the
food that might inhibit the yeast but it seemed to go fine.
Maybe all that protein was good yeast food!
Two weeks in primary at 48-50, then 2 days at about 72, then
bottled, 1 week at 60, then 3 weeks at 30-31 in my temp
controlled deep freeze.
Everything looked normal except of course the color, and also the
massive amount of gross looking crap that settled in the
carboy - yeast plus food I guess.
The only problem is - it tastes like s---. I mean, it tastes
like Hersbrucker hops mixed with a slightly sweet, cheesey,
lime-ish feces taste, just enough to make you gag. I know it's
still beer and I shouldn't toss it down the sink, but I'm going
to let it age cold for another month and then if it doesn't
improve, I'm tossing it.
Any suggestions for getting those flavors in a beer reliably?
I didn't malt my own barley this time, but I don't think that's it,
My water is distilled, the yeast I've used before with no
problem. Maybe try an ale recipe/yeast?
Chris
I like spicy chili dogs with a crisp bitter lager, and
maybe a little lime spritzed on top, and grilling the
hot dogs over mesquite wood. So I thought why not combine
all the flavors in a beer? Here is my recipe and
process:
7lbs Weyermann Bohemian Pilsner
2lbs " Munich malt
.5 oz 10%aa Northern Brewer hops 60 min
.5 oz 5%aa Hersbrucker 10 min
.5 oz 5%aa Hersbrucker 1 min
4 chunks of mesquite wood 3" by 1"
1 Fenway Frank
2 oz grated cheese (mexi mix)
1 cup homemade chili (jalepeno pepper, beef, beans, tomatoes, onion, garlic
but unsalted).
Juice of 2 limes
(didn't think I'd need to put in a roll, there's already plenty
of grain in there ha ha)
Wyeast 2278 Czech Pils
Distilled water, a little CaCl to help acidify the mash
Made a 2L starter starting about 4 days before brew day.
I put lighter fluid on the mesquite and let them burn
for about 10 min, then put them in the mash.
Mashed at 120 30 min then ~153 for an hour.
I did a normal boil of ~5.5 gal, hopped as above, cooled
to 50 with my immersion chiller followed by putting the
carboy in an ice bath. While the boil was going, I pureed
the food ingredients and warmed them to 160 to pasteurize,
then cooled with lid on and put them into the wort after
cooling but before pitching.
I was worried that there might be some preservatives in the
food that might inhibit the yeast but it seemed to go fine.
Maybe all that protein was good yeast food!
Two weeks in primary at 48-50, then 2 days at about 72, then
bottled, 1 week at 60, then 3 weeks at 30-31 in my temp
controlled deep freeze.
Everything looked normal except of course the color, and also the
massive amount of gross looking crap that settled in the
carboy - yeast plus food I guess.
The only problem is - it tastes like s---. I mean, it tastes
like Hersbrucker hops mixed with a slightly sweet, cheesey,
lime-ish feces taste, just enough to make you gag. I know it's
still beer and I shouldn't toss it down the sink, but I'm going
to let it age cold for another month and then if it doesn't
improve, I'm tossing it.
Any suggestions for getting those flavors in a beer reliably?
I didn't malt my own barley this time, but I don't think that's it,
My water is distilled, the yeast I've used before with no
problem. Maybe try an ale recipe/yeast?
Chris
