Sierra Nevada Narwhal Recipe (directly from SN)

[cactusgarrett]

I’ve been coming up empty in attempts to find a recipe for Sierra Nevada’s Narwhal, and after contacting them directly, got some pretty good guidance from their brewing team. There are a few gaps, making it not as complete recipe as I’d like, so I thought I’d put this out there for us to noodle on to nail down something more concrete. From SN:

OG: 24.0 Plato (1.096)
FG: 6.0 Plato (1.024)
ABV: 10.2%
IBU: 55

Grainbill
Pale 2-row 75%
Caramel 60L 8%
Honey Malt 4%
Chocolate Malt 4%
Roast Barley 4%
Carafa III 4%
Smoked Barley 1%

Mash at 152F

Boil
0 min: Mandarina Bavaria
120 min: Sterling
150 min: Sterling & Sucrose (to get to 24.0 Plato)
210 min: Whirlpool

California Ale yeast
62°F pump-in; 68°F ferment

Here, what I think, are the key pieces missing to make this a complete recipe:

• Mash length – I don’t think anything longer than 60min would be necessary at 152°F.
• Smoked malt – I was surprised to see this, as it’s not stated on the beer’s page. I would guess something smooth & subtle is needed here (ie avoid malts smoked with peat).
• Sucrose - The amount needed to theoretically hit 24.0 P was about 9% (after plugging this all into BeerSmith) - about 6 oz more than the C60 amount.
• Hops – I was a bit surprised to see a completely different hop bill from what the site says (Cascade, Ekuanot, Magnum). I also didn’t get any direction on how much bitterness (IBU) to shoot for at each addition, and with a 3.5 hr boil, there’s a LOT of room to play. Here’s my first-pass attempt:

210 min Mandarina Bavaria @ 25 IBU
90 min Sterling @ 15 IBU
60 min Sterling @ 15 IBU
60 min Sucrose
0 min knockout

What else?

 

[cmac62]

I think at 1% smoked malt you can leave it out and it wouldn't make a discernable difference. Especially with the chocolate and RB. Why not use good bittering hops only, it's not like your gonna taste the difference at 210, 90 or 60. Also I would think a beer this big will need more bittering, of course I've never boiled hops for 210 mins so I don't know what they do after 60.

 

[3 Dawg Night]

Interesting. I plugged it into Brewer's Friend for another data point. I get the following recipe:

OG 1.096
FG 1.018
ABV 11.2%
IBU 64
SRM 50
5.5 gal into the fermenter
74% BH efficiency (although, I'd expect an efficiency drop with a huge beer like this)

12 lb 2-Row
1.5 lb C60
0.75 lb Honey Malt
0.75 lb Chocolate (350L)
0.75 lb Roasted Barley (300L)
0.75 lb Carafa III
3 oz Beech-Smoked Barley
2 lb Sucrose (in the boil kettle)

1 oz Mandarina Bavaria 8.5AA @ 210 min
0.5 oz Sterling 8.7AA @ 90 min
0.5 oz Sterling 8.7AA @ 60 min

WLP001 in a 3.5L starter

I agree that a 60 minute mash ought to do it. Depending on the size of your MLT, you may need a thicker mash.

For the smoked malt, I think the old standby of beech-smoked is the way to go. 1% of a 5-gallon batch is only 3 oz, so I tend to agree with @cmac62 that you probably won't be able to even notice it. It lets you tell people it's a "smoked imperial stout," though.

I was able to get the OG to 1.096 using malt only, but I added the "C60+6oz" amount of sucrose you recommend above. I guess that will dry it out some?

Again I'm in agreement with @cmac62 that it probably doesn't matter what hops you use. Your last addition is at 60 min, so you probably won't get much (if any) flavor or aroma.

Interesting recipe/exercise! I hope you'll brew it and let us know how it turns out. If it's tasty, jump in on the next round of Fellowship of the Homebrew!

 

[InspectorJon]

I think the 3.5 hour boil is to increase mash efficiency but it also gives some Maillard reaction. More water for a thinner mash or more sparge water = more extraction. The breweries have their mash efficiencies down pretty good so can better predict OG and how much sugar to add. I would wait to end of boil and measure gravity and then calculate sugar to add to get the desired OG.

They mention whirlpool. Does that imply a whirlpool hops addition? Otherwise why say whirlpool? The boil times are written oddly. I wonder if the Sterling is for bittering and the Mandarina Bavaria is a whirlpool hop. The Mandarina Bavaria seems like an odd bittering hop unless they just had a lot left and wanted to use it up.

 

[cactusgarrett]

They mention whirlpool. Does that imply a whirlpool hops addition? ...It seems like an odd bittering hop unless they just had a lot left and wanted to use it up.

For lack of more info, I took that to mean "knockout". Everything surrounding the hops considered (like how they're completely different from what the website says), I would venture a guess that similar hops will be perceived as the same since they're boiled 60-210 minutes.

I know many big stout makers rely on long boils for flavor development, but I've never been one myself. The idea just doesn't sound appealing to me. The first thing I thought of when I saw the recipe was what the impact of a decreased boil time would be.

 

[cmac62]

The first thing I thought of when I saw the recipe was what the impact of a decreased boil time would be.

Less boil off. Concerning the Maillard reactions, I thought these don't even start until 240? It is like kettle caramelization, it doesn't happen in a boiling watery solution.

 

[cactusgarrett]

Less boil off. Concerning the Maillard reactions, I thought these don't even start until 240? It is like kettle caramelization, it doesn't happen in a boiling watery solution.

I mean the impact to flavor, qualitatively. Specifically, what will I lose if I decide to do a 60-90min boil and adjust the hops to match IBU?

I used to think that about mailliard reaction, too, but then I was made aware that it happens at lower temp, just slower. It's like water evaporating: water boils at 212F, but that doesn't mean it needs to be at 212F to evaporate.

 

[cmac62]

I used to think that about mailliard reaction, too, but then I was made aware that it happens at lower temp, just slower. It's like water evaporating: water boils at 212F, but that doesn't mean it needs to be at 212F to evaporate.

Thanks Garrett, I have not heard that. It makes sense that a 3 hour boil would add a lot more for those flavors that a 1 hour boil.

 

[JAReeves]

If you are game, you could smoke your own malt. I have a Little Chief that my grandfather used for smoked fish. After a generous cleaning (No fishy beer!), I only use it now for smoking the malts for beers like my smoked porter.

I use Applewood Chips soaked in Irish Whiskey. I soak the dark grains overnight (about 3# of grain for a 5G batch), then put them on trays (aluminum foil with pinholes in it, 'cause I'm cheap )and give them 4-6 hours of cold smoke. Dry them in a 170F oven, spread thinly on sheet trays for another 8 hours or overnight, stirring every hour or so. Then keep them in a sealed container in the fridge or freezer for at least two weeks to smooth out the smoke flavor. It's a nice addition to a roasty beer, not dominant after the first month of bottle/keg aging. They get milled with the base/pale malts. You could even reserve the liquid left over from the soak as it's inky and roasty, but the malts still give up a lot of color and flavor in the mash without it.

 

[cmac62]

I've heard you can smoke grain in a treager or other smoker. I haven't tried it yet, but my understanding is use the lowest temp possible and smoke the malt on a cookie sheet in thin layer for 30 to an hour, then let cool and keep in a paper bag for a week or so to mellow.

 

[Nagorg]

Something tells me they are pulling your leg....

 

[cmac62]

Something tells me they are pulling your leg....

I don't see why not. My treager low/smoke setting is at 180* f, that shouldn't cause too much additional color and my thought is smoke is smoke. Does it really make a difference if it is hot or cold? Of course it may have some effect on the enzymes, so maybe hot smoke a lb or 2 and add that to a grist with enough 2 row or other base malt to convert the smoked as well.

Edit: Okay, that means I have to crank up the Treager this weekend and smoke a couple lbs of MO or Pils to see how it comes out.

 

[Nagorg]

I don't see why not. My treager low/smoke setting is at 180* f, that shouldn't cause too much additional color and my thought is smoke is smoke. Does it really make a difference if it is hot or cold? Of course it may have some effect on the enzymes, so maybe hot smoke a lb or 2 and add that to a grist with enough 2 row or other base malt to convert the smoked as well.

Edit: Okay, that means I have to crank up the Treager this weekend and smoke a couple lbs of MO or Pils to see how it comes out.

I think someone is pulling your leg about the Narwhal recipe... Smoking your own grain is legit!

 

[cactusgarrett]

For only 1% of the grainbill, I don't think I'll bother smoking my own.
Also, as some others have said, with that little, one could probably leave it out of this recipe and the drinker would be none the wiser. My palate isn't the best, but I don't perceive any smoke from Narwhal.

 

[chimicu]

Did the beer turn out good?

 

[cactusgarrett]

Honestly, it's phenomenal. I brewed this up at the end of Dec 2021, and I've STILL got it on tap, since I'm not going through a 10% stout hand over fist. The extra time has only improved it.