Souchong Smoke Bomb

[biochemedic]

Great to hear it! I just finished building my new mash tun, and I think this recipe will be my inaugural all-grain batch...

 

[fineexampl]

Great to hear it! I just finished building my new mash tun, and I think this recipe will be my inaugural all-grain batch...

just be careful! i kid you not when i say this is REEEEEEEEEEALLY smokey! If you don't age this it will taste like bongwater. I kegged mine in July and only just this past week tapped it. It's not an easy drinker. You really have to love smoke.


While i absolutely love this beer, and i mean that, i would not brew it the same way.

What would i do different? NO to liquid smoke...NO to peated malt. I'd also swap in some other smoked malt, but something more akin to a rauchbier. The souchong tea is fine IMO and is the soul of this brew.

 

[biochemedic]

just be careful! i kid you not when i say this is REEEEEEEEEEALLY smokey! If you don't age this it will taste like bongwater. I kegged mine in July and only just this past week tapped it. It's not an easy drinker. You really have to love smoke.


While i absolutely love this beer, and i mean that, i would not brew it the same way.

What would i do different? NO to liquid smoke...NO to peated malt. I'd also swap in some other smoked malt, but something more akin to a rauchbier. The souchong tea is fine IMO and is the soul of this brew.

Yeah, I had already planned on using all rauchmalt and eliminating the peat, and no liquid smoke. You must mean that, theoretically, you could compare this to what you must *imagine* bongwater must taste like...:cross: Here is what I'm planning...hopefully going to brew on Saturday:

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.25
Anticipated OG: 1.078 Plato: 18.88
Anticipated SRM: 14.4
Anticipated IBU: 65.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
67.9 9.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
15.1 2.00 lbs. Smoked(Bamberg) Germany 1.037 9
7.5 1.00 lbs. Candi Sugar (clear) Generic 1.046 1
3.8 0.50 lbs. Special B Malt Belgian 1.030 180
3.8 0.50 lbs. Wheat Malt Germany 1.039 2
1.9 0.25 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 oz. Nugget Whole 13.00 25.5 60 min.
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 13.00 13.0 30 min.
0.50 oz. Simcoe Plug 13.40 13.7 30 min.
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 13.00 4.3 5 min.
0.50 oz. Nugget Whole 13.00 4.3 5 min.
0.50 oz. Simcoe Plug 13.40 4.5 5 min.
0.50 oz. Nugget Whole 13.00 0.0 Dry Hop
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 13.00 0.0 Dry Hop
0.50 oz. Simcoe Plug 13.40 0.0 Dry Hop

Extras
Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.00 Oz Lapsong Souschong Tea Spice 5 Min.(boil)
1.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 10 Min.(boil)
0.50 Oz Corriander Seed Spice 5 Min.(boil)

Yeast
-----
WYeast 1056 Amercan Ale/Chico (Maybe I'll just use the US-05...been using some dry yeast on my recent meads, and it's pretty nice to just be able to pitch an extra pack to get your pitch rate up without having to do a starter!)

Notes
-----
Recipe is based on "Souchong Smoke Bomb" by fineexampl on HomeBrewTalk. Recipie downloaded 09/23/10:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f77/souchong-smoke-bomb-172760/
I wanted a little less intense smokiness, so substituted all rauchmalt for the peat, and left out the liquid smoke.
Slighlty varied the hop schedule (removed Cascade in favor of Nugget/Simcoe, and added in some Chinook to stay a little more in the piney vein of flavors.)

 

[fineexampl]

Yeah, I had already planned on using all rauchmalt and eliminating the peat, and no liquid smoke. You must mean that, theoretically, you could compare this to what you must *imagine* bongwater must taste like...:cross: Here is what I'm planning...hopefully going to brew on Saturday:

Recipe Specifics
----------------
Batch Size (Gal): 5.00 Wort Size (Gal): 5.00
Total Grain (Lbs): 13.25
Anticipated OG: 1.078 Plato: 18.88
Anticipated SRM: 14.4
Anticipated IBU: 65.2
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75 %
Wort Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Grain/Extract/Sugar
% Amount Name Origin Potential SRM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
67.9 9.00 lbs. Pale Malt(2-row) Great Britain 1.038 3
15.1 2.00 lbs. Smoked(Bamberg) Germany 1.037 9
7.5 1.00 lbs. Candi Sugar (clear) Generic 1.046 1
3.8 0.50 lbs. Special B Malt Belgian 1.030 180
3.8 0.50 lbs. Wheat Malt Germany 1.039 2
1.9 0.25 lbs. Cara-Pils Dextrine Malt 1.033 2

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
0.50 oz. Nugget Whole 13.00 25.5 60 min.
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 13.00 13.0 30 min.
0.50 oz. Simcoe Plug 13.40 13.7 30 min.
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 13.00 4.3 5 min.
0.50 oz. Nugget Whole 13.00 4.3 5 min.
0.50 oz. Simcoe Plug 13.40 4.5 5 min.
0.50 oz. Nugget Whole 13.00 0.0 Dry Hop
0.50 oz. Chinook Whole 13.00 0.0 Dry Hop
0.50 oz. Simcoe Plug 13.40 0.0 Dry Hop

Extras
Amount Name Type Time
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
2.00 Oz Lapsong Souschong Tea Spice 5 Min.(boil)
1.00 Unit(s)Whirlfloc Fining 10 Min.(boil)
0.50 Oz Corriander Seed Spice 5 Min.(boil)

Yeast
-----
WYeast 1056 Amercan Ale/Chico (Maybe I'll just use the US-05...been using some dry yeast on my recent meads, and it's pretty nice to just be able to pitch an extra pack to get your pitch rate up without having to do a starter!)

Notes
-----
Recipe is based on "Souchong Smoke Bomb" by fineexampl on HomeBrewTalk. Recipie downloaded 09/23/10:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f77/souchong-smoke-bomb-172760/
I wanted a little less intense smokiness, so substituted all rauchmalt for the peat, and left out the liquid smoke.
Slighlty varied the hop schedule (removed Cascade in favor of Nugget/Simcoe, and added in some Chinook to stay a little more in the piney vein of flavors.)

Awesome! I really like the changes you made. I think it'll end up in a more well rounded beer. I'll likely use the same formula when i rebrew it eventually.

I'll be drinking more of this tonight with some pork loin. It should accentuate the flavors nicely.

 

[smokinghole]

Don't be afraid of the peat just be sure you like the flavor. I used a pound in a beer over the summer and I LOVE the flavor. I will actually bump it up to 1.5lbs this next batch and age it longer with oak. The peat smoked malt I used was from Brewmaster's warehouse. It's my understanding that there are two types of peat smoked malt and one is more intense than the other. I don't know what one is at BMW but 1lb was noticeable but delicious!

 

[biochemedic]

Awesome! I really like the changes you made. I think it'll end up in a more well rounded beer. I'll likely use the same formula when i rebrew it eventually.

I'll be drinking more of this tonight with some pork loin. It should accentuate the flavors nicely.

Thx...I went to the LHBS today and bought ingredients. They were out of Chinook, so I had to make do with just Nugget and Simcoe. Also, I've been wanting to try this "hopbursting" concept (getting the same IBU level from all late additions)...was going to do it with a modified version of my usual DIPA, but I figured what the hey... My actual hop schedule will get 66.3 IBU's and will be:

Hops
Amount Name Form Alpha IBU Boil Time
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
1.50 oz. Nugget Pellet 12.70 33.2 25 min.
1.00 oz. Simcoe Pellet 12.20 17.7 20 min.
1.00 oz. Nugget Pellet 12.70 11.0 10 min.
0.50 oz. Simcoe Pellet 12.20 4.4 5 min.
0.50 oz. Nugget Pellet 12.70 0.0 0 min.
0.50 oz. Nugget Pellet 12.70 0.0 Dry Hop
0.50 oz. Simcoe Pellet 12.20 0.0 Dry Hop

Notes
-----
Recipe is based on "Souchong Smoke Bomb" by fineexampl on HomeBrewTalk. Recipe downloaded 09/23/10:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f77/souchong-smoke-bomb-172760/
Wanted a little less intense smokiness, so substituted all rauchmalt for the peat, and left out the liquid smoke. Slighlty varied the hop schedule (removed Cascade in favor of Nugget/Simcoe (had originally planned on Chinook also, but was not available at the LHBS at time of this first attempt.) Have adopted a "hopburst-style" hopping schedule as well.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm getting really excited for Saturday...I was looking at my notes, and I actually haven't brewed a beer since late August! If it weren't for the mead and cider I've done in the fall, I'd probably be brew-stir-crazy!

 

[biochemedic]

Don't be afraid of the peat just be sure you like the flavor.

I'm afraid of the peat! I may have to try adding a small amount to one of my porter or stout recipes just to see...

 

[biochemedic]

8:30 am...still a bit chilly (~28*F) here in NC this AM. Heating mash water, and will be doughing in soon! Will post my impressions of my first all-grain process later...

 

[JadeMonkeyStang]

I'm really glad to hear this turned out well, it sounds very interesting. Let me know if you're interested in doing a bottle swap or something as I'd really like to try it. Glad to hear you got your draft system going as well!

 

[fineexampl]

I'm really glad to hear this turned out well, it sounds very interesting. Let me know if you're interested in doing a bottle swap or something as I'd really like to try it. Glad to hear you got your draft system going as well!

If i can ever grab a counterpressure filler, i'd definitely swap.

The longer this has sat in the cold keg and the more the carbonation takes hold the better this gets. I have it right now about the carb level of an English bitter and i pulled two full pints last night.

Any flaws? I'm not really sure. There's something there, but i think it's just the smoke overload. It has some chill haze, but i don't care about that.

So now that this was for the most part a success, my currently pressurizing "Wabbit Saison" is carbing and should be ready soon.

 

[biochemedic]

OK...I couldn't help myself, and I pulled a gravity sample (mostly just 'cause I really wanted a taste!) All I can say is: WOW...it's *awesome*!!!

Nice smoky, hoppy/citrusy aroma... The flavor? Nice citrus from the hops and corriander, and it's still a little smokier than the average rauchbeer, but not overwhelming or onerous (at least to me). It's on the thin side for mouthfeel, and perceives pretty dry (probably due to the candi sugar, and the fact that my mash temp dropped pretty low for the last 15-20 min -- I opened the tun up to stir, and it was pretty cold that day -- went down to 148*F towards that end. The FG for now is 1.012.) It's still smoky enough that if you were looking for more subtle you could probably cut back to a pound of rauchmalt...between that and the souchong there would still be an easily perceived smokiness.

I probably wouldn't change much on a second attempt...I can't wait to finish conditioning and bottle it! I was going to dry hop, but I don't think it really even needs it with the hopburst hopping schedule I used.

 

[Clarkd]

I'm really liking the look of this one. Going to try smoking the malt myself and see how that comes out. Going to have to do it a little different due to the hops, although I could order some in you folks don't approve of my substitutions, let me know what you think.....!

9.00 lbs. Pale Malt
2.00 lbs. Smoked Malt
1.00 lbs. Corn Sugar
0.50 lbs. Special B Malt
0.50 lbs. Wheat Malt
0.25 lbs. Cara-Pils

1 oz Chinook (60)
.5 oz Chinook (30)
.5 oz Cascade (30)
1 oz Cascade (15)
1 Oz Cascade (5)

2.00 Oz Lapsong Souschong Tea (5)
1.00 Whirlfloc (10)
0.50 Oz Corriander (5)

2 packs of s-05


Clark

 

[fineexampl]

I'm very glad that at least a few people are digging a recipe i came up with. I'm pretty flattered, to say the least, especially since my homebrew club was a 50/50 split on liking/hating it.

For my original version, as it's been here for a while, i'm a little tired of it. However, i'm beginning to think that my main problem was probably the liquid smoke above all as i'm seeing more and more people using peated malt and now i'm starting to see applewood smoked malt and other malts like it popping up here and there. I think a winter smoked porter might land in my little brewery soon to replace this recipe in my book.

 

[Clarkd]

Thank you for putting the idea out there! I just made the ingredient order for what I am missing, had to change things up again a little due to availability but ended up with changing the chinook above for columbus and went with Maris Otter Pale Malt. Also went with S-05. Brew day will be next Saturday, will update then!

Clark

 

[biochemedic]

I think a winter smoked porter might land in my little brewery soon to replace this recipe in my book.

Don't replace it, modify it! (Not to say a smoked porter doesn't sound good too...) I think the issue was that you went a bit over the top with your first attempt..the dialed down version is very drinkable...

I've had mine in the bottle for about a month and a half...I've killed about 7/8th's of the batch, and will probably kick the final amount when I have some friends over to brew in a couple weekends. There have been a few others who've tried it, and the response has been uniformly positive....