Tequila inspired ale

[Grod1]

Anyone out there have any tequila esk ale recipes/maybe margarita esk?
Anyone want to make one with me?
# smoked malt/lime zest/ salt/ tequila soaked oak chips/
Real Wild Heirloom Raw Agave

 

[November]

Last couple summers, I've made a simple light lager recipe then added a healthy dose of anejo. I like the combo, it addes an oaky tequila kick at the end to an otherwise light thirst quenching beer.

 

[Grod1]

a healthy dose being like 1/3 -1/2 a bottle to a 5-7 gallon batch?

 

[November]

That sounds close. I think I usually use a whole bottle but that's for 15 gallons.

 

[radwizard]

I brewed a Farmhouse style beer with Imperial's Loki Yeast about a month and a half ago. I added lime zest, and tequila after primary. It is aging on Oak and Brett right now. It is looking promising.

 

[Grod1]

I want a slight smoked flavor but im hesitant to use smoked malt.I dont have one im happy with or how much would be appropriate.I'm thinking straight 001 for a nice neutral flavor. I think im going to use as much as 30% agave in the recipe.Anyone have a suggestion for hops or a ibu range to aim for.
salt?
lime?

 

[Grod1]

I got my wild raw agave yesterday. I immediately put 7#s in 7gallons of warm water.I am going to give that until Sunday and see what it does on its own. That will be blended to a 22 gallon batch. 8% Margarita esk ale
i still have to make a recipe but i think im going with 25% agave 15# 2 row 15#golden promise 15# pilsner malt and anywhere from 1-5% on carapills/ acid/ aromatic.

so i have one vote for dump a bottle into the finished product.
no one else on here game to discuss recipes or ingredients?

 

[Grod1]

so I brewed today, thank you all for the intelligent conversation/ suggestions...

Style Name: American Strong Ale
Boil Time: 60 min
Batch Size: 30 gallons (fermentor volume)
Boil Size: 32 gallons(22/10)
Boil Gravity: 1.080
Efficiency: 69% (brew house)


STATS:
Original Gravity: 1.085
Final Gravity: 1.019
ABV (standard): 8.61%
IBU (tinseth): 9.84
SRM (morey): 5.22

FERMENTABLES:
24 lb - Agave Nectar (32.7%)
13 lb - American - Pale 2-Row (17.7%)
28 lb - United Kingdom - Golden Promise (38.2%)
2.5 lb - German - Acidulated Malt (3.4%)
2.25 lb - German - CaraFoam (3.1%)
10 oz - American - Aromatic Malt (0.9%)
3 lb - Dry Malt Extract - Pilsen (4.1%)

HOPS:
30 g - Centennial, Boil for 60 min,
15 g - Centennial, Boil for 50 min,
15 g - Centennial, 15 min, I
30 g - Hallertau, Boil for 15 min,
30 g - Styrian Goldings, Boil for 15 min,
10 g - Centennial, Boil for 3 min, \
10 g Hallertau, : Boil for 3 min,
10 g - Styrian Goldings, Boil for 3 min,

MASH GUIDELINES:
1) Temp: 153 F, Time: 75 min, Amount: 1.6 qt, 2 mash tuns half batch half fly sparge

OTHER INGREDIENTS:
60 g - salt 2.25gram per gallon, Time: 10 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Boil
1200 ml - lime juice , Time: 10 min, Type: Flavor, Use: Boil
1 oz - yeast nutrient , Time: 12 min, Type: Other, Use: Boil

YEAST:
White Labs - California Ale Yeast WLP001
6.5#s
Form: Liquid generation 8
Attenuation (avg): 76.5%
Flocculation: Medium
Optimum Temp: 68 - 73 F

 

[FatDragon]

A highly-experimental 1 barrel homebrew recipe? Awesome!

Does agave nectar give agave flavors in beer? I thought I'd heard that it's typically just used as a simple sugar with little to no flavor contribution, though I've never seen it above ~5% in a recipe so you're in a different territory here. Either way, with over 30% nectar and a 153 mash temp, I wouldn't be surprised if 001 gives you ~100% apparent attenuation for something closer to 11-12% ABV. My guess is that you would have had to mash at 160 to even stand a chance of finishing as high as your recipe suggests.

I'd definitely let it ferment out and give it a taste or three first, but you've already gone this far so I'm gonna throw my vote in for adding a bottle. In fact, I'm gonna take it a step further: you should soak at least half a pound of oak cubes in the tequila and then let the beer sit on the oak for a month or so. The only tequila beer I've had was a tequila barrel IPA (that leaned far more toward tequila than IPA) on cask at a place in Arizona and the tequila and oak flavors were definitely the high points of the beer (and I'm not even a tequila guy).

 

[Grod1]

oh yeah I 100% agree on oak chips soaked in tequila and added after fermentation.
also half of this will be soured thats why i kept the ibus under 11.
This beer cost me $100 so far so a decent bottle of tequila+ oak cubes could come close to doubling the cost iof the brew.
I still have 25#s of wild raw agave nectar to play with.

 

[Braufessor]

I always thought a lime gose aged in a tequila barrel might be interesting.

 

[FatDragon]

oh yeah I 100% agree on oak chips soaked in tequila and added after fermentation.
also half of this will be soured thats why i kept the ibus under 11.
This beer cost me $100 so far so a decent bottle of tequila+ oak cubes could come close to doubling the cost iof the brew.
I still have 25#s of wild raw agave nectar to play with.

Why wouldn't a fifth of some cheap tequila that punches above its price range be good enough? You don't need a sipping tequila - you're mixing at less than 1% of the total volume so as long as it's not some godforsaken rotgut you should be fine. As for oak, chips are pretty cheap and work pretty well. You can simulate the complexity of cubes by tossing some light-medium toast in an oven at 225-250F and pulling out a portion every five to ten minutes, though you'll still need to be aware of the quicker extraction rates of chips versus cubes thanks to the increased surface area.

With a relatively cheap bottle and oak chips instead of cubes, you could do the oak/tequila part for about $30. The final product might be a little better if you drop $20 on oak cubes and $70 on a top-shelf bottle, but I doubt it would make a big difference unless you're using a lot more than one bottle in 30 gallons.

 

[Grod1]

k say my LHBS only had oak chips 4oz-$2 so thats what i got. I decided on mescal and not tequila because i wanted a slightly smokey flavor from the beginning. I bought the cheapest one at the liquor store my options were 33$ 46$ and 55$ so i went with Sombra mezcal for $33.
this brings the cost up to 140$ for 30 gallons.
the chips are soaking in water as per instructions and i will soak them in the mezcal shortly.Tomorrow it will all be dumped into the 1 barrel fermenter.

 

[Grod1]

Pulled a sample today, gravity of 1.014
tasted sweet and pleasant. I would say sweet is the main flavor but with a hint of complexity. I would say i do taste the agave as an ingredient. Its a stretch to say it taste like tequila but with 83% attenuation- 9.3% alc your mind(my mind) does associate it with tequila its pretty damn dangerous/ drinkable. One co-worker said they smell the lime. One co-worker said they tasted the salt. i didn't taste/smell either. Right now its sitting on 700 mls( i drank 50) of sombra mezcal and 8 oz oak chips. the mezcal was so smokey that i did not enjoy it but i think that will be perfect for the whole lot.
at some point this week i will dump yeast,pull some for souring and dry hop to be kegged.

 

[triethylborane]

Wow, this looks quite good. Its a bit late to mention a brand of tequila, but espolon is really rocking my don julio predilection, amazing sipping tequila at a fair price.

 

[Grod1]

pulled kegs for souring today and dry hopped.
Fat dragon you were right it attenuated to 1.008 its 10.11% ABV. + the bottle of mezcal
I am very pleased with this beer. very pleasant feedback from the warm no crab samples handed out.
After pulling the two 7 gallon platic kegs i added an additional 175 ml of lime juice.
Its only getting dry hopped over night so i went a little heavy.(i also grabbed the wrong box :head slap: )
8 oz mosaic(meant to be Citra)
4.75 centennial(i only wanted 2 but they poured out quick)
each sour got a mix of two very different house blends consisting of bootleg biology cultures + dregs
I am not sure if it is necessary to add anything to the sours since there is only 10% of the sugar left(un-fermentable by sacc). I would love any input from anyone who has an opinion.

 

[V-Fib]

I just hope it turns out better for you then the AB released Tequiza from the 90s or early 2000s.

It is different then anything I'd attempt but it sounds like your on to something with it.

 

[Grod1]

I haven't had it in a couple of years but Fortuna from Avery Brewing Company is one of my favorite sours. not that this will taste anything like it but it's probably what inspired me to brew it.
As long as it doesn't taste bad the clean beer at 10%+ will be gone quick, even if just for the tequila novelty. i never had a Tequiza but judging by the reviews i might not have brewed this if i had.

do you think i should add agave or fruit to the sours?

 

[Grod1]

hey guys just wanted to update this.The beer got a rating of 4 on untapped my favorite description someone gave "Lime on the nose, mezcal smokiness & sweet agave sweetness! Very tasty, dangerously smooth!"
the first 13 gallons are gone and another 14 gallons are aging with sour bugs right meow
i would do this recipe again