Troeg's Mad Elf

[Madsciontst]

Just finished up my brew day of Mad Elf. I think everything went really well. Can't wait to drink it.

 

[seckert]

Just finished up my brew day of Mad Elf. I think everything went really well. Can't wait to drink it.

I brewed this yesterday as well...I didn't quite get the 1.1 OG though that the recipe says. I was at 1.095 still going to be a pretty powerful brew though! Which yeast did you use? starter or no?

 

[Madsciontst]

I used wl530 but i didn't use a starter. I hope it works.

 

[seckert]

I used wl530 but i didn't use a starter. I hope it works.

I used the Wyeast 3787 and made a starter...it is going full steam ahead now! probably more activity than I have ever heard before...

let me know how yours turns out since you used a different yeast with no starter. if it works then it would save some time.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

I used the Wyeast 3787 and made a starter...it is going full steam ahead now! probably more activity than I have ever heard before...

let me know how yours turns out since you used a different yeast with no starter. if it works then it would save some time.

Great! I knew that yeast starter would rip through that wort!

I'm sure both of your brews will be great!

 

[seckert]

Great! I knew that yeast starter would rip through that wort!

I'm sure both of your brews will be great!

Rip through is an understatement! i put on a blow off tube yesterday just in case...this morning the jar i had the tube going into was over flowing with krausen! good thing i had it all on a towel...so i cleaned it all up and put blow off tube back on...wondering what it will look like when i get home today.
i think if i had to do it again i wouldnt have made a starter since it fermenting almost too vigorously for comfort...lol

 

[Madsciontst]

The first 24 hours not much activity but after that it took off. The fermentation is crazy.

 

[seckert]

The first 24 hours not much activity but after that it took off. The fermentation is crazy.

maybe the difference was the starter? i pitched mine Sat evening and Sunday morning it was already going crazy and got worse and worse during the day...by Monday morning is when i had a mess...now this morning there is still activity, but it is slowing down. so this evening i will take off blow tube and put airlock on...

 

[Madsciontst]

Mine is still crazy. The airlock blew off the carboy.I have to get a blowoff tube.

 

[NervousDad]

Has anyone brewed this with a clean yeast strain? I know this beer is built on that spice and I really enjoy it, but sometime the spicy yeast gets to me.

 

[seckert]

yes a blow off tube is a must for this recipe i believe! lol

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

yes a blow off tube is a must for this recipe i believe! lol

I do not ferment without a blowoff tube. The rapid fermentation you got is great and will more than likely result in a very clean and focused beer with all of the right esters. The only downside of using the blowoff tube is that is leaves only a little yeast behind to harvest. I am still trying to figure out a way to harvest yeast from a blowoff tube but ensuring it is sanitary has been proven problematic.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

Has anyone brewed this with a clean yeast strain? I know this beer is built on that spice and I really enjoy it, but sometime the spicy yeast gets to me.

You wont get even close to the same beer but you could brew this with WLP001 Cali ale yeast. Troegs uses a slight modification of this strain as their house yeast.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

I found an interesting article on belgian strong ales and yeast. Thought it would be relevant to the yeast starter discussion:

http://byo.com/stories/item/1664-yeast-strains-for-belgian-strong-ales

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

Just picked up my first Mad Elf six pack of the year! It's out so early! We'll have to do a swap: one mad elf for one mad elf clone.

 

[joyceman]

Anyone have any advice on how long to leave this on the cherries? Last year I did a week and didnt get the color or flavor I wanted.

One source Ive read advises you to leave it on the cherries until they drop. That could take months. Most recipes recommend a week or two. I was thinking secondary on the cherries two weeks with a tertiary to drop off any leftover cherry matter.

 

[wobrien]

Not sure how long you need for the flavor, but the color is coming from the chocolate malt, per my understanding. I think two weeks should be sufficient

 

[seckert]

I am going to put my cherries on the secondary and leave for at least 3 weeks. then move it over to the keg. I will let you guys know if this time table works. how exactly would the choc malt give a ruby red color though? you have to get some of the red from the cherries to get the correct color...at least that's my thinking...

 

[Madsciontst]

Its been six days and it is still bubbling away. I am doing 2 weeks primary and 2 in the secondary with cherries, then 2 more for bottle conditioning.
So what do you brew after you brew this?

 

[seckert]

Its been six days and it is still bubbling away. I am doing 2 weeks primary and 2 in the secondary with cherries, then 2 more for bottle conditioning.
So what do you brew after you brew this?

Mine is still bubbling too...haha! I am going to leave mine in the primary for 3 weeks so the yeast can clean up after themselves since it is still bubbling so much. then 3 weeks in secondary, but that is because it will go into the keg and start being served 2 days after.

I have thought about I was going to brew after this. I am thinking something that is a lot lower ABV...

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

I'm working up a recipe for a black lager soon. After three 7.5%+ brews (Peat smoked Scotch @ 22%, Belgian style Dubbel @ 8%, and a porter at 7.8%) I figure I could use something in the 5% range.

how exactly would the choc malt give a ruby red color though? you have to get some of the red from the cherries to get the correct color...at least that's my thinking...

You may be right. I am sure that the cherries impart a color to the beer but i figured the chocolate would give it a reddish hue as well.

You guys brewed the thing, what was the color of the mash?

 

[wobrien]

I don't know the science behind it, but I've read and through personal experience that a small amount of dark malts will give a red color to the beer. If you use too much it will be dark and go brown.

 

[NervousDad]

Chocolate malt will definitely give you a red color. This was an ESB that I did with chocolate malt and it came out very red.

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

Nice pic NervousDad! Like I said earlier in this thread, Troegs' signature in its best beers is chocolate malt for color and flavor. I'm sure the cherries add some red but this ESB is actually pretty close to the color of Mad Elf; maybe a little lighter.

 

[seckert]

Ok then..maybe it will be red from the Choc then...haha
It didnt look like it would be when brewing it, but then again the beer will change as it ferments so i guess i will see here in a month or so...

 

[wobrien]

Ok then..maybe it will be red from the Choc then...haha
It didnt look like it would be when brewing it, but then again the beer will change as it ferments so i guess i will see here in a month or so...

It'll prob look darker in bulk, but will be lighter in a glass or bottle. How did it look in the tube for a gravity sample?

If it was dark in the small sample, we might want to scale back the chocolate malt a bit. Another reason could be an extended boil/scorching some of the wort. Just some thoughts to consider.

 

[seckert]

honestly I don't remember what it looked like when I took OG sample...mostly because at that time I thought the red was coming from cherries...I do know I should have used 3 oz of Choc Malt and I believe the LHBS gave me 4 oz at least that is what they wrote down on side of bag. I hope it doesn't come out brown as that would be super depressing.
it is a long boil at 90 min, but I am pretty anal about stirring the wort pretty often so I don't scorch.
I wish I remembered what my sample looked like...

 

[oelfool]

What level of carbonation are you guys shooting for? I'm planning on bottling (and sampling!) in a few days.

 

[seckert]

What level of carbonation are you guys shooting for? I'm planning on bottling (and sampling!) in a few days.

It has been so long since i had the real stuff i dont even remember where it was at carbonation wise...i will probably force keg it at 30 for one day then drop to serving at 10. if it needs more then i will just up the gas for another day and try it again.

Im thinking for bottling maybe try 3.5-4 oz of priming sugar for the batch, I remember this beer not being too highly carbed. inputs?

 

[WissaBrewGuy]

I'm cracking one open tonight and I'll let you guys know but thinking back to last week when I drank one, it is a medium belgian carb level. I would pin it at around 2.8-3.2 Vol CO2. I don't know how that translates to kegging as I still bottle condition everything but I would probably use around 5.5oz (~3/4Cup) of Corn Sugar for a perfect 5gal bottling volume. Again, I will report back tonight on my up-to-date opinion.