jkpq45
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- Mar 22, 2009
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OK Folks, here goes nothing... an AG idea I concocted all by meself, totally open to ideas.
Grain Bill:
5# Crisp Brown Barley Malt (Somewhere near L65)
0.25# Castle Black Barley Malt (L550)
2.5# Crystal Carapils (40L)
2# Whole Oats (malted and roasted at home... more on this below)
Adjuncts:
2# Extra Dark Brown Sugar
4 oz. dark molasses
Hops
0.75 oz Willamette - 60 mins from end of boil
0.75 oz Fuggle - 15 mins from end of boil
Yeast:
Safale S-05 American Ale (11g dry, rehydrated in starter for length of brew)
Primary:
5 whole star anise pods (remember that black licorice flavor?)
At bottling:
1/4c pure vanilla extract
3/4c dark brown sugar
Malting oats:
Soak overnight in warm water, spread out on sheet pans in direct sunlight, misting with fresh water daily to allow the grain to sprout. Once the sprout happens (and the then-malted grain tastes sweet) roast on sheet pans in 350*F oven, turning frequently, until a medium-brown color is achieved. Mill/crack via any method you prefer.
Brewing:
Combine malted oats and remainder of grains in cold water (1.5 qt/lb = 3.66 gallons) in mash tun and bring water slowly up to 145*F. Hold, stirring occasionally, for 90 minutes. Fly sparge with 1 qt/lb = 2.5 gallons water at 180*F water. Combine in boil kettle with brown sugar and molasses, boil for 90 mins total. Add hops per schedule. Pitch Safale yeast (plus starter) once chilled to ~70*F).
Add star anise pods to primary, ferment to completion, rack to bottling bucket with vanilla and 3/4c brown sugar. Age until I can't stand it any longer.
Now for the ideas:
1. A vacation of a week or two in the secondary with the vanilla wouldn't be all that bad.
2. Are the hops appropriate for this kind of porter? I'm hoping for some residual sweetness, and hopefully the beer will be big enough (1.060+OG) to retain some sweetness at the end.
3. Is there a better yeast? The safale is just what i have on hand.
4. Are the star anise pods just begging to get in the way of what I anticipate to be a very nice, smooth porter?
5. Any foreseeable problems with head retention? Bitterness? Undercarbonation due to wearing out my yeast on such a big beer?
6. Any other adjunct that could lend to the smooth, deep character?
7. Any ideas for a name (other than Black Insanity? Wait a minute, why do the names for all my beers turn out to be racist-sounding? My second to last batch, Irish Red Ass, comes to mind. Of course, my very first batch was called Skunk Butt Ale, so at least I'm an Equal-Opportunity racist amongst all species).
Any discussion/comments are appreciated. I malted whole rye, barley and soft winter wheat berries for my last batch and it turned out very tasty (no idea about efficiency though....)
Thanks for your help,
jkpq45
Grain Bill:
5# Crisp Brown Barley Malt (Somewhere near L65)
0.25# Castle Black Barley Malt (L550)
2.5# Crystal Carapils (40L)
2# Whole Oats (malted and roasted at home... more on this below)
Adjuncts:
2# Extra Dark Brown Sugar
4 oz. dark molasses
Hops
0.75 oz Willamette - 60 mins from end of boil
0.75 oz Fuggle - 15 mins from end of boil
Yeast:
Safale S-05 American Ale (11g dry, rehydrated in starter for length of brew)
Primary:
5 whole star anise pods (remember that black licorice flavor?)
At bottling:
1/4c pure vanilla extract
3/4c dark brown sugar
Malting oats:
Soak overnight in warm water, spread out on sheet pans in direct sunlight, misting with fresh water daily to allow the grain to sprout. Once the sprout happens (and the then-malted grain tastes sweet) roast on sheet pans in 350*F oven, turning frequently, until a medium-brown color is achieved. Mill/crack via any method you prefer.
Brewing:
Combine malted oats and remainder of grains in cold water (1.5 qt/lb = 3.66 gallons) in mash tun and bring water slowly up to 145*F. Hold, stirring occasionally, for 90 minutes. Fly sparge with 1 qt/lb = 2.5 gallons water at 180*F water. Combine in boil kettle with brown sugar and molasses, boil for 90 mins total. Add hops per schedule. Pitch Safale yeast (plus starter) once chilled to ~70*F).
Add star anise pods to primary, ferment to completion, rack to bottling bucket with vanilla and 3/4c brown sugar. Age until I can't stand it any longer.
Now for the ideas:
1. A vacation of a week or two in the secondary with the vanilla wouldn't be all that bad.
2. Are the hops appropriate for this kind of porter? I'm hoping for some residual sweetness, and hopefully the beer will be big enough (1.060+OG) to retain some sweetness at the end.
3. Is there a better yeast? The safale is just what i have on hand.
4. Are the star anise pods just begging to get in the way of what I anticipate to be a very nice, smooth porter?
5. Any foreseeable problems with head retention? Bitterness? Undercarbonation due to wearing out my yeast on such a big beer?
6. Any other adjunct that could lend to the smooth, deep character?
7. Any ideas for a name (other than Black Insanity? Wait a minute, why do the names for all my beers turn out to be racist-sounding? My second to last batch, Irish Red Ass, comes to mind. Of course, my very first batch was called Skunk Butt Ale, so at least I'm an Equal-Opportunity racist amongst all species).
Any discussion/comments are appreciated. I malted whole rye, barley and soft winter wheat berries for my last batch and it turned out very tasty (no idea about efficiency though....)
Thanks for your help,
jkpq45