Whatchamacallit?

[brewt00l]

I went into my lhbs with full intentions on brewing a wee heavy/strong scotch ale but due to ingredient availability, wound up brewing the following:

8# XLT DME
2# Caramunich malt
1# Chocolate malt
1# Hugh Baird Peated malt
1oz East Kent Goldings 60m
.75oz Fuggles 35m
.25oz Fuggles 05m
Wyeast Pacman

SG 1.082
SRM 37.3
IBU 26.1

Racked into the secondary and it has a definite caramel/earthy/smokey/chocolate flavor but no where near as smokey as the smoke beers I have sampled in the past. What exactly would you classify it as? The SG, IBU and some of the flavor profile is sorta in the heavy scotch ale category but the yeast selection, SRM and caramunich kinda shoot it off in a different direction...

 

[the_bird]

Wait, you used a pound of peated malt and don't perceive this as terribly smokey? Most recipes with peat call for 2oz (or less). I used that amount in my last porter, and it seems to be spot-on, mostly just aroma. Not disputing what you're telling me, that's just really odd...

 

[zoebisch01]

I had a taste of peated malt scotch at a Christmas party this year....*SHUDDER*, that stuff is definitely an aquired taste imo. I am surprised as well that it doesn't come through more strongly, but I guess some ingredient combos are odd like that.

As for what you'd call it, that is a good question!

 

[zoebisch01]

How about the Huge Beard Wild Swamp Sorta-Heavy?

 

[brewt00l]

Wait, you used a pound of peated malt and don't perceive this as terribly smokey? Most recipes with peat call for 2oz (or less). I used that amount in my last porter, and it seems to be spot-on, mostly just aroma. Not disputing what you're telling me, that's just really odd...

When it was boiling away, you could really smell the smokey aroma....after primary fermentation, it has a strongly pronounced smokey flavor and aroma but not so overpowering that you still can not taste the chocolate and caramel flavors. Believe me, I was crossing my fingers when I added the peat smoked malt in that quantity but it definitely does not have the smoked sausage/beef jerky flavor of most of the smoke beers that I have sampled.

I figured that if becomes slightly more subtle after secondary/bottle conditioning it will spot on

 

[brewt00l]

How about the Huge Beard Wild Swamp Sorta-Heavy?

LOL, I like!

 

[zoebisch01]

All kidding aside, It seems to fall into the Strong Ale/Wee-Heavy category. I mean sure you added quite a bit of the peat malt, and the additions of the chocolate and
Caramunich aren't textbook...but I don't know (other than a specialty ale) what you would classify it as. Need a beer judge...hehe

 

[zoebisch01]

LOL, I like!

Thanks!

You could make some imaginative labels with that one hehe.

 

[brewt00l]

I should add that I decided to stick with the full lb of hugh baird based on the flavor and aroma of the malts before I started my mini-mash brewing. It's also possible that this particular malt did quite a bit of sitting around the LHBS...

 

[brewt00l]

All kidding aside, It seems to fall into the Strong Ale/Wee-Heavy category. I mean sure you added quite a bit of the peat malt, and the additions of the chocolate and
Caramunich aren't textbook...but I don't know (other than a specialty ale) what you would classify it as. Need a beer judge...hehe

My orig recipe was maris otter or golden promise with the chocolate & peated and wyeast scottish ale yeast. Course once I had to move over to the caramunich, making the jump to the pacman yeast was a no brainer

Now I just have to decide what to brew with the washed pacman.....

 

[brewt00l]

Quick update:

I have sampled the bottled result of this brew and it has been interesting. When I racked, all the grains were present in the flavor. At bottling time, the peat smoked malt was dominating the flavor profile. After being in the bottles just a couple weeks it smoke has subdued and the bottle I just sampled tasted very similar to a drier, slightly smokier version of Old Chub. At one point, I thought it was going to live up to its swampy bog water name