In the Fermentor: Wood Aged Quadrupel-Imperial-Doppel-Barley-Weizen-Wee-Sour

Who says you can't have everything?

Well, I'm doing just that by creating a beer that combines the best aspects of eight big beer styles: Quadrupel, Imperial Stout, Doppelbock, Barleywine, Weizenbock and Wee Heavy.

But wait, there's more! The beer will be aged for year with everyone's favorite bacterias to make a Sour. On top of that, Sherry infused oak cubes will provide that little extra something.

A massive grain-bill, plus a healthy dollop of Candi Sugar should push the alcohol content up over 11%. Compensating for the strength is a biting combination of Noble, English and American hops.

A Decoction Mash gives the beer an extra bit of German character. Heavily caramelizing the First Runnings provides more depth of flavor than a standard boil. For that extra push over the cliff, 11 malts are working to make the beer one louder.

I'm giving this one at least a year of fermentation before I even touch it. Here's the five gallon recipe:

Grains:

4 lbs Colorado Malting 2-Row
4 lbs Weyermann Pale Wheat
3 lbs Simpsons Golden Promise
3 lbs Crisp Maris Otter
3 lbs Castle Pilsen
1 lb Weyermann Munich Light
12 oz Crisp Crystal 45
6 oz Castle Special B
6 oz Crisp Roasted Barley
6 oz Crisp Chocolate Malt
2 oz Weyermann Dehusked Carafa II

Hops:

Bittering:
1 oz Columbus (13.3% a.a.): 60 min
1 oz Hallertauer Magnum (14.9% a.a.): 60 min
1 oz Bullion (7.8% a.a.): 60 min

Flavor:
1 oz Falconer's Flight 7 C's (9.9% a.a.): 20 min
1 oz Hallertauer (3.9% a.a.): 20 min
1 oz Fuggles (4.8% a.a.): 20 min

Aroma 1:
1 oz Falconer's Flight 7 C's (9.9% a.a.): 5 min
1 oz Hallertauer (3.9% a.a.): 5 min
1 oz Fuggles (4.8% a.a.): 5 min

Aroma 2:
1 oz Falconer's Flight 7 C's (9.9% a.a.): Flame-out
1 oz Hallertauer (3.9% a.a.): Flame-out
1 oz Fuggles (3.9% a.a.): Flame-out

Dry-Hopping:
1 oz Falconer's Flight 7 C's (9.9% a.a.)
1 oz Hallertauer (3.9% a.a.)
1 oz Fuggles (4.8% a.a.)

Extras:
2 lbs Amber Homemade Candi Sugar: 5 min
1 oz Sherry Infused Oak Cubes (Secondary Fermentation)

Boil Time:
First Runnings: 90 min
Full Wort: 90 min

Mash Schedule:
Protein Rest: 122F for 20 min
Decoction: Heat and rest ~1/2 of mash at 155F for 20 min followed by a 15 min boil
Saccharification Rest: 154F for 60 min
Mashout: 168F for 15 minutes

Yeast:
Safale S-04 (Primary Fermentation)
Wyeast 3763 - Roeselare Ale Blend (Secondary Fermentation)

Original Gravity:
1.114
Estimated Final Gravity:
1.029

IBU: 140
SRM Color: 40

Fermentation Schedule:
3 Weeks Primary
12-36 Months Secondary
2 Weeks Bottle Conditioning

Cost: Seriously?
Commercial Equivalent: Really?
Savings: Religious or Otherwise?

Happy April Fool's Day everyone!

Comments

In the Fermentor: Kitchen Sink Barleywine

The Leftovers It's time for a cleanup of leftover grains and partially used packets of hops from 2012. With the exception of the 2-Row base malt, everything in the recipe below has been sitting on the shelf, or in the fridge waiting to be used. I had several open hop packages, some leftover toasted malts and a half-full bottle of malt extract too. I also had yeast cultured from my White House Honey Porter . My decision was to use almost all of my leftovers and make a partial-mash Barleywine. The finished beer will be quite strong and quite bitter. A toasted malt backbone should nicely complement pine, spice and citrus hop flavors. Because of the beer's strength, it will not be ready for at least three months and should improve with age. The recipe has been scaled up to five gallons from the 2.5 gallons I actually brewed: Grains: 9 lbs Rahr 2-Row 8.5 oz Victory 7.5 oz Brown Hops: Bittering: 0.75 oz Chinook (11.1% a.a.): 60 min 0.5 oz Colum...

In the Fermentor: Flaming Pumpkin

I'll admit that I'm not a huge Pumpkin Beer fan. I didn't have one on my brewing calendar for this year and didn't have my sights set on one for next Fall either. Then my niece came along and threw down the gauntlet. She asked me to brew her a pumpkin beer and I accepted the challenge. I did a lot of reading to see how to best go about using pumpkin in beer. Some people mash it with the grains. Others add it to the brew kettle during the boil. Some add it to the primary or secondary fermentor. The consensus from professional brewers appears to be adding it to the mash, so I took the same approach. The pumpkin was cooked ahead of time by my girlfriend to soften it, convert some of the starch and help release some of its sugars. It then joined the grains in the mash. I really want the pumpkin pie effect here, so I've thrown in all of the requisite spices toward the end of the boil. I've also gone with just enough bitterness to balance the sweetness of the ...

Out of the Bottle: Flaming Pumpkin

It's Halloween night and Flaming Pumpkin is ready to frighten away the ghosts and goblins. Hopefully it won't also frighten away the people who drink it. This is my first Pumpkin Beer, so I was flying blind outside of doing research and trying commercially available brews. I basically cobbled together suggestions I thought were the best approach to the style, with a vision in my head of what the finished product should taste like. So how did it turn out? Pretty good. My goal was pumpkin pie in a bottle. What I got is more spice than sweet, but I still like it. The pie spices are right out front, with clove and cinnamon leading the way. The sweeter flavors are muted and focused toward dark sugars from the brown sugar and dark crystal malt. Bitterness is just enough, with no hop flavors competing with the spices. And what about the pumpkin? You can taste it. It's subtle. But you can definitely tell it's there. Overall? I'm quite happy and hope that my niece l...

Colorado Kitchen Brew

Search This Blog