Imperial brown ale AG

[MCJones87]

So I managed to get my new brew pot fixed up and went for the first brew using new equipment! Really pleased with the new kit but that's a different thread. the recipe brewed is below, and the intention is to split a couple of smaller batches off to try some experimental stuff - bourbon soaked oak chips, vanilla pods, maple syrup, that sort of thing.

8.14kg Maris Otter
2.44kg Crystal 60
0.41kg Crystal Rye
0.28kg flaked barley
0.16kg Aromatic
0.16kg Caramunich

Cascade hops added in the following increments
50g - 60 minutes
20g 15 minutes
20g flame out

Mashed in with 30 L at 66ºC
Sparged with a further 9 L at 80ºC
Boil was 28L
Post boil was left with 23L
Gravity reading post boil at 23 L was 1100!!! :shock::shock::shock:
Diluted down to 25.5 L and gravity still reading 1080!!

Split the batch so now have two DJs with 4L each and the remaining 17.5 L in the FV

Pitched in the Mangrove jacks workhorse yeast due to the temps being a bit up and down recently - hoping this should take care of that!

have some pictures but cant post them for some reason!
The wort was a fantastic colour and smelt amazing!
had a taste and WWHHHOOOOAAAAA is it sweet!?!

Looking forward to seeing how this turns out!

 

[clibit]

I'm stuck for words. :shock:

 

[MyQul]

I wondering whether the work horse yeast will manage an OG of 1.080. Hope you at least put more than one packet in?

 

[Niman]

from memory i think its good till about 9%

 

[MCJones87]

Clibit - shock at method or results?

Myqul - I split one packet between the two djs and fv, but figured if it needs itbincredible can pitch another half packet into the bucket?

Just checked and there's a krausen on both djs, and the bucket is bubbling away so hopefully all going well.

 

[clibit]

The total amount of malt in a brown ale recipe mainly. Also, the amount of crystal malt.

I agree with MyQul, I packet of yeast is not enough.

 

[MCJones87]

the inspiration for the recipe came from a very dark and very high abv beer that I have written about on here before. in reality it is closer to a stout in colour but much sweeter.
so for me, the recipe hits all the right points there - 1100 og was a bit higher than expected though.

as far as adding more yeast - can I simply put more in now that the krausen has formed? or should I wait for that to die down and then repitch?

 

[clibit]

Shocked at the amount of malt in a brown ale, where did that recipe come from? And the amount of crystal in a five gallon batch.

Agree with MyQul, I reckon you need two packets of yeast in that.

 

[MCJones87]

The brew I'm looking for is supposed to be thick dark and heavy on the flavour. I'll let you know how it turns out.

With the second pitching of the yeast, is it fine to just chuck it it at any time? Should I wait for the first pitch to finish fermenting?

 

[clibit]

Sooner the better, it should all have gone in at the start. But don't worry, I'm sure everything will work out fine, home brew overcomes all sorts of things.

 

[MCJones87]

Been a few weeks since this was set up fermenting. After the first 2 days there was very little activity at all so I wasn't holding out much hope(despite repitching a second sachet of yeast to give it a boost). Took a hydro reading yesterday and we are down to 1025.

By my reckoning then ABV is 7.3% already, but after tasting the sample used for the gravity reading it is still INCREDIBLY sweet... unpleasantly so to be honest! I will take another reading tomorrow to see if fermentation has well and truly stopped, but assuming it has, does anyone have any suggestions for getting it going again this late in the day?

 

[clibit]

You have an enormous amount of crystal in there, and a high gravity still at 1025, so yes, it will be very sweet! Hopefully the gravity will drop.

 

[rodabod]

You could pitch a US-05 starter in it, assuming you used a less attenuative yeast in the first place.... Workhorse: is that the one that's supposedly based on Pacman?

 

[MyQul]

You could pitch a US-05 starter in it, assuming you used a less attenuative yeast in the first place.... Workhorse: is that the one that's supposedly based on Pacman?

No, I think that's US-05 iirc

 

[rodabod]

If it is close to US-05, then I'd check what temperature it has been sitting at before considering re-pitching. Might take to a rousing and a bit of warmth.

 

[MCJones87]

So... the gravity hasn't dropped any further which is the bad news. When I took the last gravity reading though, the flavour has mellowed out a lot, which is the good news.

However as I don't have the time to create a starter, I am ploughing on with the experimental side of this brew anyway. The ABV is already pretty high at 7.3 and as I have split this brew across three fermenting vessels I decided to add 30G challenger as a dry hop to the bucker containing 19L or so. I also added 15g of oak chips that have been soaking in Oak chips for around 3 weeks just to see what happens really. I have left the 3rd FV as standard in order to run a comparison.

Will be bottling this weekend after a cold crash overnight in the conservatory. But wanted to check consensus on priming first - as the gravity is still quite high, is it right to prime? if yes, how much? or will this result in the obvious bottle bombs exploding all over my garage?

 

[clibit]

I reckon your high FG is largely down to the massive amount of Crystal, Caramunich, crystal rye etc that you used. These grains provide a lot of unfermentable sugars. I would not have used anything like that amount. I rarely have more than about 10% of the total made up of crystal type malts, which those 3 all are.

So you may well have reached the true final gravity, which means you would prime, but we can't be certain, I think. A safer alternative is to barrel the beer in situations like this, I think, but you may not have that option. So maybe prime prime at the low end of the priming scale. Around 3g per litre, perhaps. Wonder what others think?

 

[MCJones87]

Yes I'm well aware now after doing some reading that the grain profile may have been a bit on the ambitious side re: crystal type malts... We live and learn. That said, I was aiming for something with a high abv but with some sweetness so in that respect maybe not too far off...

You are right though - I can't rack to a barrel unless I buy onel off amazon and pay next day delivery charges which I'm reluctant to do due to the large number of bottles I have available. Priming with the lower limit on sugar seems like a sensible suggestion... Maybe worth sticking a couple in plastics to measure progress on carbonation? And worst case to gauge whether bottle bombs are about to explode...

 

[clibit]

That sounds like a good idea. You've given it plenty of time to ferment, so hopefully all should be ok. I hope it turns out well.

 

[MyQul]

Another one of my crazy ideas......Purposely infect it with wild yeast. I recently had a wild yeast infection - the second one I've had, now. It's didn't add any unpleasant flavours to the brew (AFAIK it's bacteria rather than yeast that sours beers) but overattenuated it down to 1.006. Wild yeast would make short work of all those unfermentable sugars.