Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I Want to Try Something New

I'm still fairly new to the all-grain brewing, and even brewing in general, but I really enjoy drinking imperial stouts. They really give you a full all-around satisfied feeling when you drink them. I love the bitter coffee aroma and the dark chocolate aftertaste they give you as they warm your throat and stomach; I also don't mind the high ABV that accompanies them. So, I figured I would try to create one of my own.
This one's going to take a lot longer than the other ales I've brewed. From the time I dough in to happy hour, it will have been about 4 months according to what most recipes call for. I guess you can let it sit longer due to the high gravity of them. So, that means it has more sugar to start with and takes longer to ferment. I guess I'll be taking a lot of hydrometer readings.
I know a lot of people here swear Rogue Ales brews the best stout, but I think I would make something more like Old Rasputin. I love that ale. I'm planning on starting out with 15 lbs of 2-row, .75 pounds roast, 1 pound chocolate malt, .75 pounds black malt, 1 pound dark crystal, 1 oz Willamette at 90 minutes, 1 oz Cascade at 30 min, 1 oz Kent's at 15 minutes along with some gypsum, and Irish moss at 15 minutes.
I'm open to suggestions if anybody has any!

Monday, March 9, 2009

I take it Back


I opened an other bottle of my Scotch 80 export tonight. A couple days ago I had commented on how it didn't have the "kick" I was looking for. While I did get a buzz from the 22 ounce bottle, it didn't satisfy the palate like I wanted to. However, today's bottle gave quite some mouthful to it with a very rich body and even more head. I guess I should let it mature an extra week to get the best out of it.

Friday, March 6, 2009

Scottish 80 export.

I last spoke about bottling my all grain Scotch 80. Today was about 1 week since I had placed the bottles in the dark to be forgotten. I figured it was time to just try one, so I did. I cracked open a 22 ounce bottle I had placed in the refrigerator to allow all the floaties to settle to the bottom of the bottle.
Now, this brew didn't turn out like I had wanted it. I wanted something a little stronger than my original SG of 1.049 which turned out about 4.7 ABV in the end. I also don't think the straining should have been done prior to bottling. I think the straining should maybe happen either right before the boil, or right after as to get left over hops.
So, it wasn't as sharp as I'd have liked it, but it did have a great aroma to it. It smelled very malty and fruity with a nose of barley, yeast, mild alcohol, and lavender. It also had an awesome head, so props to Copper's carbo tabs.
Besides being a little weaker and maybe a little over oxygenated, I had a pretty good time in my first all grain and I hope to be doing the ever so trendy blogging about any future experiments.