I believe it was discussed previously that for Stout Night our Brew School Series would be Wood Shop, which would entail brewing identical batches and aging them on different woods. This seems like a great job for the Tower of Power. It also seems like this is gonna take some time to do right, so I figured I start the conversation now. I recall Dave Williams mentioning he had a wood hookup, or he would place the order for spirals and honeycombs, I don't remember. Wood Aging beers is something I've never done, but I'd like to age my English Brown recipe on some in the future...probably after this and I learn which wood I like the best, I need some advice (Dave?...Josh?...Kyle?) what should we be looking for in a recipe for this, what style? I imagine it'll need to be a good malty strong beer, but what would showcase the woods best?
Bump...
Give me a recipe and I'll brew it. Would this be a preparation that would be made for Stout Night. How long is long enough for a beer to be put on wood? Should this be brewed relatively soon?
As I've mentioned elsewhere, I think the timing would be right to incorporate this in to Learn to Homebrew Day on November 1. I'd like to set up members to lead "Brewing 101" sessions on all 4 brew bays for that day, and that would be a good oppotunity to crank out several identical for this program. Depending on the grain bill, those could even be 4x 10gal batches, and that would potentially take care of a full slate of Wood Shop brews.
So, does anyone have a good, simple Stout recipe that would work well for this? Probably something that's not too crazy big would be easiest to get brewed and finished reliably and consistently.
Also Joe, I'm also very keen on getting some of that English Brown aged on wood, whether that's a group barrel project or just a project with chunks.
Ill call the black swan rep I know later this week. I'll pitch them and get back with a response.
I just got some mamwanna from dominican republic and would be happy to donate some or brew. 3 different people brought me some so I have a bit. A brown ale would be perfect.
I'm down to join this project!
Can we use our own wood for this, provided we give the type, amount used, etc.? Also, are we just doing 4 different types, or are we splitting those 10-gallon batches up?
Rich, You can certainly use your own wood for this. As far as splitting some 10 gallon batches up, that could work too. For hop school we had like 9 or 10 I think, malt school was around 7 I believe, I think anywhere between 6-8 is manageable. With 10 you'll be straight wasted before you get halfway through the flight. So, a few questions...
1. Do we want to use my English Brown recipe for this.
2. Brewers thus far: Icehouse, Jamie, John, Rich, Me, Jer, Dave?
3. That Dominican wood sounds like a great addition Jer.
4. alright...
I'm in for this, too! I would love to use the English Brown recipe.
I'm in. I'd like the Brown as well, but that takes away the lure of having it at Stout night.
I'm with Kyle with this one...it's Stout Night and I think this recipe should be a stout. Not a high-octane stout, but a stout nonetheless.
I would like to brew with somebody for this. I have not done my supervised brew as I typically brew at home. But I would like to get in on some of the group brews so perhaps I need to get that done.
Alright Fellas I had a few spare minutes to think today and here is my first recipe proposition, similar to my english brown, but in stout form, to satisfy all opinions. It clocks in at about 5.5% ABV so it's not incredibly strong and won't need forever to age and mellow out. It's very similar to a historic stout recipe from 1822 but with the addition of roasted barley and less brown malt. It's a simple grain bill...because that's kinda my style, but I don't want to crowd the flavors, I want this to be a delicious roasty beer, but still leave enough room for the wood to shine through as well. Here's what I came up with thus far, let me know your opinions:
6 lbs Pale Malt (2 row)
5 lbs Brown Malt
1 lb Roasted Barley (Briess) 300 SRM
2 oz East Kent Goldings at 60 min.
2 oz. Willamette at 10 min.
mash at 156 for 60 min
90 min boil
According to beersmith the vitals on this beer are:
1.059 SG 1.017 FG
53.2 IBU
39.8 SRM
5.5 % ABV
We could possibly add a half pound of wheat or flaked barley for additionaly head retention if that's something people are concerned about, also, yeast suggestions?
I've used Wyeast 1968 London ESB Ale with good results.
For the pale malt, are we looking for something like Maris Otter or Golden Promise?
I like the receipe and the yeast sounds right. I've never made a stout, but have had great reults with a summer ale I used Maris Otter with
Update:
I've talked with Black Swan, producers of honeycomb barrel alternatives, and they've agreed to donate enough wood for a 5 gallon batch. They will be sending 9-10 different species for chaos to use. They are shipping through my HTH accound and I should have them by late next week. I've added the lsit from thier website below. I've also inquired about possibly getting white cedar as the 10th wood...but don't know if that will be available yet. Full exraction time is 5-6 weeks on wood. Please do not soak these in any spirits. I think tasting just the wood is important. They come sterile and ready to use.
A note for the recipe...whatever you use make sure that its a simple stout recipe...the focus here should be a solid well made stout with different wood flavorings.
Wood Species Available:
Cherry
butter brickle, ripe cherry, fresh grass, meringue, light fried bread/Belgian waffle
Hard Maple
Maple candy, light spice-nutmeg, cinnamon, syrup, bread/bakery, cream hint of cocoa
Hickory
Honey, BBQ, hickory smoked bacon, apple sauce, cocoa coconut
Red Oak
Red berries, toasted marshmallow, light grass, baking bread, butterscotch
Sassafras
Description coming soon!!!
Soft Maple
Yellow cake, light smoke, banana, nut, toasted bread, hint of orange spice
White Ash
Campfire, marshmallow, light grass, rising bread dough, light sweetness (adds different mouth-feel dimension)
White Oak
Vanilla, toasted coconut, cinnamon, pepper, sweet baked bread, caramel
Yellow Birch
Toffee, butterscotch, honey croissant, light lemon, tropical fruit
I'm in! White Oak please!
In. You know which one I want. Time to get Sassy again.
Hard Maple, please. That's my porn name in Canada.....
I'll take yellow birch!
I'd like to do the soft maple.
I'd like to do the White Ash
I'll do Cherry. Hey, she got the way to move me...
Hickory.
Also, Icehouse, I'm real disappointed you failed to follow Jeff's lead and come up with a soft maple innuendo. Come on man...step it up...hahaha
I don't have much of a stout brewing background, so this recipe is based on theory and ideas and sounds like it's what I want it to be but I'd like some more feedback from the stout brewers among us, I have a message in to David for his opinion, Rich you brew the hell out of some stouts, what do you think? The goal was to use the brown malt to provide color and the rich roasty maltiness that we need and consequently be able to cut back a little on roasted barley to help limit the acrid/burnt/bitterness that comes with high amounts of the grain, generating a rich, malty, roasty, flavorful, simple stout, but with room in the flavor profile for the wood to shine. Opinions, Ideas?
Also, David, would it please Black Swan if we advertised this as the Black Swan Wood Shop or Wood Shop by Black Swan or something to that effect. I don't know much about the company, but a little advertising for them for their generous donation of the wood seems fair to me.
Also, it looks like Red Oak is the only thing available....any takers???
I'll do red oak if no one else wants it
The emperor is not as forgiving as i am
I would like to say this is a great score from Dave. I would also encourage this to be brewed in 3, 15g batches on the Tower of Power. This will provide the least ammount of variation in the base beer and let the subtile differences of the wood shine through. I realze this is a logistical problem, but think in this case you should really make the effort on it.
Here are two recipies that will work well with the wood. I think I like the oatmal one better and flaked barley could be subbed for it to eliminate the oatmeal flavor.
OATMEAL STOUT NHC 2010
Category 13: Stout
477 Entries
Sponsored by Brew & Grow
Glenn Quinting, Timonium, Md., Chesapeake Real Ale Brewers Society (CRABS)
Gold Medal
"Oatmeal Stout"
Oatmeal Stout
Ingredients for 10 U.S. gallons (22.71 L)
18.0 lb (8.16 kg) British pale malt
2.0 lb (0.9 kg) flaked oats
1.5 lb (0.68 kg) Victory malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg) black barley malt
12.0 oz (340 g) chocolate malt
12.0 oz (340 g) pale chocolate malt
1.0 lb (0.45 kg) 80 L crystal malt
0.2 oz (5.7 g) brewers licorice (in boil, 60 min)
3.6 oz (102 g) East Kent Golding pellet hops, 4.95% alpha acid (60 min)
2.0 L White Labs WLP 002 ale yeast starter
2.5 vol. forced CO2 to carbonate
1 tsp yeast energizer
Original Specific Gravity: 1.060
Final Specific Gravity: 1.018
ABV (%): 5.51
IBU: 35
SRM: 33.5
Boiling Time: 75 minutes
Primary Fermentation: 14 days at 65° F (18° C)
Directions
Mash grains at 154° F (68° C) for 90 minutes. For oats: Spread oats out on cookie sheets. Sprinkle oats with water, turning to lightly saturate. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 300° F, turning and mixing midway through. Allow oats to sit in brown paper bag or empty cereal box for 1-2 weeks so volatile/bitter flavors smooth out.
FULLERS STOUT
BEER RECIPE
6 lbs 2 Row
1 lbs Maris Otter
12 oz Roasted Barley
8 oz Chocolate Malt
8 oz Honey Malt
0.5 oz Wilamette, 5%, pellet, First Wort
1 oz Wilamette, 5% pellet, 60 min
1 oz Wilamette, 5% pellet, 20 min
0.5 oz Wilamette, 5% pellet, 10 min
I would still like to get in on thus with my Dominican wood unless it has to be the black swan wood. I will have to be part of a group brew though as I have not been cleared and typically brew at home.
The Dominican wood sounds like a great addition, you can certainly get in on a group brew. we'll work something out soon and do a Tower brew or two.
I vote for the oatmeal one. It sounds like a beast!
Bumping this to close the loop on the recipe since all of the wood has been chosen.
I'm voting for the Fuller's Stout....
I vote for Joe's.
I vote for Joe's, or really anything but the oatmeal one. Adding licorice, 7 different malts and toasting one two weeks ahead of time seems like overkill when we are trying to showcase the wood and not the beer.
Joe,
Anything on brewing this yet? I need to sit in with you or someone. Is the wood being prepped in anyway?
Agreed Rich, I think the oatmeal one is definitely over kill for what we're trying to accomplish. Plus, everyone makes freaking oatmeal stout, we should mix it up with the foreign extra.
Thus far it appears that we have 2 votes for the Fuller's and 2 votes for mine, and one for the Oatmeal. Of the recipes that aren't mine, I prefer the Fuller's. I suppose we need to wait until more votes roll in.
Also, I haven't planned a brew day for this yet, but I would really like it to happen next month.
I'll vote for Fuller
The emperor is not as forgiving as i am
"I've got wood for CHAOS"
Box of donated wood from black swan came in. I will drop it off at the next meeting.
Dave...what's the suggested conditioning time for the honey combs? Didn't know if we need to get a test batch going ASAP or they had a suggested time frame.
5-6 weeks for majority extraction using these honey combs.
We also got an additional new wood that I requested, white cedar. So if there is someone still looking to join this project, cedar is available.
Black Swan has enclosed some materials that give info about honeycombs. We should definitely add to this like we have done for other schools.
Please keep extraction time and usage technique the same. Please do not soak these in spirits. They are ready to use straight from the package. The focus should be on what each wood contributes...not bourbon.
Joe: if we can take pictures and include black swan on the menu, that is something that we can send back to them. Maybe a description of each beer as it turned our too?
Black Swan will be on the menu and the promotional posters for sure!
Need to get this out of the way, esp. since we need 5 weeks on the wood...
3 Votes Fuller Stout - 2 Votes Northern English Brown
personally...I think you should do the Stout since our party id dubbed Stout Night and we only have 8 stouts on the menu out of 19 beers (not including the Wood Shop).
Last Call for a volunteer for White Cedar...this is a great way for newer members to get a beer on the menu!
Boolish James will brew the White Cedar if nobody objects.
I'll throw in another vote for the Fuller's.
Is there a control (un-wooded) beer? If not, I'll brew 10 gallons.
Great idea Kyle! How did we miss that one
I vote Fuller's.
It appears the Fullers have it, so let it be written, so let it be done. We can discuss the other details at the meeting tonight, like when we want to brew, I'd like to set up a day and knock out a few consecutive batches on the tower, I think that would yield the best results. Also, perhaps we could get in on this group buy and at least get the base grain that way, could save the group some cash.
Were plans made last night for the Big Brew?
Anyone want to do a Black Friday brew?
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