RCE - BlackDuck and Rayyankee

[BlackDuck]

Ray and I have finalized our recipe for the RCE. We are going to do a Christmas/Winter Ale. We both plan to brew this around the weekend of October 12th. It should be bottled the first weekend of November, and 6 weeks conditioning means we'll be drinking them mid December. Perfect timing for a Christmas Ale. More updates after we brew it!!!

BeerSmith 2 Recipe Printout - http://www.beersmith.com
Recipe: Christmas Ale
Brewer: BlackDuck and Rayyankee
Style: Christmas/Winter Specialty Spice Beer
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (30.0)

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Boil Size: 6.93 gal
Post Boil Volume: 5.38 gal
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal
Bottling Volume: 5.00 gal
Estimated OG: 1.067 SG
Estimated Color: 16.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 26.6 IBUs
Brewhouse Efficiency: 65.00 %
Est Mash Efficiency: 75.9 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type %/IBU
11 lbs Pale Malt, Maris Otter (3.0 SRM) Grain 75.2 %
1 lbs 12.0 oz Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 12.0 %
1 lbs Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 6.8 %
5.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %
5.0 oz Honey Malt (25.0 SRM) Grain 2.1 %
4.0 oz Roasted Barley (300.0 SRM) Grain 1.7 %
1.25 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 21.2 IBUs
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 3.9 IBUs
1.00 tsp Cinnamon (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice -
0.50 tsp Nutmeg (Boil 10.0 mins) Spice -
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 1.6 IBUs
1.00 tsp Vanilla Extract (Boil 5.0 mins) Spice -
2.0 pkg SafAle English Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-04) Yeast -
0.25 oz Cascade [5.50 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 0.0 IBUs
0.25 oz Mt. Hood [6.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 0.0 IBUs


Mash Schedule: Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Total Grain Weight: 14 lbs 9.9 oz
----------------------------
Name Description Step Temperat Step Time
Mash In Add 21.93 qt of water at 166.0 F 152.0 F 60 min

Sparge: Batch sparge with 2 steps (Drain mash tun, , 3.46gal) of 180.0 F water

[FedoraDave]

Looks like it'll be a robust dark spiced amber. I bet it'll be nice! Keep us updated.

[FrozenInTime]

Man, that looks like a pretty good brew! I bet it comes out great!

[FrozenInTime]

quick question. I always thought (ouch) that you should always sparge at 169, not 170 or higher as it leaches out tannins? Just curious, still learning this ag myself.

[Beer-lord]

I've read that it's more PH related than temperature related but I personally think the tanin fears are overstated. You know, like global warming.

[BlackDuck]

That's a great question FIT. I've been having issues with my efficiency. And, with my setup, the way I transfer water and batch sparge, I lose a few degrees of water. Put that together with a grain bed that is appx 150 degrees or even a few degrees cooler, when I dump in water at 180, it is quickly brought down to an appx temp of 170. This, along with a few other adjustments, is slowly increasing my efficiency. Of course, Ray will do his process a little different since he is dong his BIAB.

Glad you guys think this will be good. It's our first go at a spiced Christmas ale.

[FedoraDave]

quick question. I always thought (ouch) that you should always sparge at 169, not 170 or higher as it leaches out tannins? Just curious, still learning this ag myself.

I've always sparged between 170 and 180, and I have never noticed any tannin flavors. I get good efficiency, too; somewhere around 75% or so.

I agree with Paul; just like the "sitting on the trub" issue, it may hold more true for mega-sized brewery-style batches, but much less so for bumbling-around-in-yer-basement sized batches.

[BlackDuck]

It's a done deal. And guess what everyone....I hit my OG, and actually beat it this time. I tried a different way of sparging. I still mashed at a 1:1.5 ratio. I did kind of a modified fly sparge. I used to do this when I was doing BIAB in my turkey fryer basket and used to get really good results. I recirculated the first 1.5 gallons of wort until there was no grain debris, then I completely drained the mash tun into the kettle. Next, I siphoned the sparge water over top of the grain bed slowly. The drain on the mash tun was wide open allowing the sparge/wort to run off into the kettle. I ended up getting a little more than planned into the kettle, which meant my top off in the end wasn't as much either. I'm sure that helped the OG numbers a bit.
Anyways....to the good news. My projected OG was 1.067 and I hit 1.071.
I just about started jumping up and down and yelling in joy when the hydrometer didn't sink as much as I thought it would. Looks like I've found what has been holding my gravity back.

Ray...I think we've got a good recipe here. The color was a rich, deep reddish brown. The taster was really good. Seemed to be a nice flavor with just a hint of bitterness and spices, not to overpowering at all. One change that I had to make was the yeast. the LHBS only had one packet of S-04, so I used S-05 instead....shouldn't make a huge difference, but it will be interesting to compare yours and mine if you stay with and English Ale yeast.

[Beer-lord]

Good on ya Chris! That's a nice, big beer too.

[philm00x]

Great job, Chris! Guess I'm thinking I need to try that on my next brew!

[BlackDuck]

Today is dry hop day. I took an FG reading and it came in at 1.017, predicted was 1.014. A little high, but not too bad. I'll take another reading in 5 days before it's supposed to go in the fridge for a cold crash. I did a spiced stout last year and I think that didn't finish as low as predicted either...I wonder if it has something to do with the spices?? Either way, it's not a huge difference, so I'm not too worried about it.

The color was a deep reddish brown...a good color for a winter ale. The flavor was really good. The malty sweetness was there and I was getting very little roast flavor, which I think is awesome. The spices came through very nicely and mixed well with the mild to medium bitterness. I could pick out the cinnamon and nutmeg and just a touch of the vanilla. I'll be looking forward to downing one or two of these after I come in from shoveling the snow off the driveway this winter.

[Beer-lord]

That's a better FG differential than I usually get but maybe some beer I sent you gave you a virus.

[BlackDuck]

That thought actually crossed my mind. I almost gave you the finger from up here when my hydrometer didn't sink as much as I was expecting .

[Kealia]

Sounds like we have a new term brewing here...

So...when your yeast doesn't fully attenuate you've been what?
Lorded?
BL'd?
Or do we just refer to the yeast as having gone the "Big Easy" route?

[Beer-lord]

That thought actually crossed my mind. I almost gave you the finger from up here when my hydrometer didn't sink as much as I was expecting .

Salute accepted~

Sounds like we have a new term brewing here...

So...when your yeast doesn't fully attenuate you've been what?
Lorded?
BL'd?
Or do we just refer to the yeast as having gone the "Big Easy" route?

Maybe you should put up a poll and we can vote on it. I'm hoping to find out next week if my mega aerated brew does any better.