BeerBorg

So Monday was a good day to bottle then brew a new batch, but I had no extract to work with so I headed over to the outdoor store 1/2 a mile from my house. My LHBS is closed on Mondays, which is typical for a lot of the downtown shops in my town. The outdoor store has only very limited Mr.Beer selection, and I might be the only one that buys that kind of stuff there (and I only go there when I'm in a pinch). They turnover their Mr.Beer inventory so slowly they still sell a deluxe three pack with 1.21# cans of Whispering Wheat, Ocktoberfest Vienna, and HCCD with 3 booster packs.

I brought it home to realize the use by date was 7 months ago! So my inner Dr. Frankenstein convinced me to throw all 3 cans in plus a bag of booster. I was a bit worried that the yeast was too old, so I threw in an extra 2g pack of yeast I had in the fridge. And for good measure I tossed in some Saaz, and Tettnanger at flame-out, because I had them in my inventory for a long time, and always seemed to be brewing beers that wouldn't use noble hops.

I know this is crazy Frankenbeer territory. I will not be bummed if this turns out weird/gross. I just wanted to make a beer that could defend Tokyo from King Ghidora. It might smash up the place a bit, but stuff happens.

Hey, I am supposed to be the frankenbier master LOL.

But I actually would bet that it turns out to be a beer of some sort, especially if you can keep your hands off of it for 3+ months.

I have a system of how I rotate my beers on my beer shelf (I work in retail/grocery/food service I can't help it) and big beers simply don't get moved to the drinking shelf until the appropriate time. I've got some doppelbock that hasn't moved for months.

I'm thinking that you won't be very understandable when you post the review on that one if I'm reading this right.
Is the yeast you used going to survive the alcohol content that I think I'm seeing here?

Sounds like you got a sipper in the works.

I am guessing you made a 5 gallon batch with all those fermentables?

Ha!

This thing is Godzilla because it went in my LBK!

Should be well over 9%

I have a feeling you may need to pitch more yeast than the downunda packets, with that kind of ABV. better yeast. something that can handle high gravity, high alcohol.

He's no worse off then the old "Novacaine" recipe, assuming he pitched all the yeast packs. That did eventually make pretty good beer, it just takes 6-8 months of sitting in the bottles to really reach it's peak.

That old yeast is probably Fermentis S-33. We though this before, but it's pretty certain since Brew Demon has actually acknowledged that their yeast is S-33, and they are basically selling re-packaged pre-coopers Mr. Beer stuff.

S-33 can handle the alcohol fine, but it's unlikely to attenuate much above 70%. That's not because of the alcohol, it's just how it is when fermenting more complex malt sugars, and old canned extract is going to have a good bit of Maillard reaction that occurred and is not going to ferment as well as really fresh stuff.

That's probably OK since he used 3 HMEs, there's more then enough IBUs to balance it I think.

Extra yeast would of course be helpful, but it still should ferment out at least up to that 70% level.

I pitched the packets from all 3 cans, plus a packet from an old MR.Beer I had in the fridge.

The day after pitching I went down to check on it and the keg was actually warm to the touch, almost hot. For the amount of malt I used it barely krausened, so I was worried the yeast were stressed out too much.

I had a discount old High Grav Trappist smackpack in the fridge with no plans, so today I used it to make sure this beer finishes.

Wow! This thing actually tastes pretty good after 18 days in the bottle, and its been a long time since I've sampled anything less than 4 weeks old.

Noticed a cap was domed and there was a crack in the cap, so I decided to drink it before it exploded or depressurized.

Head retention is zero, and a bit under carbed, but good body.

Color is on the border between amber and dark.

Starts out a bit coffee-like, but all that malt gave it enough sweetness to cut the bitterness a bit.

Nice spicy, citrus flavor. Good aroma also!

Can't wait to retaste this once the booster conditions out!

Did you figure out the ABV?

Only came out about 7%.

My math was off because I forgot that you need the hme+booster to get 3.7%, and I only used 1 booster, not 3.

Also my FG was high by .01, even after sitting in the keg for 4 weeks. This could have been over 8%.

I just started a frankenbrew that had an OG of 1.082. The estimated abv is 8.2.
I used two packs of the Mr. Beer yeast. I rehydrated one of them. It will be interesting to see if the yeast can handle that gravity.
I just wanted to use up the yeast that I had on hand because the brew was my second AG and it was not a good brew day. I didn't want to waste a good yeast on this one.

If it stalls i'm not sure what I should do. I'll keep an eye on it.
It sounds like yours worked out.

Those kind of brews sound fun. Basically just stock that you guys are trying to use up?

wollffy wrote:Those kind of brews sound fun. Basically just stock that you guys are trying to use up?

Yes, I was using up two unused Mr.Beer kits.

I'm done using kits now and just wanted to use up what I had left over. It turned out to be a decent beer!