Suggestions For K+k Cellar-able Beer

[marlow_coates]

Hey guys and girls,

Just got another 40 champagne bottles and cleaning them tonight.

It means I can do another brew to add to my cellaring experiment - aging a (eventually) wide range of beers for drinking over the next 50 years at special occasions.

Now I can't do AG at mine at the moment, and will have to do an extract or partial brew.

So far I have a Chocolate Stout 7%, Belgium Ardennes 7% and a Saison 11%.

Not sure what to do next, but was thinking of trying an IIPA or strong IPA.

Anyone have any suggestions, and possible recipes they can suggest?

The Recipe DB has most of the styles I am thinking of as AG brews

Cheers

Marlow

 

[bradsbrew]

Marlow just substitute the AG recipes and convert them to extract. And BTW how the fick can you leave a brew for 50 years mine dont last 50 days. Although i still have a couple of botles of my belgian dubbel which just may well hit the 12 month mark.

Cheers Brad

 

[Bribie G]

A really nice kit brew that would no doubt cellar well is:

2 tins of Coopers Stout
1kg Light dried Malt Extract
1kg Dextrose

Nottingham Ale Yeast

dry hop with 30g East Kent Goldings after four days fermentation.

Comes out over 8% ABV and gives Coopers-commercial in the bottle Stout or Sheaf Stout a run for its money.

 

[Muggus]

My first Barley Wine was actually a kit and bits brew.
Overly complicated recipe-wise, and was matured for 6 months on oak, which requires ALOT of patience. But it's sooo smooth, even moreso after a few years in the bottle.

Mugs Half Century Barley Wine
- Muntons Traditional Bitter Kit 1.8kg
- Coopers Pale malt extract 1.5kg
- Coopers Amber malt extract 1.5kg
- Morgans Pilsner malt extract 1.0kg
- Bundaburg Brown Sugar 1kg
- Crystal Malt 0.15kg (steep)

30g EK Goldings Pellets (6.6%AA) - 60 min
15g EK Goldings Pellets (6.6%AA) - 10 min
15g Fuggles pellets (5.7%AA) - 10 min
15g EK Goldings Pellets (6.6%AA) - 5 min
15g Fuggles pellets (5.7%AA) - 5 min
15g Cascade Pellets (6.6%AA) - 5 min
15g EK Goldings Pellets (6.6%AA) - Dry (secondary)

Ferment with Wine yeast

Primary - 1 month
Secondary - 6 months (with 100g of sterilised French oak chips)

Batch size - 20L
OG - 1.110
FG - 1.020
Approx ABV - 12%

Oh...just did a rough calculation on the additional hops...gives about 40 extra IBUs. Dunno where that ends up exactly with the kit but you're looking at 60+ IBU. I wouldn't settle for any less than that for the style though.

 

[marlow_coates]

Cheers guys,

Bradsbrew, I am now 6 months into the ageing works, and I plan on having at least a couple of each brew hanging around when I am on old man to continue testing. It is difficult but I really only drink from the kegs, leaving the bottles for special occassions. I hope its worth it

BribieG, have considered a recipe like that and probably will use it later on, but looking for a new style to add, and as I already have a stout for this year may pass on it till 2010.

Muggus, I hadn't considered a barley wine. But having not tasted one before and knowing little about it, might give it a miss, and do one alongside the Lambic experiments (when I get my arse into gear )

You guys have got me thinking though, and after some more reading I am considering a Triple or a Bier de garde.

Any thoughts for a simple recipe for these?
Also if I find a good AG one, how do I translate to extract?

Just finished washing the bottles...PITA

Marlow

 

[Muggus]

Muggus, I hadn't considered a barley wine. But having not tasted one before and knowing little about it, might give it a miss, and do one alongside the Lambic experiments (when I get my arse into gear )

You guys have got me thinking though, and after some more reading I am considering a Triple or a Bier de garde.

Any thoughts for a simple recipe for these?
Also if I find a good AG one, how do I translate to extract?

Barley wines are actually no where near as complicated as they sound. Just think of an English bitter and double everything...pretty much it. Just a highly bitter, richly malty amber ale of sorts with an alcohol volume of around the 10%. Ages well because of the high bitterness, residual malt sweetness and alcohol content

As far as Extract versions of Tripels and Biere De Garde go, they should be kept quite simple. Most Tripels seem to rely on a decent characterful Belgian yeast and a good hit of (candy) sugar. Besides that, the grain bill is generally very basic. You could get away using simply a large amount of pale malt for such a brew. Adding a bit of wheat malt and pale specialty grains is about as complicated as it gets.
Biere De Garde on the otherhand is a bit more iffy, mainly due to the variation (not to mention rarity) of commercial examples. In either case, a bit of sugar and a characterful yeast are require to keep it as dry and complex beer. Probably would also require an extended aging/maturation period in the fermenter for such a beer, but i'm not entirely sure because it's one of those more freeform styles.

Also, some of these Belgian/French specialities don't translate all too well to Extract because of subtleties of certain base malts. Especially when considering drier beers, which are mashed at low temps to create a really lean body that is damn well near impossible to achieve with extract.

Good luck anyway!

 

[siblesworth]

I've just recently decided to try brew my first barleywine.

How does this recipe sound?

2 x Coopers Real Ale
2kg LDME
.25kg Medium Crystal
.25kg Chocolate Malt
35g EKG @ 15 mins
35g EKG @ 5 mins
35g EKG dry hopped
2 x 12g Nottingham

Brewed to 19L only.

Should be roughly 10-11% ABV and 100 IBU

How does it sound? Will the Nottingham handle it. Will probably allow 3 months in the fermenter for this one.

Cheers