Brew Dudes

We were challenged by the Jar once again. This time, we are asked to brew the biggest beer in category 20 of the 2015/2021 guidelines:

20C. Imperial Stout

If you remember, Mike brewed a beer to make a suitable yeast cake this beer. You can relive the magic of this ‘small’ beer and check out the recipe as it foreshadows the ingredients for this beer. We had to wait a bit for this brew to be camera ready, but we feel it was worth it. Check out the Jar of Destiny Imperial Stout!

American Imperial Stout Recipe

This recipe is for a 6.5 US gallons post boil volume.

Water:
Distilled water with additives to match this profile.
Calcium: 68 ppm
Magnesium: 4 ppm
Sodium: 17 ppm
Sulfate: 66 ppm
Chloride: 111 ppm

Grains:
15 pounds or 6.8 kg of Golden Promise malt
2.5 pounds or 1.13 kg of Munich I malt (7 °L)
2 pounds or 907 g Flaked Barley
1 pound or 453 g Carastan malt (35 °L)
1 pound or 453 g Roasted Barley (550 °L)
12 ounces or 340 g Chocolate Malt (500 °L)

Special Ingredient:
1 pound or 453 g of Dark Brown Sugar (cheap, grocery store stuff)

Hops:
1 ounce or 28 g of Cryo Columbus hops at 20.5 % AA – First Wort Hopping
1 ounce or 28 g of Cascade hops at 5.6 %AA – 20 minutes to go in the boil
1 ounce or 28 g Willamette hops at 4.9 %AA – 20 minutes to go in the boil
1 ounce or 28 g Cascade hops at 5.6 %AA – flameout
1 ounce or 28 g Willamette hops at 4.9 %AA – flameout

Yeast:
A blend of Cellar Science Cali and Cellar Science English derived from a yeast cake taken from a 1.045 beer

Instructions:
Mashed at 147° F of 64° C for 50 minutes
Then, 158° F or 70° C for 20 minutes
Then, 168° F or 76° C for 15 minutes
Fermented for 3 weeks at 68° F
Cold crashed for 4 days then moved off yeast
Carbonated with 20 PSI of CO2 for 5 days

Outcome:
Original Gravity: 1.096
Final Gravity: 1.032
ABV%: 8.40%

Our Imperial Tasting Notes

This beer came to us bold and malty. On the other hand, the strong American hops bring a strong bitterness to the aftertaste. Cryo hops will do that. It may fade over time.

Mike notes that there is a large amount of roasted grain notes in the flavor but it is restrained. It does not have the unpleasant acrid or ashy aspects that we find in some big stouts. He thinks that because he kept the specialty grains in check and only ramped up the base grains that the flavors blended well together.

We found dark toast and Baker’s Chocolate flavors in the beer. There is a sweet maltiness supporting the whole beer. Additionally, we tried to pick out the contributions of the Carastan and Munich malts, but they are subtle. All the fermentable components, including the brown sugar, seem to all come together to support the beer overall experience.

BREW ON!

Yes, homebrew video series that keeps going and going. We present the latest update from the Jar of Destiny, a magical journey of beer style exploration. This post is about Munich Helles, another lager style that John chose as a part of the seventh pick. See how this beer turned out as we taste and chat about it.

Munich Helles Recipe

This is a recipe for the BJCP Style 4A – Munich Helles from the Pale Malty European Lager category.

Recipe for 5 US Gallons in keg

WATER

9 gallons Spring water – 5 grams of gypsum

GRAINS

10 pounds of Dingemans Pilsner Malt (4.5 kg – 91% of the bill)
1 pound of Weyermann Light Munich Malt AKA Type 1 (0.45 kg – 9% of the bill)

HOPS

1.5 ounces (43 g) of Mittelfruh at 4% AA boiled for 75 minutes

YEAST

2 packets of Wyeast 2308 Munich Lager Yeast – 3 liter starter

PROCEDURES

Mashed at 150 °F (66 °C) for 90 minutes
Boiled for 75 minutes

Fermented for 2 weeks – started at 50°F (10° C)
— Then, brought to room temperature for 4 days at 72°F (22° C)

Cold Conditioned for 2 weeks at 34°F (1° C)
Closed transferred to another keg
Added 5 grams of gelatin dissolved in (295 ml of water to clear

RESULTS

Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.012
ABV: 5.25%

Our Tasting Notes

We both think the color and the clarity were good. It has a strong gold color and it fits the style guideline. The aroma has present malty notes and they follow through to the flavor. The yeast really pushed the Munich malt forward and it was the most influential flavor. The hops show up in the background of the aftertaste. This beer is bolder than expected. We are expecting a lighter, more quaffable lager. This example felt too malty. To adjust, I would reduce the Munich malt in half and use a lager yeast that finishes drier than the Wyeast.

BREW ON!