Brewed: Dec 30, 2015
OG: 1.079 FG: 1.017 IBU: 42 ABV: 8.2%
Squeezed one more brew day in before the end of the year. I wanted to brew something with a similar malt profile as the KBS / FBS clone, but without the coffee addition and a little lower gravity. This was a 9L half-batch (2.3 gallons approximately) brewed on the apartment stove-top.
Specs:
45% Canadian 2-row pale malt
33% Thomas Fawcett Maris Otter
8.5% Flaked oats
5% Chocolate malt
3.5% Crystal 120
2.5% Carafa II
2.5% Roasted Barley
1 oz Willamette @ 60 min (40 IBU)
1.5 oz Cacao nibs @ 10 min
Fermented at 68F with WYeast 1318 – London Ale III
Mashed at 154F for 60 min, 159F for 15 min
Boiled for 120 min.
Brew Notes: Targeted 155F mash temp, hit 154. Dropped to 153 after about 35 min. Added some boiling water at 60 min to bring up to 159F for 15 min. BIAB with towels for insulation. Used 1 gallon “sparge” dunk in 3 gallon kettle at 173F for 10 min. Boiled 120 min, gentle rolling boil. Chilled by gentle stirring in ice bath. Changed out water 3 times to keep cool. Chilled to ~79F and transferred to carboy. Put carboy in 60F water bath to finish out the chill.
At 12 hours, wort at 68F and some activity starting. No krausen yet but swirling action and about 40 bubbles per min.
Tasting Notes:
Jan 13, 2015 – Taste off hydro sample at 2 wks in. SG is down lower than I wanted at 1.017, taste is overwhelmingly teriyaki/soy sauce at the moment with some bitter chocolate as well. Tastes young but also dry. Certainly not what I was going for, hope this beer doesn’t suck and isn’t infected. Will leave another week before attempting to bottle.
Jan 24, 2015 – Bottling day. Phew, tasting a lot better than just one week ago. Cocoa flavour up front with a little umami / soy on the back end. Still, a little drier than I was going for but I’m a lot more optimistic about the batch now. Stayed at 1.017.
Mar 6, 2016 – Has come around fairly well, tastes fine though not particularly interesting. Chocolate is subtle but there. Decent body, not creamy but medium-full. Touch of booziness. Will be interesting to see how it develops over a few months.
Nov 12, 2016 – This matured into a pretty good beer, just a little overly dry for my tastes. Chocolate flavours came out more as it aged. Carbonation stayed low, but picked up enough to fit the style. Overall happy with the recipe, just need to dial the process.