Doing an experimental beer. A big one. What less would you expect from me?

[Chadwick]

It's a monster of a beer. The biggest I've yet attempted. the

Additions considered, the original gravity is 1.123.

While that isn't very high in itself, compared to other brews done, it is still rather extreme.

This brew started with almost 2 lbs of raisins in the boil. Besides that addition the OG gravity was estimated at 1.098 or something close to that.

After two weeks of fermentation the gravity dropped to 1.060. Then I decided to remove almost 2 lbs of floating raisins and make a wort addition that would pump the OG up to 1.123. Take note, my original gravity never took into account the sugars added by the raisins.

It has been fermenting for 4 weeks now, it's still going. The primary yeast at work now is WLP099. I will give it another two weeks to ferment and then posslibly use WLP099 to bottle condition as well.

I plan on aging this stuff for a over an year before sampling.

Am I crazy? It doens't matter. I'm doing this anyways.

 

[bford]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!


So what style would you expect this to be closest to?

 

[zoomzilla]

I wouldn't worry about adding yeast at bottling. WLP 099 can ferment up to 25% abv. There should be plenty of live yeast left to get the job done.

 

[Chadwick]

Nothing ventured, nothing gained!


So what style would you expect this to be closest to?

That is an interesting question. Since I originally pitched some WLP500 with US-05, I expect there may be some fruity esters. This will blend nicely with the raisins. This batch was moderately hopped with Willamette....hmmm Some dark malts and Cararoma malt. Lots of dark candy sugar syrup. Then there is all those raisins.

I don't have a clue in the world how you would describe this beer as a style. When I added the WLP099 and the wort addition it definitely had an aroma of red wine.

In the end I'm hoping for something will have the barley malt character of a barleywine while also having a certain wine-like sweetness and musk. Also, it will be served and drank like wine.

It's totally experimental. It's sort of a wine/beer hybrid.

 

[fimpster]

Sub'd.
It sounds like a great experiment to me. Being served and drank like wine? So you don't plan to carbonate? Interesting.

Don't forget about this thread. Please come back and update, I'd love to hear how this turns out.

 

[Chadwick]

Sub'd.
It sounds like a great experiment to me. Being served and drank like wine? So you don't plan to carbonate? Interesting.

Don't forget about this thread. Please come back and update, I'd love to hear how this turns out.

I actually do plan on carbonating. However, I expect the carbonation to be on the lighter side. I don't want it to be a heavy carbonation, but rather a light one. Think Redbull style carbonation. What I meant by drinking like wine is that I intend to serve it chilled in wine glasses. 4-6 ounce servings. I think with will be appropriate if I can get the final gravity and ABV where I want it.

 

[day_trippr]

This feels kinda like rubbernecking a highway wreck but how big a batch is this creation? And what was the latest SG?

Cheers!

 

[Chadwick]

This feels kinda like rubbernecking a highway wreck but how big a batch is this creation? And what was the latest SG?

Cheers!

The batch is at a little over 6 gallons at this point. The latest SG is 1.123

I'm done with additions at this point. I'm going to see how low the gravity will go. It's still chugging away at 68F, although very slowly.

 

[smccarter]

That is an interesting question. Since I originally pitched some WLP500 with US-05, I expect there may be some fruity esters. This will blend nicely with the raisins. This batch was moderately hopped with Willamette....hmmm Some dark malts and Cararoma malt. Lots of dark candy sugar syrup. Then there is all those raisins.

I don't have a clue in the world how you would describe this beer as a style. When I added the WLP099 and the wort addition it definitely had an aroma of red wine.

In the end I'm hoping for something will have the barley malt character of a barleywine while also having a certain wine-like sweetness and musk. Also, it will be served and drank like wine.

It's totally experimental. It's sort of a wine/beer hybrid.

A man who understands the concept of the word "hobby". You sir... are an inspiration.

 

[day_trippr]

The batch is at a little over 6 gallons at this point. The latest SG is 1.123[...]

I'm hoping that 1.123 is actually the rolled-up "OG" because if that's the current specific gravity, you now have a huge batch of funky pancake syrup...

Cheers!

 

[Chadwick]

1.123 is the rolled up OG. It started with an OG of 1.107 and then it dropped to 1.060 by the time I added the extra wort and removed the raisins floating on said wort. After I added the extra wort and the WLP099 the fermentation took off again like crazy.

I don't know where the gravity is now, I'd rather not open it to check. I expect it may be in the 1.030 range. It could be lower, after all I am using WLP099. I would like to see a FG around 1.020 for this batch. Lower would be better. I've been feeding it everything it should have, nutrients, etc. And I am witnessing a healthy fermentation based on the activity from the airlock. Positive pressure has been maintained for over a month now. This is with fermentation buckets that I know for certain have gratuitous leaks around their seals.

When I see the positive pressure reside, I will open and take a gravity reading. I will most likely bottle it then. I plan on using a bottling yeast of some sort. I'm not yet convinced of what I should use at this point for a bottling yeast. I'm torn between using some more WLP099 or some champagne yeast. I'm trying to be careful to keep the final ABV below 18% so I can use champagne yeast to bottle. How that will work out is still yet to be seen.

In the end I want some carbonation. It doesn't have to be a lot. Simply something moderate. I'm planning on bottling these in large 32 ounce bottles and not touching them for at least 6+ months or more.

 

[lowtones84]

Should get some Brett in there while you have a chance

 

[Chadwick]

Should get some Brett in there while you have a chance

I've actually thought about this. I'm not big fan of Brett, but some of the recent tastings I've have of it would fit nicely with what I have going on here.

I'm not surprised at all someone suggested Brett in this beer.

 

[lowtones84]

Sometimes they exceed stated tolerance by quite a bit too...just sayin...