Foreign extra stout question

[AerationStation]

So I did my first foreign extra stout based on jamil's recipe.

OG: 1.076

FG: 1.016

Yeast: wlp001 w/ 3l starter

Oxygenated for 45s before pitch and again at 12 hours

Fermented for 2.5 weeks at 66F then ramped to 68F for the last four days

Now the problem. I kegged it up and let it condition for a week at about 40F when I decided to try some. This is my first real big beers so I'm not sure if this is normal but the stuff tasted pretty darn boozy.

It has a nice roast character to it with a slighty sweet background, but man is it harsh. Ive relegated it to the back of the freezer for right now, but I'm wondering if this is par for the course on a bigger beer like this? How long do you guys let beers like this sit before you drink them? Any advice from some of you big beer brewers would be awesome!

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

Is it boozy in a paint thinner kind of way?

 

[AerationStation]

Kinda, it's more like a shot of cheap vodka

 

[solbes]

I'm assuming the alcohol is a little front and center. That will fade over the next couple of months. And the roast character will meld a little better too. I aged my Irish dry stout (1.04x gravity) for a month at room temp before tapping. And my RIS (1.102) for 8 months in carboy & bottle.

If you have the pipeline, I'd move it to cellar or room temps as it will age a little faster. Give it 8 weeks and try it again. I bet the alcohol notes fade/disappear. And I bet the roast smoothes out a lot.

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

hot alcohol is related to yeast growth. I would suspect the second dose of O2 might have been too much.

What size batch was it and was the pitching rate correct? Did you time the O2 additions with a stop watch, or estimate?

 

[AerationStation]

It was a 5 gal batch, the pitching rate was correct according to BCS, and I clocked it for 45s both times.

I think I might have been a bit gung ho about getting enough O2 in there and could have over done it haha