High ABV (17%+) Scotch Ale, Partial Mash Recipe, Seeking Feedback

[Dan7a]

Hello Homebrewers! Very excited to get started on this recipe but wanted to seek some input to make sure I'm heading down the right path. I'm looking to brew a very high ABV partial grain beer, and I like to Scotch Ales so why not right!?

Recipe:
Mash
10 lbs Brewers Malt 2-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM)
3 lbs Brewers Malt 6-Row (Briess) (1.8 SRM)
1 lbs Aromatic Male (Dingemans) (19.0 SRM)
1 lbs Crystal Malt - 150 (Muntons) (150.0 SRM)
Extract
10 lbs LME Sparkling Amber (Briess) (10.0 SRM)
Hops
1.00 oz Gaiena [12.5%]
1.00 oz Glacier [4.8%]
Yeast
Yeast Nutrients & Energizer
1.0 pkg O'Connor's West Michigan Ale (Craft Cultures #00001) - custom yeast, will probably change to a scotch strong ale yeast, thoughts?
1.0 pkg Super High Gravity Ale (White Labs #WLP099)
1.0 pkg EC-1118 (Champagne)
Sugar
3 lbs Corn Sugar
Bottling sugar (corn)

Directions
Boil mash @ 69C for 90 min, (15 lbs)
Bring to boil, add Galena (60 min left)
Add 10 lbs of LME Amber (15 min left)
add Glacier (5 min left)
Add yeast nutrients and energizer (0 min)
Cool wort & transfer to primary
Add Scotch Ale yeast
1 day in, add WLP099
Store in primary 7-14 days
Transfer to secondary carboy (should I just get a regular 6.5 gal glass carboy and not worry about transferring? This would almost be prefered.
After 7-14 days / transfer to secondary, add 3 lbs Corn Sugar
After 7-14 days / transfer to secondary, add EC-1118 (champagne yeast, will get it started too)
Transfer to bottling bucket, not worrying about taking some yeast cake with transfer into bucket
Add priming sugar
Bottle, wait 2-4 weeks, then enjoy

Curious if you have any feedback, thoughts, or concerns with this recipe. I'm leaning towards bottling in flip-caps, and with only doing a glass primary.

 

[ChelisHubby]

With 15 lbs of grain and 10 lbs of LME what is your starting gravity 1160 or so. I am a beginner so pardon my ignorance. Wont this need a long time to Carb and age to get the flavors right, LIKE SEVERAL MONTHS? I admire what your doing as it would be tough for me to do I couldn't wait on it.

 

[prpromin]

There's a lot to be considered in a recipe this huge. I see this is your first post - have you done (hopefully several) all grain batches before? If not, start with something a little smaller to get your feet. Save this for later.

The biggest bottle conditioned beer I've done is 13%, but a few thoughts on what you have there:

I'd lower the mash temp a little. Yours is what? 156? I'd drop that to 152 or so. I mash my Wee Heavy at 153 and it has plenty of body.

Starter and temp control. You're going to need both of these to get good fermentation. Heck, make a Scottish 70 shilling and use the cake as your starter. That's the way that I go when I do wee heavy.

I haven't put the numbers in, but you might need more hops for balance.

I don't know what the ABV tolerance is of the O'Connor's yeast, but the super-high grav is probably the choice you want. Again, huge starter.

It's going to need a lot of time to ferment. Think primary for a month and secondary for more. After bottling, it'll probably need months of conditioning to before it's drinkable. That's if you pitch enough yeast, aerate properly, and have excellent temp control.

Carbing may also be a problem. For sure, it'll take a bit of time. Way longer than three weeks. Kegging would possibly be a better option.

I know this post sounds really discouraging, but you're dropping a lot of $$ on a brew, so getting feedback - like you're doing here - is good.

BTW - Have you chatted with the guys at O'Connors about this recipe? They're a good bunch. You'll get good responses here, but don't overlook them as a resource, too.