How to use mash leavin's?

[billtzk]

I brewed a 1.062 stout on Friday 12/9. After filling my kettle, I drew off the excess wort down to an SG of 1.010 for a final OG of 1.21. I got 4 gallons. I used a clean but not sanitized bucket to collect the wort and stuck it in my keezer at 39 degrees, and there it sits.

I'd like to turn this 4 gallons of wort into a 5 gallon batch of some kind of beer. I'll use DME to spike it to a reasonable OG. My first PM in years!

The orignal grain bill for a 10 gallon brew (13.25 gallon starting volume) that these leavin's tail from was:

16.50 lb US 2-row malt
2.45 lb Crystal 120
2.45 lb American Chocolate
2.25 lb flaked oaks
.36 lb roasted unmalted barley

I already have an English Brown fermenting from my brew a week ago, and I have this stout that I brewed last Friday. I'd like to do something different with the 2nd run that I collected, and I'd welcome suggestions on what to do with it.

I can do the math to bring this wort up to the OG I need, I'm not asking for help with that. I'd like input on what sort of beer these leavin's would be good for.

 

[llamabox]

You could...
Boil it down to a smaller batch instead of adding extract. Or do both and make a 1gal batch or Barley Wine.
I have seen some posts on something like a Black IPA.
You could use a wheat yeast and do something like a Dunkelweizen.

I think it would have been easier to brew 2 base malt brews and add specialty grains after the mash so you could control the outcome a bit better. Or even mixing your runnings to get you OG that way. But then again I have never done any of these things so just spit balling here.

 

[wyzazz]

Or you could boil it down a little more to say 1.030-1.040, put it in mason jars and pressure can it for starters.

 

[Yooper]

If you've got your fill of English browns (because I was thinking of a mild with that recipe and OG), then you could do an American brown. Add some DME to get to 1.050, and hop it up with American hops. Bitter with traditional APA/IPA bittering, and use centennial/cascade in the late hops. Centennial really seems to go well with a hint of roast in American browns.

 

[billtzk]

llamabox, I'm not fond of barleywines, and I think I'd have to boil it down to a quart to get that kind of gravity anyway. I wasn't planning on mashing for two beers. I was just draining my tun after collecting the wort for my stout, and it occurred to me that it would be a pity to waste the delicious looking leftover.

wyzazz, I considered reducing it a bit and canning it for starters, but they would be stout colored and flavored. I prefer extra light starters.

Yooper, I like that idea. An American brown would make a nice counterpoint to the English brown I just made. I might use Columbus. Centennial sounds good for the late hop addition. I used Cascade in the stout, so I don't want to duplicate the aroma in the brown.

Thank you all for the suggestions. I'll post my final recipe and results.

 

[MrOrange]

You could always up the OG using some honey and make a lower ABV Braggot

 

[billtzk]

An interesting idea, Mr. Orange. However, I have 50 bottles of mead already that will probably take me 15 years to drink, if it lasts that long (it's unsulfited). It turns out I'm not a big fan of mead.

 

[weirdboy]

You could also try making it into something like an Oud Bruin if you hop it fairly lightly with something like Saaz or Styrian Goldings and spike it with lacto.

 

[billtzk]

That's not a bad idea, weirdboy. In fact it's a great idea. Next time though. I've got this one set up now for an American brown.

Here's my plan:

4 gallons of wort at 1.021 (see post 1)
3 gallons water
4.37 pounds of Amber DME
.75 oz Columbus, 45 min
.5 oz Willamette, 15 min
.5 oz Willamette, flame out
Yeast, Safale US-05

That will give me 7 gallons with 280.5 total gravity units. Boil for 75 minutes to a final volume of 5.5 gallons with 1.051 OG. I'm not totally committed on the hops yet. The above should give me about 32 IBU. I might decide to go up to 40.