Stronger Scotch Ale

[tadkays]

I have a monster on my hands! never been in 10% territory before. 4 days in carboy so far, slowing down a bit, krausen falling now, roused a bit, blowoff tube active, moved today to basement with airlock...

How much time in primary, secondary, then bottle is recommended? should i add anything else during the process?

will be 5g bottled primarily in bombers, with crayon wax... thinking maybe 6 month minimum but want to understand next steps.

thanks, i will paraphrase recipe. mash 149 60 min, 9g boil, 15g kettle, big time 90 min boiloff, mash out 200 maxed out 10g bev cooler mlt.

planned on 8 Abv, got 1.104 OG. super high. 12th batch overall since January.

Thanks for any advice. i had trouble with the app which Stinks because I have to hit cancel at least 1000 times per week.
-Tad
87% mo
5 c120
5 c40
1.3 smoked
.66 roasted
ekg hops

wy1728 x 2

 

[LexusChris]

The keys to big beers are pitching enough yeast and keeping them going! For a 5-gallon batch at OG 1.105, you probably needed 4 packs without using a starter. If you only used 2 packs without a starter, then the yeast are a bit stressed. Stressed yeast can create some other flavors that may or may not be what you intend.

Don't be alarmed though. Your beer may still be very good and enjoyable, but you may notice some esters for phenols that would be different than if the pitch rate was spot on. Again, some styles like to under/over pitch for those extra flavors.

When I have used WLP028 (White Labs equiv. to Wyeast 1728), it is a monster yeast and tears though a big beer quite well! Probably the most violent fermentations I've ever had were with that yeast! (Go get'm!)

Seeing as you are already 4 days into your active fermentation, there is not much left to do, but to make sure it finishes. In my experience, it will take a few weeks to finish up that beer. I like my big beers to spend at least 4 weeks in primary. Maybe I'm a bit over-cautious, but I don't want exploding bottles, and I do want the yeast to have some happy time to clean-up after themselves.

Did you have temperature controlled for the 1st four days of fermentation? That is the other factor in ester/phenol production. Ideally, you want to keep your temps within range during the critical active fermentation, and allow some warmer temps as it finishes out...

Anyways, definitely keep in in the fermenter for a few weeks. Rousing the fermenter with a swirl every few days will help keep the tired yeast in suspension and keep working. Resist the urge to take a gravity reading until you are at the end of the few weeks. And don't swirl after you've cracked the lid/seal. You don't want to introduce oxygen to the beer, as you can develop oxidation off-flavors in the bottle during long storage.

Good luck,
--LexusChris

 

[924RACR]

Sounds like a pretty tasty brew... though personally I'd have gone for a bit warmer mash, more like 154F, get it maltier to the style...

I'd definitely try to keep my hands off it for at least 3 mos, but for sure it'll really be nice by 6 months...

 

[tadkays]

Thanks y'all. I will have to get in the practice of starters going forward. Temp in primary was 65 first off, now probably 62ish. I will let it ride and hopefully the yeast will do its job.

 

[Challenger440]

You might try to let it warm slowly. Doing so will encourage the yeast to stay active longer. Letting the temp drop might cause the yeast to get lazy and floc out.

Maybe something like raise it 1 degree a day until you are at like 70 degrees? Maybe someone with more experience with bigger beers can share their fermentation schedule.

 

[tadkays]

11 days in primary and we are at my anticipated 1.026, which gives me 10.2% abv. I plan to leave this at least 10 more days in primary, then a couple months in secondary before bottling. It's pretty tasty too! Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

 

[tadkays]

its in bottles now, going to label and wax and try in august.