My "Belgian Brown Mule"

[KEG]

Currently brewing a strong dark ale. Calling it a mule cos it's going to kick like one.

Made to 20 litres, estimated OG 1088, ABV 9.0%, 41 IBUs

3.5kg LDME
.5kg light candi sugar
.5kg dark candi sugar
200g Carafa I, steeped
200g Light Crystal, steeped
200g Carapils, steeped
200g Dark brown sugar
100g CSR Treacle
40g Northern Brewer 6.6%AA, 60 Mins boil
30g Northern Brewer, 15 mins
30g Northern Brewer, Flameout
Pack of home brand yeast near end of boil as yeast nutrient
2 Packs of Safbrew T-58 Belgian Ale Yeast

I'm hoping for something strong, rich, and complex. Expecting it to need at least a few months of age.

What you guys reckon?

[Chris]

That's going to be intense. Are you sure about the estimated OG? I wouldn't have estimated it much above 70. And no, I don't trust beersmith et al.

[Kevnlis]

It is dry malt extract and a full kilo of candi sugar will raise the gravity even more. I don't reckon it will be 1088 but not as low as 1070 either.

Either way it looks like it is gonna be pretty tasty

[KEG]

That's going to be intense. Are you sure about the estimated OG? I wouldn't have estimated it much above 70. And no, I don't trust beersmith et al.

don't quite follow what you mean Chris... i wrote 1088.. do you think it will be higher or lower? i'm using QBrew.. and yeah, it's gonna be intense

edit: keeping in mind it's only 20L, not 23.

[KEG]

heh, what do you know. just measured the OG (having had the hop debris settle out of the sample).. the QBrew estimate was 1088, actual has come out at 1092.

Man, am i looking forward to this one being ready!

[Chris]

1092! That is a bit unexpected. Sounds like it'll be pretty good.

[Rysa]

I'll forward my address in a few weeks for a sample!!
Nice.

[KEG]

lol Ryan, do you ever come to melbourne?

[Rysa]

It's been a while, both working and general busy lifestyle lately.

[KEG]

well, it's been stopped at 1030 (=8.3%) for a few days now, and i'm not convinced that's as low as it should get with those fermentables - the candi sugar should actually reduce the finishing gravity by my reckoning. i'm going to rack it for sure (very cloudy), but i haven't decided yet if i'll rack it onto some rehydrated champagne yeast to finish it off properly - definitely want to make sure it's properly attenuated.

quick question though:
leaving flavour profiles etc aside, can champagne yeasts ferment more complex sugars that ale yeasts can't? or are they just more alcohol-tolerant?

[collapoo]

just had a look at the white labs site, their champagne yeast can tolerate up to 17% alc, but attenuates around 75%, so at least with their strain it is just the higher alc tolerance, as many of the yeasts we use can reach these attenuation levels

[KEG]

it's down to 1027 now... and i've still been too lazy to rack it so far - 18 days in primary. should get to it soon. and for the $2 or so for a pack of champagne yeast, i think i will rehydrate some and rack the beer onto it.

[501]

I wonder whether just racking alone would be enough to
rouse the yeast still there a bit ?
just remembering reading something from a brewery about that. ?

wouldn't champagne yeast impart a dry kinda finish ?

cheers
newbie

[KEG]

i don't think it would ever get very dry with that much extract/crystal in it.. drier perhaps, but not totally dry. on top of that, if the champagne yeast has 75% attenuation, it should leave a bit behind.

my concern is that it's important there's no excess fermentables left upon bottling.

[KEG]

Well, didn't need to bother with the champagne yeast. Racking it did get it kicked off again, and it's been stable now for several days at 1023.

tastes great - quite alcoholic tasting - it'll be about 9.75% when bottled, so no surprise. expecting the harshness to dissipate and leave a bloody beautiful beer.

i've half considered racking it onto some raisins, cos i reckon they'd really complement it - but i'll probably save that for an experimental-sized batch later.

[KEG]

So I've still got this one in secondary until a keg is free, and it just keeps getting better.

I put this one down too a week ago:

2 x Coopers Bavarian Lager Kit Cans 1.7kg, 21.5 IBUs each
1kg DLME (Dark Liquid)
200g Treacle
200g Dark Brown Sugar
50g Carafa III
100g Carafa I
350g Dark Crystal
10g Saaz, 10 minutes


it's about half fermented (OG 1100, down to 1056), and my goodness the hydro sample tastes fantastic. i cannot wait til this one is done. may need to be finished off with champagne yeast, it's probably going to get to around 11% - but it definitely has the malt and roast character to back that up.

it's been fermenting with two packs of US-05, sitting in a bath full of water that is around 14-15c. it's fermenting slowly, but sooo cleanly so far. very malt/roast driven.

[KEG]

it's down to 1040 and just about stopped, i think. krausen is virtually gone. this weekend, i'll give the champagne yeast a go at it. probably bottle it a fortnight later.

[KEG]

The champagne yeast got it down to 1020. Bottled it yesterday - 11.22%. 31 longnecks. Can't wait til it's ready.

[KEG]

d'oh. it seems 1020 wasn't done. i'm in the process of chilling them, so i can de-cap them, let them sit a bit to de-gas, then re-cap them.

but sheesh... with all those fermentables, how much lower is it going to go

might have hit the magic 12% mark - but i'll never know. tastes excellent already though

[Boonie]

Crikey, you love the Big Banger % Beers eh?

How did the original Mule come out?

Cheers

Boonie