Guys as a new brewer I was wondering if any of ya’ll would be interested in posting a few of your favorite Hi gravity recipes. I know recipes are easy to come by, but many times you wonder if you’re taking a chance on who’s posting ( sometimes you never see them post anything else but recipes) or they may not give any feedback of how it turned out or if it was any good. I’d appreciate it as a new brewer. And so would the wife as those are her favorite.
Thanks in advance.
Jim
Jim, define “high gravity”…
Narrowing it down to a broad style category or country of origin would help too. You can brew a “high gravity” anything, but if you had a Belgian Quad in mind, an American Barleywine recipe might not be helpful.
And I assume you’re looking for extract recipes? Is a mini-mash an option? IME it can really help with attenuation on big beers.
Samichlaus comes to mind as the “Worlds strongest Lager”. I haven’t tried it, but it’s on the list. Also Dogfish Head 240, which is very hard to find.
High gravity is a relative term. Depends on your definition.
Based on what Jim told me in a PM, he isn’t looking for any particular style. He just likes hi grav brews and is looking for some tried and tested recipes. But I don’t know if he wants extract, PM, of AG recipes.
Thanks guys for the input. How about we say 1.060 for the bottom and either all grain or extract would be fine. I’m a real new brewer. I started all grain as thats how my buddy showed me to do it. I could convert the recipe from extract to all grain if I needed to. I’ve made lower gravity beers but would like to attempt a hi gravity brew, but I would really like ideas from people that have been successful and liked there results. I’d be willing to try any style, I’d like to get going on a barleywine and any other of ya’lls favorites.
Jim
A little about myself, my boss had me over and we brewed a all grain lager. I started collecting my equipment then last year brewed a 5 gallon all grain oatmeal stout. It turned out great. I’ve got 2 bottles left. Next I brewed a scottish ale and it turned out on the thin side but it got drank and I believe I can improve on it. By the 3rd batch I went to 10 gallon batches and it was a hefeweizen. I’m working on getting set up for kegging and the wifes been on me to brew her something. So probably a stout is next but I wanted to get something hi gravity in the fermentor as It looks like it’ll be in there awhile.
Jim
Here’s one of my favorites:
I mash it at 147F for 90min then 158F for 15-30min. Next time I’m going to try it w/o the carapils to make it even drier.
Almost as hard to find as Rochefort 12.
American Barleywine is one of my favorite styles and can be a very simple recipe. I like:
92% 2-row
5% Crystal 40
2% Crystal 120
OG 1.100
As far as hops, any “C” hop will work. Try Columbus for bittering to about 50 IBU, then Centennial or Cascade (or a blend), about an ounce at 15 minutes and an ounce at flameout.
1056/WLP001 would be the default yeast; 1272/WLP051 is a nice alternative. US-05 would be great for dry yeast. You’ll either need two packs of dry or a big (3-4 L) starter for liquid. Once it’s done rack to secondary for six months or so. If you’re bottling you may need to re-yeast.
Boy, 50 IBU seems kinda on the low side for an Am. BW. I think the last one I did was around 130! :o I’m in the process of tweaking my Old Stoner recipe for this year’s brew and I’ll post it as soon as it’s finalized.
Thanks guys for the input I appreciate any and all. Will a hi OG beer still finish with a low FG.
Jim
You’re right Denny, I checked my notes and it was actually about 75 IBU bittering addition, 90 IBU total. IIIRC you age them for a lot longer though, right? A year or more?
With all-grain, you’re in good shape because you can mash low and produce a very fermentable wort. I’ve mashed my BWs at 149°F for 90 minutes. Combined with an attenuative yeast like Chico (US-05/1056/001), 80-85% attenuation is common.
I’m getting ready to brew a Barleywine, maybe this weekend. I am going to use US-05. I really liked my last recipe using all Centennial and Cascade. I am going to use Zuess, Centennial and Cascade for a total of about 90 IBU’s in this recipe. The grain bill for 5 gallons consists of:
Amount Item Type % or IBU
20.00 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (3.5 SRM) Grain 78.43 %
3.00 lb Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 11.76 %
1.00 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 3.92 %
1.00 lb Rye Malt (4.7 SRM) Grain 3.92 %
0.50 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 1.96 %
Yep.
It can, but my experiences is that if I start with a 100+ OG, I really don’t like it to finish under the mid 20s.
My last Barleywine started at 1.106 and finished 1.023 using a yeast cake of WLP001 from an APA.
Here’s one of my favorite high gravity recipes, but be careful. It drinks like a session beer (and it finished fairly dry):
Little Big IIPA
12 Gallons
Approx 95 IBUs
OG 1.080
15lbs German Pilsner malt
15 lbs Crisp Maris Otter
2lbs Crystal 40L
1.5 lb Table Sugar (sucrose)
Hops
2oz Centennial FWH
2oz Amarillo (7aa) 60 min
2oz Centennial (8aa) 30 min
2oz Amarillo (7aa) 20 min
2oz Centennial (8aa) 15 min
2oz Centennial (8aa) 5 min
2oz Amarillo (7aa) 0 min
2oz Centennial 8aa) 0 min
Dry Hops (hop pellets) 1 oz Centennial in primary after fermentation slows for 7-10 days per 5 gallons
Dry Hop 1oz Amarillo and 1.5 oz Centennial in keg per 5 gallons
4 packets US-05 yeast
Mash in at 150 - 152 for 60 min. Boil 90 min. Pitch at 62 and ferment at 68. Drink young and eagerly!
So with these Hi gravity beers do you typically have to back add yeast to get them to carbonate. And if so is it necessary to use the same yeast.
Thanks Jim
I do it just to make sure.
You don’t need to use the same yeast (just pick a neutral strain) but it’s easy to do if you steal some of the krausen and store it in a sanitized jar until bottling time.