Barrel beer v2: Gone Rogue

Hey all. Triptych has a Rogue dark rum barrel waiting for us. Perhaps we can do this a little bit differently than the previous barrel: we'll decide a recipe and those interested in participating can brew the beer at their own domiciles. When everything is done fermenting we'll load it in the barrel at Triptych.

Recipes ideas that have been tossed around include a Tropical Stout, Barleywine, Weitzenbock. I am partial to the Tropical stout, but this is our chance to discuss what we want to do. (Also, something to think about: we might want a recipe that can be done both with all-grain and extract depending on who is interested in participating)

Realistically we'll need about 12-14 5-gallon batches going. I can do a 10-gal if need be, but would rather not. If you are interested make it known here.

-Jackson

I like the Tropical Stout idea. I'm in for 5, 10 if we need to cover it. I'd probably brew 10 gallons in any case so it's no hassle. From the BJCP:

16C Tropical Stout
Overall Impression: A very dark, sweet, fruity, moderately strong ale with smooth roasty flavors without a burnt harshness.

Aroma: Sweetness evident, moderate to high intensity. Roasted grain aromas moderate to high, and can have coffee or chocolate notes. Fruitiness medium to high. May have a molasses, licorice, dried fruit, and/or vinous aromatics. Stronger versions can have a subtle clean aroma of alcohol. Hop aroma low to none. Diacetyl low to none.

Appearance: Very deep brown to black in color. Clarity usually obscured by deep color (if not opaque, should be clear). Large tan to brown head with good retention.

Flavor: Quite sweet with a smooth dark grain flavors, and restrained bitterness. Roasted grain and malt character can be moderate to high with a smooth coffee or chocolate flavor, although the roast character is moderated in the balance by the sweet finish. Moderate to high fruity esters. Can have a sweet, dark rum-like quality. Little to no hop flavor. Medium-low to no diacetyl.

Mouthfeel: Medium-full to full body, often with a smooth, creamy character. May give a warming (but never hot) impression from alcohol presence. Moderate to moderately-high carbonation.

Comments:Sweetness levels can vary significantly. Surprisingly refreshing in a hot climate.

History:Originally high-gravity stouts brewed for tropical markets, became popular and imitated by local brewers often using local sugars and ingredients.Characteristic Ingredients:Similar to a sweet stout, but with more gravity. Pale and dark roasted malts and grains. Hops mostly for bitterness. May use adjuncts and sugar to boost gravity. Typically made with warm-fermented lager yeast.

Style Comparison: Tastes like a scaled-up sweet stout with higher fruitiness. Similar to some Imperial Stouts without the high bitterness, strong/burnt roastiness, and late hops, and with lower alcohol. Much more sweet and less hoppy than American Stouts. Much sweeter and less bitter than the similar-gravity Export Stouts.

Vital Statistics:
OG: 1.056 – 1.075 IBUs: 30 – 50 FG: 1.010 – 1.018 SRM:30 – 40 ABV: 5.5 – 8.0%
Commercial Examples: ABC Extra Stout, Dragon Stout, Jamaica Stout, Lion Stout, Royal Extra Stout

I'm in for 5 and I'm abstaining from the style vote.

Ok so I've adapted a Tropical Stout recipe from Brewing Classic Styles (with some minor tweaks). It's a little bit bigger than "to style", but that's probably ok.

BUZZ Pirate Swill (All-Grain Version)
OG: 1.073, FG:1.022, ABV: 6.7, IBU:41

Maris Otter - 12 lbs
Black Patent (500 L) - .75 lb
Caramel 80 - 10 oz
Caramel 40 - 10 oz
Chocolate (425 L) - .5 lb

Single-infusion mash at 152 F for 60 min

Kent Golding - 3 oz (60 min)

Yeast: 2 packs of Safale S-04 or 2 packs of Danstar Nottingham

BUZZ Pirate Swill (Partial Mash Version)
-Replace Maris Otter with 9.25 lbs of Pale LME. (or since they come in 3.3 lb tubs, I guess 9.9 lbs if you're lazy about measuring)
-steep the rest as specialty grains at 152 for 60 min.
-do your extract thang

How does this recipe look to folks? Any tweaks suggested?
I figure we can probably order a large amount of specialty grains and hops from Friar Tucks ahead of time (I don't imagine they'll have enough at stock at a given moment) and split the cost. The rest of the ingredients will be on the individual to track down.

If we wanted to bump the roastiness a little more we could substitute roasted barley or black barley for the black patent.

Gordon Strong has an interesting recipe in his BYO style guide article. In particular, I think there are three things worth noting: a) using lager yeast, b) using debittered black malt for part of the roast malt addition, and c) using a simple sugar.

I think including a simple sugar (say a pound) would be easy and we could pick out something interesting at Amco. I think Strong makes a good argument for less roast over more roast, but I'm happy to defer on that point. The lager yeast is perhaps the most risky aspect. I think it would be really interesting, but if not all participants can control temperature to say the low 60s, it might be better to go with a standard ale yeast. 34/70 has a good reputation for being temperature tolerant, and Matt offered us a pitch when we were touring that one time. We could probably time this with his schedule to get a big, healthy pitch to share.

I think the bulk ingredients buy makes sense.

If you still need 5-10 gallons and if next Saturday is not too late to brew, I am in.
Tim Bossenbroek

Mark:

I like the suggestion for the addition of a simple sugar; I've updated the recipe to reflect that. I am hesitant for lager yeast for few reasons: accessibility of temp control, availability of good English ale dry yeasts (S-04, Nottingham), and time constraints (need to fill barrel quickly precludes the weeks of lagering).

BUZZ Pirate Swill (All-Grain Version)
OG: 1.071, FG:1.021, ABV: 6, IBU:41

Maris Otter - 10 lbs
Turbinado - 1 lb
Black Malt (500 L) - .75 lb
Caramel 80 - 10 oz
Caramel 40 - 10 oz
Chocolate (425 L) - .5 lb

Single-infusion mash at 152 F for 60 min

Kent Golding - 3 oz (60 min)

Yeast: 2 packs of Safale S-04 or 2 packs of Danstar Nottingham

BUZZ Pirate Swill (Partial Mash Version)
-Replace Maris Otter with 6.6 lbs of Pale LME.
-Replace 1 lb Turbinado w/ 2 lbs Turbinado
-steep the rest as specialty grains at 152 for 60 min.
-do your extract thang

I would be glad to brew 5 gallons for this.

I would also like to recommend that for this style people use S-04 over Nottingham. The Nottingham I have used in the past dries things out and attenuates really well, I don't think people would hit around 1.022FG with it.

Caleb: Sending you an email.

-Jackson