End of the World Stout is here

Millions of years ago, the galactic Mayan empire foretold the end of the world.  But how will it come? Will it be impact with a comet, zombie apocalypse, death star or Volgon construction crew?  No! it comes to you in a convenient 12 oz bottle!

  I present to you End of the World Stout - a beer brewed to ridiculous strength (20% abv) flavored with chocolate and aged on oak.

I made this monster brew almost one year ago.  Update  After aging for a few months on oak and chocolate, I force carbonated and bottled.  It has been sitting, waiting for this day...

The bottle opens with a hiss to remind me the carbonation transferred over ok.  I was a little worried since this was force carbonated in the keg and I don't have any of that fancy bottling equipment.

It pours deep black with only a hint of head that leaves a ring around the top.

Sweet aroma of dark malt with a hint of chocolate backed up with a whiff of alcohol. Maybe a little bit of roasted in the aroma too, but you have to look for it.

Strong malt favors right up front along with a slight alcohol burn.  The alcohol is actually quite mild considering it is around 20%. The malt/alcohol is followed by velvety chocolate, which lingers long after you have swallowed.  Sadly, I can't find the oak, but maybe it's there helping the favors blend together.  I guess a beer this strong needs more than an ounce.  It could also be that the oak cubes were buried in layers of yeast that settled out in secondary.  

The feel is a bit thick, but not syrupy or sticky.  The carbonation it does have helps lighten it up a bit.  It finishes with a slight alcohol burn and that chocolate.

This beer is more like a chocolate liquor than your average ale/stout/etc.  something to keep you company after the world has ended.  Enough of these and you won't even remember the comet strike or the wave of incoming zombies!

Notes:

    12/28/11 - Brewed  OG=1.10
        Made 2x 1/2 gal WLP099 starters
        Started with Nottingham yeast
    1/1-1/8 - Added 7.# corn sugar added some 099 and yeast nutrient
    1/9/12 -  Final sugar addition. vOG=1.074
    1/10/12 -  + 1 Vanilla bean (Vodka soaked) + 2oz Coco Nubs
          BR=19.2 G=1.04 ABV=14-19%
     1/16-1/17 added 1# cane Sugar vOG=1.182
     1/19/12 - Secondary Got ~4.5 gals - 1 gal of sludge!  G=1.029  ABV=20%
     5/29/12 - Keg + Fridge (To force carb)  FG=1.023, 19brix  ABV=20-21%
          Based on current brix+SG, OG could be 1.169, putting ABV at 19.5%
      8/23/12 - Bottled 1.5 cases
      12/20/12 - This tasting!

     

Braggot - tasting

Braggot, being a mead, gets more than half of the fermentables  from honey.  The rest are from Malted barley.  Some versions have hops, but even in those it is usually light.  I made this kit just over a year ago.  It spent  almost 8 months bulk ageing before I bottled.

Pours with a small head that lasts a minute or two.  
Slight haze that prevents it from being crystal clear.  The photo makes it look much less transparent.

Aroma of light honey and maybe a little apple?  It does smell similar to my cider...No hops in the aroma.

The flavor has really mellowed over the last few months.  When they say this needs some age, they are right, but the waiting is worth it.  A little cidery floral character mixed with malty alcohol.  Not bad for a 9%abv drink.  Still a little sweeter than I like.

Medium carbonation with enough to feel the bubbles, while leaving it a bit creamy.  Mead often finishes very dry, so it must be the malt balancing it out.  It did finish with a final gravity of 1.025.  Higher than expected.

This is a good sipping drink - perhaps for desert.  It is better than straight mead that I have tried so far - Not that I have had many to compare.
This is not a chugger, but I also don't have any problems finishing 12oz at a time.  Will look forward to see how it develops over the next few years.

12/25/10 - Present from Lauren
     6lbs pilsner LME, 9lbs wildflower honey, 1oz ? Hops 20-min, D47 Yeast
1/1/11 - Brewed  OG=1.095 (Should have been 1.011) (Was over by 1/2 gal)
 2/5/11 - Secondary  G=1.025
       Taste - Interesting ... sweet with a little graininess
4/16/11 - G=1.025.
       Moved to boiler room to warm up.  Also swirled.
       Still a little sweet, but not 'meady'
 6/22/11 - G=1.025
       Good clarity.  flavor mellowing.  light, sweet mead.  bottle soon.
 7/17/11 - Bottled + 3.5oz corn sugar  G=1.025  ABV=9.5%
        6x1L, 1x.5L, 30x12oz
 7/25/11 - Sampled 1st bottle-  Slight hiss, but not carb'd yet.  Little sweet, slight "meady"
       Left a bottle with my sister after helping her move - Joanne said "'Braggot' is delicious!"
 8/14/11 - drank bottle - getting good.  Light honey flavor, not hot at all.
 2/6/12 - This tasting!

End of the world stout - update (1/19/12)



EWS - Secondary







After three weeks of slowly feeding this monster, it is a relief to have it in secondary.

As planned, I split the stout in two. 1/2 will become the end of the world stout, the other a chocolate stout to be ready soon.

End of the world:

I started with 5 gallons of 1.10og wort. Pitched two re hydrated packs of Nottingham. Fermented this for a few days down to around 1.03 before I started the feedings. I ended up giving it 9# of sugar and 3 different strains of yeast.  It also sat on Cocoa nubs and




Cocoa nubs and vodka soaked vanilla bean

a vanilla bean for the last week.  There was a gallon of sludge at the

bottom, so I only got around 4.5 gals into secondary. 





It now sits at 1.029 sg with a virtual starting gravity of ~1.182 for approximately 20% alcohol.  That is if the estimates and calculations scale that high.  Either way this beer is big!





Fermentation is not pretty



This beer will age for a few months on 1 oz of French oak cubes before I bottle. 

The sample I took was full of crud floating aroung (Yeast still trying to do their job)  This will all fall out during aging, but I wanted a sample now!  I was able to strain a few ounces through a paper towel.  What came out the other side was quite nice.  I saved this and a few ounces of 1997 Sam Adams Triple Bock that I will sneak into work for a tasting ;)





Chocolate stout:

Its little brother started life as 2.75 gallons of 1.1sg wort. I topped this off with another two gallons of bottled water, pitched a re hydrated pack of yeast and sealed it off for the two weeks. I added some cocoa nubs and a vanilla bean, let it sit for another week.  Kegged it today, so expect a tasting in a week or so!

This one ended up at 1.01fg for almost 6% alcohol.



Belgian strong Dark - Tasting

Belgian Strong Dark - I brewed this back in May 2011 - ABV 10%
The goal with this beer was something like Chimay Blue or KoningsHoeven Quad.
 Pours with very little head that dissipates quickly, but leaves some lacing.
 Reddish brown. clarity was pretty good until the yeast poured in.
 Sweet aroma.  Decent carbonation, but not as good as some of the better belgians.
 Dark malts with some alcohol.  I think the dominant flavor here is from the dark candi sugar.
 A little spiciness from the yeast, but does not have that band-aid I sense in many other belgians.
 It could use some more complexity, but I do like it as it is.
 Fairly easy drinking 10% abv beer.   The body is nice and light.
 Its too bad I don't have many of these left.

Recipe (5 Gallons):
Belgian strong dark 2011:  OG=1.092
Fermentables:
 12 lbs belgian pils
 .75 lbs Belgian aromatic
 .25 lbs Belgian Special B
 1 lbs corn suar
 1 lbs dark candi
 1 lbs Sugar (In primary)
Hops:
    1 oz tradition (60)
  .5 oz hersbrucker (30)
  .5 oz hersbrucker (5)
 Mash 60 min @149
Yeast:
 WYeast 3739 Flanders golden - 2 liter starter

Note When brewed:   OG=1.085.  FG=1.004. 
Did not add sugar to primary (Already 10% abv)

Barleywine - Bottling and First tasting

I is finally time to bottle my barleywine! 3 months ago, I used almost 1/2 bag of maris otter to brew up almost 5 gallons of barleywine and 5 gallons of English bitter.
For that brew day, I used the partigyle technique. After mashing the grain, the first runoff has most of the sugars. This becomes your stronger beer. You can then rinse the grains with more water to get a second weaker beer. In a normal batch, these two runnings would be combined for one average beer.
This is when bath sparging - some people use fly sparging, which is more of a continuous rinse. The same can be done with the first half going to one beer and the second to the other beer. Some people go as far as making a third smaller beer.
Anyway, back to the barleywine. Since the brew day back in October I have been waiting patiently as it fermented and aged.  It has spent the last few days kegged so I could force carbonate and chill it for easier bottling. Yes it is possible to bottle condition a beer this strong, but I did not want to take the chance of flat beer. It is now time for bottling and tasting!
At 3 months, it is still quite young - especially for a 12-13% barleywine, but I thought it would be a good time for the first tasting.

Appearance:  Clarity is poor.  Forms a small wisp of a head.
Aroma:  Aroma of malt and alcohol.  Similar to Belgian dubble. Slight dark fruits - maybe prunes?
Taste:  Dark fruit-malt type flavors with some alcohol.  No hops, but sweet/bitter is balanced.
Mouth feel:  Medium body with low-medium carbonation - Perfect for a strong sipping ale.
Overall:  Definitely a sipper, but surprisingly smooth for such a young almost 13%abv beer.
 Amazing how much this reminds me of Belgian dubble/quad considering English malt, hops and yeast.  And no sugar.

This beer is meant to age.  I will be slowly eating into this stockpile over the next few years - mmmm.