Bread Pudding Beer

I've used it before in an Innis & Gunn clone (had to drive a long ways to find it). It is quite smooth and does have a bready characteristic. I might have to make the trip again.

 

Thanks for your comments, ryane. Interesting that you would choose a pale malt over GP or MO, which now makes the choice more difficult. I understand the breadyness resulting from yeast in suspension, but once the beer has finished fermenting and has cooled, that no longer seems to become an option. The addition of Special B, vanilla and lactose has been mentioned several times, so I'll definitely keep those in the recipe. Also, several have suggested not to add actual raisins, and I wondered why, but your suggestion that it thins out the body answers that. Adding unmalted wheat also makes sense and might add to the "bready" taste. Lots of choices and opinions, but only by trying will I know for sure.

 

There might be something to this. The Westvleteren clone that I made, and from which I initially detected a "sort of" bread pudding taste was made with a combination of pale malt and pilsner malt (twice as much pilsner malt as pale malt) - nothing special. I wish someone would write a book on the effect of using different base grains and specialty grains. Unless such a book already exists? I would be one of the first to buy it!

 

Thanks for the suggestions, ryane and atomeyes. I'm ordering the ingredients tomorrow, going to do a big yeast starter, and then brew 10 gallons with a friend later this week.

 

Just made this today. The taste at this point - very, very bready, colour looks right (likely around 25-30 SRU), lots of amazing complexity, the cinnamon came out just right. The "raisiny" taste is not quite there yet - I hope it comes through after fermentation. Also our O.G. (1.072) was lower than calculated (1.082). Maybe our efficiency wasn't as high as expected. Irregardless, I think this beer will end up being fantastic.

I'll report again once it has been kegged.

 

Yes, we used 1007 (German Ale). I first made a 2 liter starter a few days ago and it was quite active. The wort is bubbling away this morning.

 

Here's the recipe we went with this time around (for 11 gallons):

22 lb Canadian 2-Row
7.0 lb Rye malt
4.0 lb Oats
4.0 lb Munich malt
3.0 lb Special B
1.0 lb Crystal 100
2.0 lb Wheat malt
1.0 lb Lactose
2.0 oz old hops for 21.5 IBU
Wyeast 1007 (German Ale)
5 cinnamon sticks (added with 15 min. left in boil)
Will add about 4 or 5 vanilla beans steeped in Vodka at kegging time
O.G.: 1.072 (target was 1.080)
Mash: 150 F for 75 minutes
Boil: 75 minutes
Assumed efficiency: 60% (we should have used 55% and added a few more pounds of 2-row)

 

I think it's going to be incredible. There were lot of complex flavours when we tasted it. The only concern at this point is that it did not taste too raisiny. Some fruit, but perhaps more apricot than raisin. But that might change once it's fermented/aged and after adding vanilla. But the breadiness is certainly there. The colour also looks right for bread pudding (possibly a little lighter, about 20-25 SRU would have been better, but at this point we're not concerned about colour).

 

I was also thinking of popping over the border to try some of those beers in Michigan you mentioned (by the way, neither of them responded to my emails - nor for that matter have I ever had a response from any brewery I ever wrote to except one - I think the "Contact" link on their websites are just for show). You are welcome to ring that doorbell when the beer is done! However I live just east of Toronto, about 4 hours driving from Detroit.

 

Update. The beer is almost finished fermenting. I tried it yesterday, and I was quite impressed already. The colour is perfect - looks like bread. The aroma is incredible - different than any other beer. You can smell a little cinnamon, some vanilla, bread, honey. The taste is bread, cinnamon, some raisin, just a touch of vanilla - very much like bread pudding! The mouthfeel is very smooth, and oddly you can't really tell that it has a lot of alcohol. It's a little drier than I expected, and there was some bitterness which I wish wasn't there. I'm not sure where the bitterness came from, but possibly from it still being a little yeasty. It's still too early to really tell what it's going to be like, so will report again in a week or so. All in all, I'm very pleased with the results so far.

 

The hop bitterness was calculated at only about 21 IBU, but it tasted a little more bitter than that. It could very well have been the hop solids still in suspension. Could the oats also add a sense of bitterness? I'm sure that this will taste quite different once it has finished fermenting and cleared. The S.G. was surprisingly low already on Monday at 1.020, considering that I had added a pound of lactose (for 10 gallons).