Extract Smoked Red with Juniper / Whiskey Soaked Oak

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by VincentFrey, Sep 12, 2013.

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  1. VincentFrey

    VincentFrey Initiate (0) Jul 30, 2011 Maryland

    So the original idea was to brew a full-blown imperial, but kinda stepped back. Juniper was bought from Brewer's Best; oak will be american light toast soaked in Jamisson for 3 months.

    Fermentables
    9.9lb Briess Rye LME

    Steep for 30 minutes:
    2lb Briess Cherry Wood Smoked Malt
    1lb Weyermann Smoked Wheat Malt
    1lb Roasted Barley
    1lb Biscuit

    Boil
    40: 1oz UK Fuggles
    20: 1oz UK Fuggles
    15: 1oz UK Fuggles, 1oz Juniper, 1 Whirlfloc Tablet
    10: 1oz UK Fuggles
    5: 1oz UK Fuggles
    0: 1oz Juniper

    Yeast
    WLP028 Edinburgh Scottish Ale Yeast (2 vials)

    Primary
    Estimated 2 weeks, but will be doing hydrometer tests.

    Secondary
    1 month: 2oz Juniper, 4oz Jamisson Soaked Oak


    Need to calculate how much priming sugar to use for bottling still. Estimates on BrewToad say 33 IBUs, 7% abv @ 72.5% attenuation, 1.073 OG 1.020 FG.

    Obviously some other bitterness will come from the juniper, but unsure how to measure that.
     
    #1 VincentFrey, Sep 12, 2013
  2. AlCaponeJunior

    AlCaponeJunior Grand Pooh-Bah (3,452) May 21, 2010 Texas
    Society Pooh-Bah

    I would consider using caution with both juniper and peat malt. Peat malt because that's what everybody says, so note that I'm regurgitating advice here, but haven't used it myself.

    Juniper is another story. MrOH and I did a juniper pale ale project and posted about it here. That's a LOT of juniper. Although our project was aiming for a more balanced juniper approach, you could theoretically add a little bit more than what we added without over-doing it. However, at some point you'll wind up making gin beer. I don't know how juniper behaves in secondary.

    I would also consider the myriad of advice and threads on oaking that can be found here before finalizing your plans.

    For the idea you have, I like the hops schedule a lot. Fuggles is a great hop, and its complexity and earthiness will likely go very well with this beer.
     
    #2 AlCaponeJunior, Sep 12, 2013
  3. clearbrew

    clearbrew Initiate (0) Nov 3, 2009 Louisiana

    Have you ever used a full pound of Roasted Barley before? That sounds high to me.
    As for the Juniper: I have used 3 oz in a beer before and it tasted like a Gin and Tonic. I used mine all in the boil at 15, 10 and 5, so it might be slightly less intense if added during the secondary. Personally I feel like 1 - 1 1/2 oz of Juniper would be more than enough to taste. Juniper will give you a sort of tart, astringent bitterness. Keep this in mind because you have a lot of roasted barley on top of rye flavor there already.
     
    #3 clearbrew, Sep 12, 2013
  4. barfdiggs

    barfdiggs Initiate (0) Mar 22, 2011 California

    Your beer will taste like a 2x4 if aged for a month on 4 oz of oak chips.

    Also, your color is a bit dark for a red and is more around 38 SRM, which is basically stout colored. So if your goal is a red ale, then back off on the roasted barley.

    This beer has a lot going on in it, might want to cut something out as it could end up being a murky mess.
     
    #4 barfdiggs, Sep 12, 2013
  5. VincentFrey

    VincentFrey Initiate (0) Jul 30, 2011 Maryland

    Hey, thanks for the input! Will try to get to touch on everything:

    Thanks for the juniper info; I based use on some talk on homebrewtalk and a charlie papazian recipe. obviously this was only brewed yesterday so I will look into secondary aspects before adding those 2oz. Boil is done though, so stuck with what's there!

    As for smoked malt, I've used it a ton. Actually a smoked porter is the only thing i've won awards for. Admittedly I'm not using my standard Weyermann smoked; wanted to try something new with the cherrywood from Briess and and the "oak smoked wheat" from Weyermann since it was new to the homebrew store and I couldn't find many recipes that had played with it. So gambling a bit there on taste of the smoke, but I believe it'll even out mostly due to the wheat not being too smoky by smell and in the steep, and it only being 3lb total compared to the usual 2lb for the porter and 4lb for the imperial version.

    Roasted Barley was a toss up, admittedly. I've used a pound several times before, but primarily in imperial stouts. I thought it might be interesting in this project as it'll problem end up being considered a winter warmer of sorts. But yeah, astringency is a worry if the juniper gives off much more in secondary.

    For oak, this is what I use in nearly all my brews. First time using Jamisson, and while I know 4oz is a lot, I tend to enjoy the results. That said, I may cut it two 2oz by the time it hits secondary but will be basing it on tasting once gravity evens out in primary.
     
    #5 VincentFrey, Sep 12, 2013
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