S'more Beer

Nice post I really enjoyed from this. Can you tell me what is the test of this beer?

 

You will be underwhelmed by the flavor the brow sugar and honey add. I have never brewed with molasses. I would consider a ginger component in the recipe. That is a major player in the flavor of graham crackers.

 

Biscuit doesn't have enough enzymes to convert its own starches. And there are none in Chocolate Malt to borrow.

 

I've always thought that nut brown ales like Newcastle had a biscuity/graham cracker-y flavor. Maybe try a nut brown ale kit, lightly hopped, clean ale yeast. I really like 75% pale/25% dark chocolate malt for chocolate flavor. Lactose for boil and vanilla at post fermentation/bottling. Cinnamon and ginger powder at end of boil.

 

The molasses will provide a fairly sweet flavor.

Don't waste your time adding the vanilla at flameout, add it all to the fermenter.

Also, you might want to try dry-fluffing this beer. Let us know how it turns out.

 

Seems like a lot of vanilla extract to me. That being said, I would forgo the secondary and add the vanilla extract when bottling. Add a little at a time and stir in until you are satisfied. As long as you are using a sanitized stirrer of some kind then you won't have to worry about infection. I think if you get a little caramelization out of the brown sugar and molasses that could play nicely into the crispy/burnt marshmallow effect you get over a fire.

I've seen people on other threads talk about using marshmallow vodka as an addition. That could take place of the vanilla. Then again, marshmallow vodka does not appeal to me.

I'm pretty sure Southern Tier makes a s'mores beer. Somehow I can't find any literature for it on the web though. I think I have a bottle somewhere and if I do I'll post a picture...I may just be imagining it, I really don't know.

 

Agreed, that is quite a bit of extract. Use 1 tsp, try it, if you need more, add another one.

So. Tier makes a beer called Creme Brulee, that's what you might be thinking of. That beer is very, very sweet and boozy.

 

I would drop the brown sugar out all together (and probably the honey), and add something like a pound of c-120 to the pre-boil mash.
Also, have you ever tried cold steeping grains overnight? I did this on one of my darker beers, and noticed a fairly big difference. There was none of the burnt, acrid flavors that I sometimes get with dark malt. It just had a very nice roasted, chocolate, toffee like flavor. I did it for a 1554 clone.
You should definitely add some powdered ginger, as recommended earlier.
I'm not very familiar with lactose, so maybe someone else can chime in. Just make sure you have enough to get the marshmallow effect.
Also, check the Galena hop amount so you don't over bitter it. (I have no idea what the IBUs are in your Galena, or what overall IBU you are shooting for).

Remember that the honey, molasses and brown sugar are almost all sugar, so they will ferment out and only leave trace flavors and aromas. They will not sweeten the finished beer. I say remove the brown sugar because you will get more of the same flavor from the molasses because brown sugar is usually just table sugar and molasses mixed together.
If you want honey flavor, look into honey malt. You could add some to your mash and get more of the sweetness that I think you are looking for.

Note* If you want more info on my process for cold steeping, let me know. There have been some articles on it , but I'm happy to share my process. It's easy to do.

Good luck.

 

That must be what I'm thinking of. I actually came on here to edit my post saying I couldn't find said bottle. I did find that I have a Creme Brulee. I also have a Choklat laying around. Maybe I merged the beers in my head thinking together they could taste like a s'more.


OP: please update us on how this turns out!!

 

This is not true of molasses. You can almost get a cloying flavor if too much molasses is used. Also, honey malt is extremely potent as well. A small amount will go a long way with regards to adding sweetness to the finished beer.

 

Thanks for your great advice.

 

Short's makes one.
https://www.shortsbrewing.com/beers/smore-stout/

 

Ha ha! Wonder how they add the marshmallow?

 

i'm looking at making the same, but attacking it in a different way.
at NHC, I talked to Denny about making one to see if we were on the same page, and we more or less were.

Marshmellow - I'd use vanilla and some higher C malts to get that flavour
Chocolate - cocoa nibs or other cocoa in secondary
graham cracker - this is where Denny and I disagreed. I'd just use a marris otter base malt and use biscuit as well. Denny said he'd just put Graham crackers into the mash to get that flavour. I'm just worried that you're now introducing fermentable sugars that may thin out the beer, and that one is guessing as to how much the crackers will increase the gravity. I was debating about doing a faux mash of a few crackers at 155 F and testing the gravity, but i'm thinking i can guestimate that it will have a similar sugar contribution as grain, but will be "completely" fermentable.

yeast - i'd use a moderate attenuating yeast. maybe Wyeast Whitbread. i want residual sugars.

I'd keep the hops to a minimum. make a clean ale. let the malts and extras speak for themselves.

i find it interesting that many people want to do S'mores as stouts or porters. I want mine to be blonde and clean and clear. the same colour as a Graham cracker.

i'll likely attempt this beer in a month.

 

and a huge NO to molasses. esp for this kind of beer. no no no no

 

I remember having that and not finding it very "S'more"y.

 

Cold steeping is very simple.
Because you are steeping at room temp. you will not get the same amount of extraction, so you might need to increase the amount of grains that you plan to cold steep. In my research I really didn't find anything definitive about how much to increase. I increased mine by about 30%, but I found this might have been a bit much. Its hard to say because I haven't done the cold steeping vs. regular mash experiment, with the same recipe, yet.
The process:
Decide which grains you will be cold steeping. I would say the darker grains make the bigger difference. Then have those grains milled separately. The day before you brew, put the cold steep grains in a bowl or pot and cover with water. Remember to record the amount of water so that you can subtract it from the overall mash water accordingly.
After about a 24 hour steep, you need to filter the grains out. I have a large funnel that came with a screen which fits into the lower part of the funnel, and this method worked well. I've heard of people using coffee filters, but I image this would take forever. I recommend finding a fine mesh screen or possibly a paint strainer bag, as I've heard of some people using them to boil hops then remove. Whatever you use, expect a couple of hours to let the grains drain into a second container, but remember don't squeeze the grains.
As for the rest of the grains, mash as usual (or boil extract as normal). Then, with about 10 minutes left in the boil, add you cold steeped wort to the rest. The 10 min boil is enough to sterilize the cold steeped liquid.
The point of this is that because the dark roasted grains are not heated in the mash, then the exaction boiled for a long time, you wont get the acrid, astringent burnt flavors that sometimes come from using these grains. I found that I got a lot more chocolate, toffee and toast flavors with this method.
Let me know if I'm not clear enough with my explanation.
Good luck.
P.S. Either Zymurgy or BYO did an article on this a while back (I think). If I can find it I'll let you know.