'Shameless' IPA - a Frank Gallagher tribute

[Karstiron]

Hi all,

 

The last thing Frank Gallagher needs is a tribute, but, I did like the concept of his home brewed bacon beer. While I won't be adding strips of pork belly to my beer anytime soon, I've decided I want to try an IPA style with a load of smoked bacon/ham flavour.

 

I'm thinking something like this for a 20-litre all grain batch:

 

9kg Golden Promise Ale Malt

0.5kg Bairds Oat Malt ('cos oats are for breakfast, and so is bacon)

2.0kg Briess Cherry Wood Smoked Malt.

 

My trusty BIABacus tells me I should hit an OG of 1.090 and it should finish around 1.020, for an ABV in the bottle of around 9.5%.

 

I want to keep it lighter in colour, hence no crystal or caramel for this IPA. Hell, I don't even know if this would be an IPA.

 

I'm thinking some early addition bittering hops, but nothing too fruity 'cos fruit and bacon might be weird.

 

I haven't used oats before, or smoked malt for that matter. Do the ratios seem like they will work? Anyone used Briess Cherry Wood malt before? Does that seem like an okay amount?

 

What yeast would work to bring this bad boy to heel? 2 packets?

 

Have I finally lost it?

 

 

 

 

[Karstiron]

So, I may well have lost it but I think I'm going to go for it anyway, but will probably dial it back to a 10 or 11-litre batch just in case I miss the Frank Gallagher tribute and end up with a Frank-enstein tribute.

 

To round out my recipe formulation, I'm considering either:

 

Pacific Gem hops - 'Pacific Gem can produce a cask oak flavour with distinct blackberry aroma, along with a woody character' or

 

Challenger - 'Challenger hops are spicy, strawlike, with marmalade undertones'.

 

Anyone tried either? Do those descriptions sound right?

 

Thinking S-04 as the yeast.

 

I'm hoping for a big, bold, smokey beast with woody/resin tones and moderate bitterness that is nonetheless smooth and silky. Kind of like a beer version of a big red wine.

 

 

 

[Arcanine]

There are two main types of yeast, ale and lager. Ale yeasts are referred to as top-fermenting because much of the fermentation action takes place at the top of the fermenter, while lager yeasts would seem to prefer the bottom. While many of today's strains like to confound this generalization, there is one important difference, and that is temperature. Ale yeasts like warmer temperatures, going dormant below about 55°F (12°C), while lager yeasts will happily work at 40°F. Using certain lager yeasts at ale temperatures 60-70°F (18-20°C) produces a style of beer that is now termed California Common Beer. Anchor Steam Beer revived this unique 19th century style.

[joolbag]

Arcanine r u human or a bot? Did you copy and paste the post above from somewhere?

[Otto Von Blotto]

Arcanine r u human or a bot? Did you copy and paste the post above from somewhere?

Yeah' date=' I'm not really sure what that post has to do with this topic to be honest [img']unsure[/img]

 

I just wonder if the smoked malt is overdone. I haven't seen many recipes around that use it but the ones I have seen haven't used that much of it.

[PXR-5]

That is a verbatim quote from the book "How to Brew" by John Palmer

 

Generally when you copy something you should include the reference so people don't thing you are intentionally plagiarizing someone else's work.

 

 

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/yeast/yeast-types

[Hairy]

Karstiron, whilst not in the same OG league as yours, I have made the following beer and it was a cracker.

 

2.75kg Perle ale malt

2.0kg Weyermann smoked malt

700g Carared

700g medium crystal

 

35g Target (11.4%) @ 50 minutes

15g Styrian Goldings (3.4%) @ 5 minutes

25g Challenger (8.4%) @ 0 minutes

25g Target @ 0 minutes

20g Challenger - dry hop

20g Target - dry hop

No chill

 

Burton Union Ale yeast

23 litres

OG - 1.058

FG - 1.015

IBU - 62.7

 

I really need to make this one again but I may hold off until next winter. It isn't really a summer beer.

[Phoenix76]

Yeah PXR-5, it's a bad show when people do not quote a source if they are lifting it from somewhere else. I've got John Palmer's book, so yep the quotation is very familiar.

 

And Kelsey, I have no idea what his quote has to do with the thread either. I know we can all drift off a bit, but that was a bit way out there.

 

Anyway Karstiron, if you brew it as suggested, would love to hear from you how it turns out, sounds fascinating.

 

Cheers

Bill

[Karstiron]

Thanks guys.

 

Yeah - I figure it won't be a summer beer at all but given the OG I'm aiming for I want to give it plenty of time in the bottle. So the plan is to brew it now and bottle it for around four to six months - just in time for the cooler weather.

 

I've settled on the recipe I'm going to try:

 

6.5kg Golden Promise

1.5kg Cherrywood Briess smoked malt (I did some reading and around 20% gives a good smokey flavour that's not overpowering apparently)

0.5kg Golden Naked Oats - for mouthfeel and body

 

Really wanted to keep it light in colour so left out any darker malts. I want that surprise factor when someone tries it. Looks light like a normal beer but surprises with a massive flavour/alcohol punch.

 

I going to use Challenger for its apparent spicy, marmalade-like flavours (keeping with the breakfast theme).

 

And yeast wise, two packs of Wyeast 1728. At around $70 for the ingredients and aiming for 11 litres in the FV, this is not a cheap brew!!! Although I will try a parti-gyle brew from a second runnings if there's enough SG in it.

 

Checking the BJCP guidelines (after I designed the recipe) - apparently it will be in the style of an American barleywine - my Shameless Smoked American Barleywine.

 

Btw - if you have Netflix and haven't seen Shameless, you should. It's disturbing, funny and cringe-worthy all at once. And Frank Gallagher likes a beer.

 

Edit: the notes on Briess cherrywood malt I sourced from here. They say 20% will give a pronounced smokey flavour which is what I'm after.

[Karstiron]

Well, I bit the bullet on the weekend and brewed my 'Shameless' Smoked Barley Wine.

 

6.5kg Golden Promise, 1.5kg Cherrywood smoked malt and 0.5kg of Golden Naked oats. 90g of Challenger hops for a target of 50-55 IBUs. Was aiming for an OG of 1.096 but only managed 1.088 for 13 litres in the FV. I read/heard somewhere about the drastic drop in efficiency when making big beers, and dialled up my calculations - but clearly not enough and I honestly had no idea what my system would produce. Only 45% efficiency into the FV!!! Anyway, assuming the two packs of Wyeast 1728 can make a good meal of it, I should hit around 9% ABV or so in the bottle. Tastes great. The smoke flavour is there, but not overpowering, and the Challenger added a kind of zesty flavour to it. Plan on bottling this one for at least four months before trying one. Who knows how it's going to turn out…

 

I added another 12 litres of sparge water and 2 litres of 500g steeped pale chocolate malt to the drained grist for a parti-gyle Oatmeal Stout. Had absolutely NO idea what I would get from this second running or even how much sparge water to add. Came out at 1.034 which wasn't bad. Chucked in 500g LDM to bring it up a tad. This one was hopped with early addition Galaxy and I threw in some orange peels. Ended up at 1.057 post-boil, a little higher than I anticipated. Tastes chocolatey, with a hint of orange and smokiness.

 

What did I take from all this?

 

- Efficiency plummets in a big beer mash

- Running two boils simultaneously was a cognitive challenge. Google Voice was my friend - 'Okay Google, remind me in 30 minutes to add hops to brew number 2', 'Okay Google, remind me to turn off brew number 1 at 1.20pm'.

- To parti in gyle, you need to drink beer.

 

To recover from this brew day, my next brew will be a Galaxy SMaSH.