It’s a bit late for recipe formulation, but Sierra Nevada got back to me about their Bock, Stock, & Barrel BA doppelbock:
Hi Dirk,
Thanks so much for reaching out. We would love to share some information with you!
OG – 20.0 Plato (calculated for 18.6 – additional gravity achieved via extended boil for caramelization)
AE – 5.5
ABV – 8.0 (11% after barrel-aging)
IBU – 38 (28 after barrel-aging)
Color – 35 SRM
Grist:
– Briess Bonlander Munich – 60.0%
– Briess Pilsner – 35.0%
– Riverbend Dark Munich – 5.0%
– De-husked Black malt – <1.0% for color
Hops:
- Loral
- Spalt Spalter
Yeast:
- 3470 German Lager
o Pitch at 48F, ferment at 52F
o Allow temp to free rise at ~8.0 Plato for diacetyl reduction
Barrels:
- Age 8 months in freshly emptied Early Times barrels (Early Times is whiskey aged in former Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels)
10lb Munich
3lb Pale Malt
3lb Pale Wheat
2.5 lb Caramel 60
8oz Chocolate Malt
Mash @ 154 Deg F for 60 Min
60 Min boil
1.25 oz Hallertauer 60 min
1.0 oz Hallertauer 30 min
Saflager S-23 Lager Dry Yeast
(I can give you my temperature controller profile if you want. This was a “fast lager” so I started cold for a couple weeks and ramped up over a week or so.)
He was limited to ingredients offered by West 6th, so the recipe varies a bit from “traditional”. I’m leaning toward the Brewing Classic Styles recipe, mainly because the recipe has fewer ingredients. Open to any ideas y’all have though.
I do like the idea of doing a “quick” lager like Brandon did because we only have 6 weeks from this upcoming weekend to brew this lager.
You’ll need some type of ferm chamber with the ability to heat & cool. If you have a cold basement (mid 40’s F, you probably only need a way to heat).
My protocol for quick lager is pitch a lager quantity of healthy yeast at around 46 F
Let rise to 50 F and hold there until primary is finished (7-10 days usually)
Ramp up to 68 F (I ramp at about 5 F per day) and hold at 68 F for 3-4 days. You can do a forced diacetyl test at this point to confirm no diacetyl, but I don’t.
Rack to CO2 purged keg or other vessel that won’t allow air suck back during cooling
Ramp (again about 5 F per day) down to 34 F and hold there under a few psi CO2 until time to add to barrel.
Some have foregone the steps and fermented at 66F for 4-5 days then ramp to 72F to encourage complete attenuation; crash, fine with gelatin, and package.
Yep, that method would probably work just fine for us since we have plenty of Blue Stallion lager yeast and Workman said the lager yeast ferments clean even at higher temps. Also, bourbon barrel aging cures all ills so I’m told.
The barrel-aged one I had that was so good was from Sierra Nevada. According to their website, it was aged for 8 months in “used” bourbon barrels. I can’t tell if used means that they were freshly emptied of bourbon, or if they used them for another beer they wanted more bourbon character in first. 8 months in a freshly dumped barrel seems like it would give a very strong (?overpowering) bourbon character.
I agree, seems like 8 mo in a fresh barrel would overpower even very strong beers. Maybe we should consider doing a non-sour refill in one of the bourbon barrels (and/or rum barrel) this year. We could even consider doing another Doppelbock to compare long aging with a used barrel vs. shorter aging with fresh? I’m not sure how many would be interested in another Doppelbock though.
Brandon P is supposed to get back to me this weekend with his recipe. He’s also going to be at the meeting on Monday so hope you all can be there to pick his brain about brewing doppelbock. Don’t forget to bring your sanitized container to pick up some Blue Stallion lager yeast.
Some of you probably remember the Doppelbock that Brandon Peterson brewed a couple years back for the West 6th comp. It finished runner-up there and also 2nd BOS at the Bluegrass Cup later that year. I’ve reached out to him for that recipe and he’s going to share it with us in a couple days. In the meantime, I’m all ears for any ideas you all might have. I can post a recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, which is one of my go-to’s for initial recipe design.
It’s a bit late for recipe formulation, but Sierra Nevada got back to me about their Bock, Stock, & Barrel BA doppelbock:
Hi Dirk,
Thanks so much for reaching out. We would love to share some information with you!
OG – 20.0 Plato (calculated for 18.6 – additional gravity achieved via extended boil for caramelization)
AE – 5.5
ABV – 8.0 (11% after barrel-aging)
IBU – 38 (28 after barrel-aging)
Color – 35 SRM
Grist:
– Briess Bonlander Munich – 60.0%
– Briess Pilsner – 35.0%
– Riverbend Dark Munich – 5.0%
– De-husked Black malt – <1.0% for color
Hops:
- Loral
- Spalt Spalter
Yeast:
- 3470 German Lager
o Pitch at 48F, ferment at 52F
o Allow temp to free rise at ~8.0 Plato for diacetyl reduction
Barrels:
- Age 8 months in freshly emptied Early Times barrels (Early Times is whiskey aged in former Woodford Reserve bourbon barrels)
Hope that helps. Happy Brewing!
I vote for the Classic Styles version
Brandon Peterson’s Doppelbock recipe
(5.5ish Gallon) 2018 West Sixth Doppelbock
10lb Munich
3lb Pale Malt
3lb Pale Wheat
2.5 lb Caramel 60
8oz Chocolate Malt
Mash @ 154 Deg F for 60 Min
60 Min boil
1.25 oz Hallertauer 60 min
1.0 oz Hallertauer 30 min
Saflager S-23 Lager Dry Yeast
(I can give you my temperature controller profile if you want. This was a “fast lager” so I started cold for a couple weeks and ramped up over a week or so.)
He was limited to ingredients offered by West 6th, so the recipe varies a bit from “traditional”. I’m leaning toward the Brewing Classic Styles recipe, mainly because the recipe has fewer ingredients. Open to any ideas y’all have though.
I do like the idea of doing a “quick” lager like Brandon did because we only have 6 weeks from this upcoming weekend to brew this lager.
I like the brewing classic style recipe as well. If we are going to do a quick lager can someone break down the steps needed to do this?
You’ll need some type of ferm chamber with the ability to heat & cool. If you have a cold basement (mid 40’s F, you probably only need a way to heat).
My protocol for quick lager is pitch a lager quantity of healthy yeast at around 46 F
Let rise to 50 F and hold there until primary is finished (7-10 days usually)
Ramp up to 68 F (I ramp at about 5 F per day) and hold at 68 F for 3-4 days. You can do a forced diacetyl test at this point to confirm no diacetyl, but I don’t.
Rack to CO2 purged keg or other vessel that won’t allow air suck back during cooling
Ramp (again about 5 F per day) down to 34 F and hold there under a few psi CO2 until time to add to barrel.
Some have foregone the steps and fermented at 66F for 4-5 days then ramp to 72F to encourage complete attenuation; crash, fine with gelatin, and package.
http://brulosophy.com/methods/lager-method/
Yep, that method would probably work just fine for us since we have plenty of Blue Stallion lager yeast and Workman said the lager yeast ferments clean even at higher temps. Also, bourbon barrel aging cures all ills so I’m told.
What is the fill date for this barrel?
March 29th, 0900 at Chad & Mary’s. Let me know if you have conflicts and we’ll make arrangements.
The barrel-aged one I had that was so good was from Sierra Nevada. According to their website, it was aged for 8 months in “used” bourbon barrels. I can’t tell if used means that they were freshly emptied of bourbon, or if they used them for another beer they wanted more bourbon character in first. 8 months in a freshly dumped barrel seems like it would give a very strong (?overpowering) bourbon character.
I agree, seems like 8 mo in a fresh barrel would overpower even very strong beers. Maybe we should consider doing a non-sour refill in one of the bourbon barrels (and/or rum barrel) this year. We could even consider doing another Doppelbock to compare long aging with a used barrel vs. shorter aging with fresh? I’m not sure how many would be interested in another Doppelbock though.
Brandon P is supposed to get back to me this weekend with his recipe. He’s also going to be at the meeting on Monday so hope you all can be there to pick his brain about brewing doppelbock. Don’t forget to bring your sanitized container to pick up some Blue Stallion lager yeast.
Mr. Maltinator doppelbock recipe from Brewing Classic Styles:
OG: 1.086
FG: 1.020
IBU: 24
Color: 18 SRM
Boil: 90 minutes
Pre-boil volume: 7.75 gallons (assuming 15% boiloff per hour)
Pre-boil gravity: 1.073
Brewhouse efficiency: 70%
14 lb Munich I malt
4 lb Pilsener malt
2 lb CaraMunich III (60L)
Mash 155 F for 60 minutes
1.5 oz Hallertau 4% AA at 60 minutes left in boil (20.9 IBU)
0.5 oz Hallertau 4% AA at 30 minutes left in boil (3.5 IBU)
Yeast: Blue Stallion lager yeast (300 – 400 milliliters slurry), WLP833 German Bock Lager (stepped starter up to 1 gallon or multiple packs in 1 gallon starter), Wyeast 2206 Bavarian Lager (stepped starter or 1 gallon with multiple packs), Fermentis Saflager S-23 (3 packs, rehydrated).
Ferment at 50 F until primary finishes, then lager at < 40 F until filling barrel.
Some of you probably remember the Doppelbock that Brandon Peterson brewed a couple years back for the West 6th comp. It finished runner-up there and also 2nd BOS at the Bluegrass Cup later that year. I’ve reached out to him for that recipe and he’s going to share it with us in a couple days. In the meantime, I’m all ears for any ideas you all might have. I can post a recipe from Brewing Classic Styles, which is one of my go-to’s for initial recipe design.