Brew #79: Psychedelic Monk

This is my name for the Delirium Tremens clone AHS recipe. I had one that hit, one that missed and I'm trying to recreate the greatness of the one that hit. Things are changing a bit though. The hop shortage meant that I substituted Fuggle for the Styrian Goldings and I used Saaz Sladek rather than the Trschitz type. That may add a touch more bitterness. AHS was also out of extra pale extract. Instead of the 8 lbs. of liquid malt extract, I took 7 lbs. of dry malt extract (DME). I have been using late addition for any of the lighter colored brews and I tried with this one too. I put 2 lbs. of the DME in with the 1 1/2 lbs. clear candi at the start and added the last 5 lbs. of DME after the boil. The DME is interesting to get stirred in correctly. I had lumps to work down. In the end I had a wort with an O.G. of 1.098 - much more than the 1.085 the recipe expects. I did leave this a bit more concentrated in the primary to give more head space. The previous two versions blew the lid a couple times. I set up my blow off tube expecting that the foam would spill through the tube into the bucket. Not so. It did give good bits of bubbles for a couple days, but then settled down. I don't have temp. control in my brew closet, but it has been a bit on the colder side these days. I might expect that the average temp is 67F or 68F. Still reminds me that my next beer project is to get another freezer for temp control on fermentation. Still, checking the beer through the airlock hole, I can see that the foam still completely covers the top. I think the yeasties are still happy and working. I'll have to wait a week, maybe two, until I rack it off to a carboy. I fully expect this one to sit for 3-4 months. I'm wondering if I have to wait longer. This beer has the potential of 13%.

Racked into secondary on the 24th. I measured the S.G. at 1.020. At least I know that the yeast was doing its work. It's already at 10% ABV. The taste had me thinking I've got a good batch. There is an initial sweetness followed by the bread/cheese Belgian Abbey yeast flavor and a clean finish. I like it already!

At kegging after two months in a carboy, the beer was such a beautiful ruby color. The clarity was unbelievable it had to be finished. It only dropped another 2 points in that time. I think the yeast is done. The taste that I had from the gravity sample was a touch too sweet. Since then I've had a taste and I think this may be OK. I may have to blend it into Monkenstein again, but maybe not. I'm leaving this one in a keg but in the closet. Let's see if the yeast might push this a touch more. As high in ABV as this one is, a bit more aging won't hurt.

Brewed: 02-07-2008
Racked: 02-24-2008
Kegged: 04-29-2008

OG=1.098@68F
FG=1.018@70F

ABV=10.48%