Big Feet

Update 2/6 -- Bottled, no bourbon. Doesn't need it.
Update 1/23 -- Dry hopped. My scale lacks precision, it seems, or the hop supplier's scale lacks precision. But, added the balance of the Centennial and Cascade packets, and an ounce of Chinook. Oak cubes are soaking in bourbon... still undecided there. SG of 1.020 agrees with measurement from a week or so ago, and with the FG sample.
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Next winter's barleywine, built from a Bigfoot clone recipe. There might be some bourbon coming to this one soon. I think the batch sparge and maybe mash chemistry hurt my yield a bit. Was expecting closer to 1.095 on this one... I guess we'll see how the specialty malt does at keeping some sugar in the beer. This may end up more of a hoppy imperial red than intended...

Batch #102
Barleywine
15.5 lbs Maris Otter 
1 lb CaraPils
1 lb British 70/80L
8 oz American 90L
8 oz American 120L
1 oz Chinook (13.1%aa), 60 minutes
0.5 oz Chinook (13.1%aa), 45 minutes
0.7 oz Centennial (9.7%aa), 30 minutes
0.5 oz Centennial (9.7%aa), 15 minutes
0.5 oz Cascade (4.7%aa), 15 minutes
0.8 oz Centennial, dry
1.3 oz Cascade, dry
1 oz Chinook, dry
2L starter with ~6 oz from previous 1L WLP001 starter and fresh pitch WLP090 (San Diego)
RO water adjusted for "light colored and malty".

Mash in with 23qts to 149F, hold one hour. Batch sparged with 14qts. Collected 6.7 gallons. One hour boil.

Pulled about 10 oz for a fast ferment to estimate target FG. No thank you, bottle bombs.
OG: 1.080
FG: 1.020
ABV: 7.9%
IBU: ~84

Episode II

Trying again. Expecting this one to turn out a little sweeter... and carbonated at the end.

Batch #84
Helldorado Clone Second Attempt, for 3 gallons

8lbs Golden Promise
1lb German Pilsner
4 oz American Crystal 15L
2 oz American Victory
1.5lbs Buckwheat Honey (sourced locally in CA Central Valley)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (60m)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (15m)
0.5 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (1m)
Whirlfloc, 10m
1/4 tsp CaCl2, in mash
WLP090 - San Diego Super Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.085

Mashed in with 11qts spring water at 150F for 60min. Initial mash pH ~5.7 (thanks, Jay!). Batch sparge with 9qts to collect 4 gallons at ~14P. Boiled 90min, chill to 66F, oxygenate using compressed O2 for ~1min. Pitch yeast and ferment between 66 and 70F.

Helldorado - First Attempt

Update 8/25 - Bottled, and a wee bit smoky, but very nice bourbon and brandy. Just waiting waiting waiting now.
Update 8/4 - SG at 1.011! Either the honey fermented or didn't get mixed in well and sank. A little boozy at the current ~12%. Racked to secondary, bourbon/brandy-soaked oak cubes tossed in. Fridge temp reduced to 55F. 
Update 7/21 - Added the buckwheat honey with a little warm water to make for easier mixing, and stirred gently in the carboy to rouse the yeast. The sample I pulled was still a bit sweet (SG~1.020 before adding honey), but had a nice base malt character and a little tropical fruit and citrus from the El Dorado. Esters aren't too strong from the yeast, but are definitely there. Nice rosy alcohol (~8%abv right now). The oak cubes are still soaking. I'll check back in on the yeast in about a week to see how the honey's fermenting out. If the yeast have done their job, I'll rack to secondary and add the oak.
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This is the beginning of a possibly years-long brewing project. It started about a month ago, at the Firestone-Walker Invitational Beer Fest, where I had my very first (second, and third,...) taste of Helldorado. It was delicious. It is not available except in the Anniversary blends, and occasionally in the brewery in Paso Robles. No growlers, no bottles. But I wanted more. The tasting notes at the brewery gave some hints: 10.8%abv, 24IBU, 8 SRM ("deep gold") - Brewed with buckwheat honey and 100% El Dorado hops [my source], aged in bourbon and brandy barrels. After finding the honey and the hops, I played around with some recipe calculations to work out a grist that should give a complex malt character, the right color, and just a bit of caramel sweetness. To be honest, I really just made something up. For the second run, I'll dive deeper into various tasting notes and try to pry a few hints out of the brewers - but I have heard that FW uses cheap CA-grown malt and some light crystal/cara to add complexity. I may not end up with a perfect match to the original, but it has certainly inspired me and given me something to shoot for. In separate containers, begin soaking oak cubes (American medium+ toast): 1/2 oz oak in bourbon (I used Buffalo Trace) and 1/2 oz in brandy (E&J XO). 


Batch #80
Helldorado Clone First Attempt, for 3 gallons

8lbs Golden Promise
1lb German Pilsner
4 oz American Crystal 15L
2 oz American Victory
1.5lbs Buckwheat Honey* (sourced locally in CA Central Valley)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (60m)
0.25 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (15m)
0.5 oz El Dorado, 15.3%AA (1m)
Whirlfloc, 10m
1/4 tsp CaCl2, in mash
WLP007 - Dry English Ale Yeast, 1.5L starter
OG: 1.082

*Add at end of boil or after fermentation begins. I "chose" to do the latter, since I forgot to bring the honey from Merced this weekend.

Mash in with 11qts at 145F, soak for 75min. Raise to 160F by direct heat on mash over ~10-15min. Batch sparge with 8qt at 160F to collect 3.5 gallons at ~16P. Boil 60min, chill to 66F, oxygenate using compressed O2 for ~1min. Pitch yeast and ferment between 66 and 70F.

Impatience

Update 10/30 - Bottled.
Update 10/6 - Racked to secondary (10L keg).
Update 10/1 - SG ~1.012 or so. Dry hops added, primary oak pulled, secondary oak added. This one might need to sit for a bit to mellow. BONUS: I now roast coffee. :D
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Wooooooooooo!

Couldn't contain myself anymore and had to brew, temperature control be damned. I'm a little out of practice, and forgot the clarifier addition...gelatine it is, then. I have less space and equipment in Tokyo, so I'm running 10 liter extract batches for now, and chilling in the bathtub. First up is a semi-scaled version of the MoreBeer Firestone-Walker DBA clone kit. I scaled the extract, but left the steeping grains and monkeyed with the hop schedule a bit.

Batch #72
FW DBA Clone-ish thing, 2.5 gallons in fermenter
3 lbs Light DME
6 oz Aromatic
8 oz Crystal 75L
2 oz Crystal 120L
2 oz Pale Chocolate
1 oz Willamette, 4.7%AA (60m)
1 oz Kent Goldings, 7.2%AA (5m)
1 oz Kent Goldings (dry)
1 oz American Oak chips (split between primary and dry addition)
WLP005 - British Ale Yeast, 1 vial
OG: 1.050-1.052 (need a thermometer)
FG: 1.010-1.012
ABV: 5.2%
IBU: ~40

Steep grains cold, for first 35 minutes of heating (nearing 170F by my estimates). Pull grains out, bring to boil. Kill heat, add extract, bring to boil. Started with 12 liters water, expecting some loss between now and bottling. As I mentioned, I forgot my clarifier, so will definitely be using gelatine at the end of fermentation to clear this bad boy up.

Oh, and I have a 10L keg to haul to the office in the unlikely event that there are no major flaws.