I picked up an extract recipe kit from a local homebrew shop the other day and it turned out to be a big headache last night when I brewed it. I walked into the store asking for a Northern German Alt recipe, and as you can see from the recipe below, I ended up with something way off style and very disappointing. I’m trying to salvage the brew, so I can get something worthwhile out of it, so any help/suggestions anyone has would be great.
Ingredients
6 lbs Amber DME
12 oz Crystal 60
12 oz Chocolate Malt
3 oz German Tettnang (3%) at FWH (~30 IBU)
WLP011 – European Ale Yeast
After I started brewing, I realized there was way too much chocolate malt. Shame on me for not paying attention upfront, but when the wort was basically black with very strong roasted notes, I realized I was off the reservation. I was pissed at that point, as I was already invested in it and could either dump it or keep brewing. I decided I was going to power through it and see how would come out (cursing through the whole process), but I’m looking for ways to try to salvage it. The brew is done and in the fermenter at this point, although it still in its lag period.
Looking at the malts and the aromas I was getting, its best chance is probably in the porter direction. The Tettnang should have little to no flavor/aroma contributions from the 60 minute addition, so I was thinking of dry hopping it with some English hops to get a little hop character into it. The yeast should give a fairly clean profile, but I under pitched in the hopes that I might get some esters out of the stressed yeast.
Originally, I was going to lager it because it was an Alt, but I don’t think I’ll do that anymore – I don’t want to tie up too much fermenter time on this little “experimentâ€. So I figure 2 weeks at 68 F and get it into bottles for some aging.
Any other thoughts, tricks, or recommendations?
Thanks!
-Okt
