10/17/2006: "Brewblogue: The Unnamable"
Listening to: nothingCurrent mood: a little tired
(Based almost exactly on Scott Russell's Bitter Chocolate Imperial Stout from BYO Magazine)
It was everywhere - a gelatin - a slime yet it had shapes, a thousand shapes of horror beyond all memory. There were eyes - and a blemish. It was the pit - the maelstrom - the ultimate abomination. Carter, it was the unnamable!
- H.P. Lovecraft
Water: 7 gallons OB Tap Water
Grain:
- 4oz Black Malt
- 4oz Chocolate Malt
- 4oz Unmalted Roasted Barley
Extract: 7lb Munton's Dark DME
Yeast: 1 vial WLP002 English Ale Yeast
Hops:
- ~1.2oz 10.6%AA Target @ 60min
- 1oz 4.5%AA Fuggle @ 15min
Etc: 2oz Ghiradelli Unsweetened Bakers Chocolate
OG: 1.072
Did the usual 90 minute boil. I upped the hopping a little from the original recipe... the wort tasted good, although I'm thinking I'll try it again when I rack it and maybe do a little dry hopping if it still needs some kick. I'm a little worried about the fermentation since I didn't have time to do a starter. I guess I can always throw in an extra vial of yeast if it gets stuck. I've had good luck with that so far though. The OG was right smack on, which I take as good sign.
I actually did this beer on sunday, but I didn't really have a chance to blog it until now. I've also had a heck of a time coming up with a decent name for it. I was thinking of stuff in Russian but nothing really seemed to stick. Thus... the Unnamable. What can I say, it's hard not to automatically think of Lovecraft references when trying to come up with names for a stout. Which just made me think of the best beer name ever, although for a brown ale obviously: Jenkins, Brown. No, you can't have that. It's mine. Unless I just heard it somewhere and forgot then thought I made it up just now. But still.
Anyway, I've had more beer adventures and the like, but I'm kinda tired and I'd rather read for awhile than post anymore right now. Tomorrow, perhaps.
Replies: 5 Comments
Oh my goodness! that paragraph from Lovecraft described to a T (or a tee or a tea? which is it?) the witches brew we boiled up the other day. If anybody needs a car oil replacement or perhaps you need to tar and feather somebody I think the stout will do just fine in either case. It was thick!
[Lynnea] on Wednesday, October 18th
How's the progress on this?
I'm finally trying out a xoactl impy stout tomorrow, and I'm planning on using plain cocoa powder (less fat to mess up the head...)
[Zac] on Friday, November 10th
Er, Xocolatl Impy Stout. Damn them Aztec words is hard to spell...
[Zac] on Friday, November 10th
It's been a few weeks since I tried it but it was doing pretty well when I racked it. There was a slightly odd earthy flavour in the finish but I'm not thinking it'll be a problem when it's done. The chocolate wasn't coming through that much though... but I more just put that in for kicks, I wasn't that set on a chocolate stout or anything. And damn, that WLP pitchable yeast is ridiculous. Even though I didn't do a starter, it had already dropped to 1.020 after two weeks. I'm wondering how far down it's gonna go...
[Matt] on Monday, November 13th
Damn. I get results ony slightly better than that after making a 1/2 gallon starter with the WL vials... Maybe it's just because they're uber-fresh down there. Makes it nice, however - easy to ferment big beers (which I'm more and more inclined to brew, because when I brew a batch of "small beer," it inevitably gets old before I finish drinking it, whereas the big beers can hold up to the age, even benefit from it...)
[Zac] on Sunday, November 19th
