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Debacle “De-Bock-Ale”
Specialty Beer category…. Passing resemblance to a Dopplebock brewed as an Ale.
Note: Warning, the process is as critical as the ingredients to this beer, and some of this process appears to violate “the rules” and may fly in the face of conventional wisdom….. and as such may not be appropriate for all brewers, brewer discretion is advised…..
I have received some very good reviews about this beer. One buddy, who has always been brutally honest….. said in an e-mail: “The Debacle is literally a work of art!!!! Amazing! Well balanced, just plain old good. Great work“.
I suck at tasting notes…. So I will not attempt to give any…. I’ll just say I really, really like this Beer…. A great deal of thought (and head scratching), as well as over 20-years of brewing experience went into the formulation of this Brew, and I was very pleased with the outcome.
Per my calculations:
(Original Gravity) O.G. = 1.076
(Final Gravity) F.G. = 1.019
(Bitterness) IBU = 28
(Color) SRM = 23
(Alcohol) APV = 7.4%
Calories per 12-oz bottle =247
For a 5-gallon batch:
9.5-pounds Munich Malt (7L)
5.5-pounds Vienna Malt
0.3125-pounds Carafa III
0.25-pounds Caramunich
1-oz. Mount Hood Hops 90-minutes
1-oz. Mount Hood Hops 5-minutes
S-05 yeast.
Be prepared for a very long brew day…. Start early! I am going into a great deal of detail regarding the mash and fermentation, much more so than normal… some of it may sound crazy to you…. But if you brew this beer…. Follow it.
Mash at 157-degrees at 1.2855 quarts per pound. My grain was right at 70-degrees so I heated 5-gallons of strike water to 173.3 degrees. Stir well and allow to mash for 1-hour. Stir well every 15-min. or so.
At the 1-hour mark, pull 1.5-gallons of the mash. Pull a thick decoction, you want a lot of grain in it. Boil the decoction hard for 30-min. Stir this a lot to keep from scorching.
Add the decoction back to the main mash, stir well and allow for a 1-hour rest. (no, not 15-min.). Drain the first runnings and put on to boil.
Add 2.25-gallons of sparge water heated to 170-degrees to the mash tun, stir well, and allow for a 30-min. rest. (no, not 15) Drain into first runnings, and place back on the heat.
Add 2.25 gallons of second sparge water also at 170-degrees, and again allow for a 30-min. rest.
(Note: I used water from an aquifer in Lower Ordovician Limestone, no iron, no sulphates, high in carbonates. Adjust your water accordingly if necessary.)
I stopped obsessing about efficiency a long time ago, I fret about what’s important now…. I mash for flavor, and this is my “patented” flavor mash.
Bring to a full boil for about 5-min. and then turn down the heat. You want it to just barely boil. This takes a lot of playing around with the heat sometimes. The last thing you want right now is for any thermal loading. Once you achieve the right heat level, add the bittering hops. Boil for an additional 90-minutes. Add the late addition Hops just before flame-out. Chill, and POUR it into the fermenter (or otherwise oxygenate well). Pitch rehydrated S-05 yeast and stir well (read as stir it to a froth).
Allow to ferment between 65 and 68 degrees for 36 days (minimum, but can go up to 40-days). No secondary, do not rack. Gently rouse the yeast once after the first and second weeks, and every other day or so for the remainder of fermentation.
Transfer to a bottling bucket, make sure you get some of the yeast in there with it. Prime with 3.5-oz of plain old table sugar, and bottle. If you keg, either naturally carb with the same priming sugar, or, force carb. (if you force carb, don’t over-do it… hhhmmmmm…. I bet this would be awesome on nitrogen).
Allow to age for at least 2-months, preferable 3, at room temp. Don’t drink it too cold.
Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
i have drank this and it was deeeeeelicious.
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looks great. i might have to steal it when i get around to brewing a doppel. it's one of my favorite styles, but i'm a bit picky when it comes to them. **==The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
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Sounds good. I'm not sure I want a 12 hour crew day, but I definitely want to try it."On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants
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chandlerbang said:
Sounds good. I'm not sure I want a 12 hour crew day, but I definitely want to try it.
i'll just use my cheater decoction. pull a pint or two at a time and boil while you're mashing, then return it to the mash and pull another pint or two. it only adds about 15-20 minutes to the mashing time, but it gets a good amount of melanioden production going.The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake -
FromZwolle said:chandlerbang said:
Sounds good. I'm not sure I want a 12 hour crew day, but I definitely want to try it.
i'll just use my cheater decoction. pull a pint or two at a time and boil while you're mashing, then return it to the mash and pull another pint or two. it only adds about 15-20 minutes to the mashing time, but it gets a good amount of melanioden production going.
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. THIS IS WRONG WRONG WRONG.
"On it. I hate software." ~Cpt Snarklepants -
chandlerbang said:FromZwolle said:chandlerbang said:
Sounds good. I'm not sure I want a 12 hour crew day, but I definitely want to try it.
i'll just use my cheater decoction. pull a pint or two at a time and boil while you're mashing, then return it to the mash and pull another pint or two. it only adds about 15-20 minutes to the mashing time, but it gets a good amount of melanioden production going.
READ THE INSTRUCTIONS. THIS IS WRONG WRONG WRONG.
yep, i'm a rebel.The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake -
Hah! I'm a rebel, or I never would have come up with half the methods I use......
The thick mash-out decoction and the long rests are critical for flavor development.... very similar to a full blown triple decoction.... but about 3-hours less time (at least for me).... still a long brew day. I would not want to do the "flavor mash" every brew...Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
Even if it is painful, its worth doing once.The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny
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I've got it down to just about an 8-hour brew day.....Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
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This inspired me to make some messed up version of this with a more English ale grain bill. I'm still mashing but I don't remember half the things I've done so far.
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The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake
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Benvarine said:
@ceannt
Any idea of an extract version of this? I plugged into BeerSmith and converted, but it does not seem to come out right, it deletes all the specialty grain. What base malt would you use?
You might get by with a partial mash .... with Munich extract and Vienna as the mash .... ????? This one would be hard to do as an extract only I thinkNever attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
Benvarine said:
I bought some ingredients, it won't be a clone, but seems to fit the style, so says BeerSmith. I'll let you know how it turns out. It might be a debacle....., get it, debacle,... like the name, but. ... yea pretty lame.
Hilarious?The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny -
Benvarine said:
I bought some ingredients, it won't be a clone, but seems to fit the style, so says BeerSmith. I'll let you know how it turns out. It might be a debacle....., get it, debacle,... like the name, but. ... yea pretty lame.
I wish we could attach sound effects like emoticon's. This post would warrant a power down sound effect or crickets. -
Lakewood said:Benvarine said:
I bought some ingredients, it won't be a clone, but seems to fit the style, so says BeerSmith. I'll let you know how it turns out. It might be a debacle....., get it, debacle,... like the name, but. ... yea pretty lame.
Hilarious?
Hah..... not as lame as my Oinktoberfest .....Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
Dr_Jerryrigger said:
Yeah, how do you go about a decocsion extract? I guess you, but, yeah, I don't know, give it a shot.
the weyermann extract says it is decoction mashed.The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake -
FromZwolle said:Dr_Jerryrigger said:
Yeah, how do you go about a decocsion extract? I guess you, but, yeah, I don't know, give it a shot.
the weyermann extract says it is decoction mashed.
Well, there you go.The only thing between me and a train wreck is blind luck..... - Kenny -
Lakewood said:FromZwolle said:Dr_Jerryrigger said:
Yeah, how do you go about a decocsion extract? I guess you, but, yeah, I don't know, give it a shot.
the weyermann extract says it is decoction mashed.
Well, there you go.
I guess so, a de-mash-de-bock-ale -
ceannt said:
My son requested that I brew this soon ..... I told him he had to wait for fall....... no way am I doing an 8 hour brewday in this heat ....... he looked like he was going to cry........
make him do it.The pinnacle of lame and awesome in one singular moment. -Lake -
Well I am 17 days into my debockale. I checked today and SG 1.022. I started at 1.093. Been fermenting at about 66F. BeerSmith calculated I would finish at 1.019. Any idea if I can expect it to drop more, or am I close. It tastes good, smooth, warm aftertaste due to high alcohol content. It needs to be aged, I just have to decide in bottles or a keg. I am leaning toward keg. I am thinking natural fermentation via sugar in the keg.
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Benvarine said:
Well I am 17 days into my debockale. I checked today and SG 1.022. I started at 1.093. Been fermenting at about 66F. BeerSmith calculated I would finish at 1.019. Any idea if I can expect it to drop more, or am I close. It tastes good, smooth, warm aftertaste due to high alcohol content. It needs to be aged, I just have to decide in bottles or a keg. I am leaning toward keg. I am thinking natural fermentation via sugar in the keg.
It should drop a gravity point or 2 a week from here out. Rouse the yeast gently every other day. You might even want to ramp up the temp a bit... to 70 or 72. Leave it in Primary for a total of 5-6 weeks before kegging/bottling. And yes.... it needs to age some. Let me know how it turns out for you!Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity. -
I finally Kegged today. It finished at 1.021. At 9.3% ABV it's a sippin' beer. It has a warm after taste, good mouth feel. It fermented nearly 8 weeks. I Kegged and put on gas, so I'll see how it tastes in a week or so. Thanks for the help @ceannt. I totally bastardized your recipe and turned it into an extract one, but it is still good. Can't wait to taste again soon. I'll probably bottle quite a bit of it. I don't need a 9.3% beer on draft, or at least my wife doesn't need me to have that on draft.
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Benvarine said:
I don't need a 9.3% beer on draft, or at least my wife doesn't need me to have that on draft.
crazy talk.
side note, i have tried ceannts, so i will try yours and let you know how it compares
i offer this service for free -
frydogbrews said:Benvarine said:
I don't need a 9.3% beer on draft, or at least my wife doesn't need me to have that on draft.
crazy talk.
side note, i have tried ceannts, so i will try yours and let you know how it compares
i offer this service for free
Sure thing. I'll make that happen. I'll just let it age a bit first. -
Glad it's turning out good ... keep me posted as it ages ..Never attribute to malice, that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
The Debacle ("De-Bock-Ale")