Old Monster

This beer was made to get rid of all the left over stuff I had after an 18-month brewing hiatus. The Tettanger hops had been kept in the freezer for 18 months. The Kent hops had been in the freezer for 8 years! The pale malt, and DME were 18 months old. The honey was actually at least 8 years old, as was the chocolate malt. Wheat and crystal malt were new, as were the toasted oats. It will be interesting to see whether a decent beer can be made with so much old stuff.

Brewer:	Larry Maler		Email:	lmaler@tampabay.rr.com
Beer:	Old Monster		Style:	Robust Porter
Type:	All grain		Size:	25 liters
Color:	43 HCU (~20 SRM)		Bitterness:	30 IBU
OG:	1.064		FG:	1.013
Alcohol:	6.6% v/v (5.2% w/w)
Water:	Soft water. No treatment.
Grain:	7 lb. American 2-row 1 lb. Wheat malt 1 lb. American crystal 20L 0.5 lb. British chocolate 0.5 lb. Rolled oats
Mash:	68% efficiency
	122°F for 30 minutes, then up to 152°F, dropping to 149°F, which was held for 90 minutes. The oats in the mash were toasted for 30 minutes at 350°F.
Boil:	90 minutes	SG 1.057	28 liters
	2 lb. Light dry malt extract 2 lb. Honey
	Hops were introduced into the wort immediately after recirculation, i.e. "first wort hopping"
Hops:	18g Kent Goldings (4.8% AA, 90 min.) 28.4g Saaz (3.6% AA, 90 min.) 20g Tettnanger (5.1% AA, 90 min.) 28.4g Saaz (aroma)
Yeast:	White Labs WLP007 Dry English Ale yeast. A starter was made. This yeast flocculates extremely well.
Log:	Brewed July 4, 2004. Racked to secondary July 16, 2004. Bottled August 1, 2004.
Carbonation:	1.5 cups dry malt extract, batch primed.
Tasting:	I tasted a bit during bottling: this is a very malty beer with chocolate malt in the foreground and sweet malt/hops in the background, as well as a warm alcoholic glow all around it. Drank a bottle 2 weeks after bottling. It is almost fully carbonated, but still a touch sweet so it really needs another 2-3 weeks of rest. It is very very malty. November 2005: it's still very good. Flavors have mellowed a little and become more rounded. I guess that's what an old ale is supposed to do. This is now an even better beer than it was a ayear ago.

Recipe posted 11/12/05.