I'm brewing an 18 gallon batch of Belgian Dark Strong for aging in a 15gal whiskey barrel. My main questions would be about specialty grain use. Should I use more/less, different malts? I know simple is usually better, but I just can't seem bring myself to drop anything. Any thoughts, comments, suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
18-E Belgian Dark Strong Ale
Size: 18.0 gal
Efficiency: 65-70.0%
Attenuation: 75-80.0%
OG: 1.103
FG: 1.021
Color: 23.1
Alcohol: 10.9%
IBU: 21.6
Ingredients:
50.0 lb Pilsner Malt
15.0 lb Vienna Malt
2.0 lb Caramunich® TYPE I
1.5 lb Aromatic Malt
1.0 lb Special B Malt
0.5 lb Melanoidin Malt
3.0 lb Belgian Candi Syrup - Dark (Dark Candi, Inc)
3.0 lb Belgian Candi Syrup D-180 (CandiSyrup.com)
6.0 oz Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.5%) - added during boil, boiled 60 min
Yeast slurry containing 1/3 each of:
WYeast 1762 Belgian Abbey II™
WYeast 3787 Trappist High Gravity
WYeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale™
Mash: 90min at 151F.
Boil: 90min.
Cool to 68F, oxygenate and pitch yeast.
Hold at 68 for 3 days. Let temp rise to 72 and hold for 2 weeks.
Cool to 62 (temp of barrel room) and rack into barrel.
Save leftover for topping up, then bottle the rest for comparison w/ barrel aged beer.