Batch #55: Rochefort 8 clone, take two

A re-hash of the earlier try, aiming for a more proper gravity this time. Brewed the same day as a 10 gallon wit batch with the capable help of friend and former former brewer Jim McManus. It was one of my most flawless brew days, although notes are a bit spotty.

Recipe

Grain Bill

14 lbs Durst Pilsner
1.6 lbs Dingeman's CaraMunich
8 oz Dingeman's Special B
8 oz Flaked Corn
1.5 oz Weyermann Carafa II
1.4 lbs Dark Candi Sugar

Hops

1.5 oz Styrian Goldings (5.1% AA) @60 minutes
0.7 oz Hallertauer (4.3% AA) @30 minutes
0.3 oz Cracked Coriander @30 minutes
0.3 oz Hallertauer @5 minutes

Yeast

Wyeast 1762, 2 quart starter (partially decanted).

Mash

Single infusion, about 1 hour at 156F.

Vitals

OG: 1.092 (22 Brix)
FG:
Calculated IBUs: 33
Carbonation:

Timeline

Brew day: July 30, 2005

10:40 am: start heating water
11:25 am: start mashing in
11:30 am: Mash-in @156F, 5 gallons of 170F water.
12:44 pm: First runnings on to boil.
1:20 pm: Everything boiling.
2:00 pm: Add Styrians.
2:30 pm: Add Hallertaus and coriander.
2:55 pm: Add last Hallertau.
3:00 pm: Flame-out and Therminate...
3:12 pm: Pitched @78F, 22 Brix.

Visible fermentation by 9:00 pm, 76F.

Racked 8/7, S.G. about 1.028 (12 Brix on refractometer)

Pitched another Wyeast 1762 pack 8/23.

Bottled 9/30, 4.65 oz Corn sugar. Yields 45 12-oz bottles, 3 .5L bottles, 2 6-oz barleywine bottles (canaries for bottle bombs), and 10 ounces in the last bottle. Total: 4.75 gallons.

Tasting notes

10/10/2005

Popped one of the canaries. It looks like the bottles will not be flat: they're about "petillant" now, even though they were sampled a bit cooler than the secondary fermenter. Next, to watch for bottle bombs :-/

Amazing dark-fruit, slightly solventy aroma. Taste is crisp and refreshing, yet full-bodied, with a lingering, slightly sweet, spicy finish. Definitely fuller and sweeter than my last attempt, which is to be expected from the higher starting gravity. It's still a bit worrisome that the final gravity was so much higher. Perhaps I should try warming the fermenter on the next batch. Those 90F secondaries are good for something :-)

Overall, much closer to the real Rochefort stuff than last time. Yum!

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