Beer Style: Strong Ale Family
Pedal Haus Brewery’s Barrel-Aged Quad Clone
It’s a beer big in all regards: Aroma, flavor, mouthfeel, and alcohol. The beer has a full body, with enough carbonation (2.8 v/v) to give it a “lighter than it really is” feel to it. Though the alcohol is strong at 10.6% ABV, it is just one of many components to this complex beer that blend into the whole instead of standing out by itself.
Jamil’s American Barleywine
The balance of bittering versus malt sweetness should always be toward the bitter, but expect the beer to become more and more balanced as the beer ages and the bittering drops out.
American Barleywine: Aged in the USA
American barleywine is rich and strong. It has a big malt flavor and aggressive hopping, but it still has a balance between the malt character and hop character.
Old Cthulhiar (a.k.a. Very Old And Very Peculiar)
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.078 FG = 1.017IBU = 41 SRM = 32 ABV = 7.8% Ingredients13 lbs. (5.9 kg) British pale ale malt8.0 oz. (0.23 kg) crystal malt (60 °L)2.0
Greg Noonan Memorial Wee Heavy
(5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.083 FG = 1.019IBU = 29 SRM = 20 ABV = 8.3% Ingredients13.75 lbs. (6.2 kg) Maris Otter malt0.75 lbs. (0.34 kg) Carapils® malt0.25 lbs. (0.11) roast
Big Beers, Done Right
Get some pointers to brew the big ABV beers this cold-weather season.
Ode to val d’or
Ode to val d’or (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.056 FG = 1.002IBU = 33 SRM = 9 ABV = 6.9% Orval pours orange-brown with a big, rocky head. The very spritzy
Gordon Strong’s Belgian Dark Strong Ale
I’m presenting a fairly complex recipe that uses layers of malt flavor to build a solid base that displays the yeast character well.
Belgian Dark Strong Ale: A quad by any other name
For those that love big, bold Trappist-style beers, the Belgian dark strong ale is the pinnacle. Learn some of the secrets to crafting a version of this style that would make a monk sing.
Dogfish Head Craft Brewery’s Burton Baton clone
Mark Sarfarik, Dogfish Head’s Brewmaster, provided us with all the juicy details about this beer. “Burton Baton is a 10% ABV imperial IPA that is a blend of 90 Minute IPA with an English old ale that is aged in our 10,000-gallon (380-hL) oak foeders. Since most people don’t have the ability to wood-age beers at home, this recipe is more of a composite of the two threads.”
Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s Christmas Ale clone
Great Lakes Brewing Co.’s Christmas Ale clone (5 gallons/19 L, all-grain)OG = 1.070 FG = 1.012IBU = 30 SRM = 19 ABV = 7.5% By Cleveland tradition, the annual release of Christmas Ale
Drop-In Brewing Co.’s Heart of Lothian clone
In terms of style, the beer is considered a Scottish 90/- or wee heavy and uses, “Scottish Golden Promise barley malt, British floor-malted crystal, and chocolate malts, Fuggle and Kent Golding hops, and British yeast.”
