Spanish cedar (cigar ale)

mike_chapman · July 26, 2012, 5:06pm

There is a local winery that produces my favorite red wine. Made from cross breed grapes that has no grape like flavor or aromas. The wine is extremely dry and red with the aroma of a tobacco shop. Anyelas Noiret is the wine. I noticed similar aromas when I used UK fuggles. The love for that smell has been in my mind and I want to make a beer that incorporates it. The other day I stumbled upon Cigar City using “Spanish Cedar” with one of their beers and I have decided to make a cigar themed beer. I’m not sure how much of this Spanish Cedar I should use or cube it ect. The only info I have found with it being used in home brewing was a guy that used 18 grams in a IPA. He said the aroma was good but no noticeable flavor and the next time he re-brewed he planed to up it. My recipe is.

18 LB Warminster floor malted Maris Otter
8 oz Crystal 120L
8 oz Briess Chery wood smoked malt
4 oz Fawcett Pale Chocolate malt
4 oz Honey malt
1 oz magnum or chinook 60mins
2 oz UK Fuggle dry hop seven days.
1 vanilla bean cut. Seven days
2 oz of Spanish Cedar?? seven days?
WLP001?

I would like this beer to be a little fuller bodied and sweet so I planned on doing a 153 degree F mash for 60 mins. I would like the overall aroma to be that of a cigar humidor room; on top of the beer of course. I figured by using this combination of specialty grains and items it would replicate some of the under lying flavors in a nice cigar… chocolate, vanilla, honey?, raisin, tobacco earthy. Things I am uncertain about is will the Maris Otter be to bready? Will one vanilla bean add very subtle complexity? I am new to honey malt also.

O.G. 1.096 F.G. 1.020 -10.1% ABV 17.5 SRM 35IBU

flip · July 26, 2012, 6:37pm

Not super helpful but take a look at the Bourbon Porter recipe for the kit that Northern Brewer has, sounds like you’re headed in a similar direction as it goes with a bit of a twist. Might give you some guidance on your recipe.

shm56 · July 29, 2012, 12:03pm

That sounds real good, Please let me know how it turns out.

mike_chapman · July 31, 2012, 5:28pm

I will follow up on this post in the near future… unfortunately a month or a little more. I have three beers in the works. Maybe Ill buy a few extra buckets and brew twice a weekend.

mike_chapman · September 2, 2012, 3:10pm

Brewing this tomorrow. I purchased Spanish cedar trays from cheap humidors web page. Hope all goes well will follow up again when it is done.

midmobrwr · September 2, 2012, 5:01pm

You may want to look into a hop called Serabrianka. Hops direct describes it as having a tobacco flavor, and I agree. Strange that beer with a tobacco note would be good, but it is. Very mild hop.

mike_chapman · September 3, 2012, 1:54pm

Ill look into it. This batch of UK fuggles I got smell different then I remember. Not as aromatic but more earth like. Sure it’ll turn out to be a good big beer. I’m mashing now; 19.5 lbs of grain and 6 gallons of water…mash tun (10 gallon got) only has about 3 inches left!

beaverbrewer · September 3, 2012, 4:48pm

I’ve been using(once) smoked cardamom pods (bigger than normal pods); that would probably give you a lot of that cigar character…

mike_chapman · September 3, 2012, 5:53pm

I will look into them I enjoy cooking a lot also so Ill try there first. Came in low on my efficiency…1.087 instead of 1.096. I tried fly sparging this time; batch sparging seemed like a pain with such a thick grain bed. O well wort taste great. Ill follow up as soon as its done even though I think I might age this one a bit depending on how it taste after dry hop, vanilla bean, cedar.

eichen323 · September 5, 2012, 7:17pm

Forgive me as I came in late to this and haven’t’ read the entire thread.
My buddy brewed Northern Brewer’s 1910 export ale last year…It’s no longer on their site but here ya go…

http://www.northernbrewer.com/documenta ... aleAle.pdf

The 3 week fugues dry hop gave it a distinct earthy pipe tobacco taste that honestly, took me a while to get used to. It might be another way to get what you’re looking for.

mike_chapman · September 6, 2012, 2:51pm

I am doing a dry hop with UK fuggles. only 1 oz though for a week. I originally planned one 2 oz but after smelling the ones I have here I think it will be to much.

mike_chapman · September 20, 2012, 2:59pm

Just transferred this to the keg. It taste good; it has a noticeable alcohol character to it, not harsh though. I came in low with a OG of 1.087. My refractometer gave me a FG of 1.010 and my hydrometer gave me a reading of 1.020…I’m not sure if the high ABV is screwing one up so its between 8.9-10.1% The refractometer was a little blurry between 10-10.2 Brix so I think it is more like 9.9-10. Anyways I just put a hop bag with 2 oz of spanish cedar 1 vanilla bean and 1 once of UK Fuggles in the keg. I have a amber ale that I did a hop bomb of UK Fuggles with and it added a pretty noticeable minty undertone which is why I decided to go with 1 oz instead of 2. All in all I think this will come out nicely. The Spanish cedar smells amazing! Two weeks of letting it sit on that then I will carb it and sample, let it age if it needs it. Follow up then.

mike_chapman · October 9, 2012, 11:28pm

The alcohol character has been covered up very nicely. The beer in general has a very large vanilla flavor. Not sure if some of this is from the cedar or if one bean went that far. Some hints of the specialty grains shine through. Malt sweetness and a chalky type chocolate character I always notice with pale chocolate malt. Over all I think this will be a great beer when it ages and drops completely clear. The color is that of a Maduro cigar wrapper. Me and a buddy drank a couple ounces of it un-carbonated while smoking a cigar (Punch Champion) and it was a very nice combo. Looking forward to this in the near future.