Tooncinator Motley Cru

Classification: Trappist ale, Belgian ale, Trippel, extract

Source: Steven W. Smith (SMITH_S@gc.maricopa.edu), HBD Issue #1404, 4/21/94

Having guzzled >$10.00 of Celis Grand Cru I thought I'd try to create something similar. While the resulting beer is Damned Tasty and seems to be on the right track, it's spices are more subtle than I'd planned. Next time I'll use more coriander seed (or crush finer) and orange peel, maybe different hops, different yeast (advice on hops and yeast most welcome). Without further ado, the recipe and convoluted procedure for 5 gallons of Tooncinator Motley Cru.

Ingredients:

8 pounds Briess Wheat/Malt powder (2 big ziplocks)
2 pounds Vienna carapils malt (2 small ziplocks)
1 3/4 cups corn sugar
1 oz. Lublin(?) hops, A=3.1 boil (pellets)
1 oz. Hallertau hops, A=4.8 boil (pellets)
1 oz. Hallertau hops, A=4.8 finishing (pellets)
1/2 oz. coriander seed (freshly crushed)
about 1/2 oz. dried orange peel (Lawries?)
5 whole cloves (to make me feel good, imperceptable)
2 packages Red Star Ale yeast
Crystal bottled water

Procedure:

Crushed and steeped carapils. >30 min @130F, 150F, 170F. Sparged, increased volume to almost 4 gallons, heated and stirred in malt powder. Added hops in 4 portions after boil began, about every 15 minutes until they were all in - boiled another 45 minutes after last addition. Turned off heat, stirred in coriander seed, orange peel and cloves, started the chiller about 2-3 minutes later. Siphoned into carboy, added water to about 5 gallons, pitched yeast directly and shook to aereate. Wort didn't taste unduly strange, kind of hoppy, not too spicy.

After secondary fermentation was complete I decided it should be hoppier and added the 2nd oz. of hallertau pellets. 3 days later I reconsidered and racked off the hops. I further decided to test out the scrubbing bubbles theory of hops reduction - I boiled 1 cup of corn sugar and steeped another tsp orange peel and added it - got a fairly vigorous fermentation for several more days.

1 week after the corn sugar fiasco I added another 3/4 cup and bottled. Pretty good, hops are just about right, pretty light on the coriander and orange peel. Very tasty after about 2 weeks in the bottle.