First Tasting: Rum Raisin Oatmeal Stout

I was stoked to make this beer from start to finish. I read about a clone of Lost Abbey's Judgement Day where the raisins were added for the entire boil. Judgment Day is a sweet beer to begin with so I wasn't sure how this one was going to work. I now feel like the silkiness that the oats tend to add are insignificant.

Of all the stouts that I made for the winter (Chocolate Stout, Chocolate Cherrywood Stout, and the Rum Raisin Stout, and even the Date and Molasses Porter), I tweaked each ingredient list here and there; Maris Otter base malts, 2 Row, Roasted Barley or Flaked Barley, Oats and Carafa 2 and 3, just to get a better understanding of the grains themselves. I used a half pound of raisins in the boil and then racked onto another half pound of raisins the were in a dark rum for 14 days. It has been great playing with different alcohols, woods and fruits this year. Peaches and Rum, Cherrywood/ Bourbon, Oak/ Bourbon Raisins and Dates even Plums and Bourbon. This year I hope to get into a few others.

I give this beer a solid B+. It is very sweet, but the rum added to that and I would rather see it come through on the heavy side rather than always wonder how much is enough. I can now start to scale back. The head on this dissipated very quickly, but from the picture above you wouldn't guess. I am thinking that the raisins are the culprit. I was away for a few weeks during all of these dark beers while they were racked so they all had plenty of time to be undisturbed or bottled too early. I am learning to be patient.

Yeast Starter Anatomy

Smack your pack or take you vile out of the fridge to room temp.

I only got into the fun and importance of making yeast starters in the fall last year. I made half batches for so long that one packet of yeast was plenty for 3 gallon high gravity beers. Last night while enjoying the last beer made last year, a Single Hop (Palisade) Pale Ale, a friend found something off about it. Out of no where he asked if I made a starter and I actually didn't. It was the first time I didn't out of 8 or so recipes. So here is my usual set up for making one. Yeast Nutrient optional.

For a 5 gallon batch with a 1,000 ml starter use 3.5 ozs of DME. Consult Mr. Malty though for correct number of yeasties that you need for your recipe.

15 Min boil of your DME in one pint of water.

Chill baby Chill. 15-20 Mins is usually enough time.

Keep it Clean!

Keep it really clean!

Wait 18-24 hours. Give it some swirls if you are not using a stir plate. Use an airlock, tinfoil, or foam stopper. Consult other books, blogs, and forums. Everyone does it different.

First Tasting: Batch #20

Molasses and Date Porter
This batch was a fun colaborations with Mi Esposa for the holidays. We decided that there is no greater gift than something handmade. In this case we wanted to be handmade, fermented and around 7% ABV. All gifts need an alcohol content.

I am lying when I said this was a first tasting. I sampled it a few times before I knew that it was significantly carbonated. At room temperature the sugars from the molasses and dates came through great. The aroma was pretty sweet, but the dark fruit had a way of making a bit of funk with the molasses.

After another week, chilled and ready to drink I was pretty pleased with it. Nice, warming alcohol notes smacked your lips leaving them a bit sticky. It is a jet black porter. I that we held back enough on that the black patent malt and it wasn't too bitter, but worked well with the fruit. Giving these up as gifts was a bit difficult. We labeled a few and waxed the caps for a presentable present for the "Feasts for the Dead." The wooden 4 pack holder was a fun gift to make as well. The idea was picked up from BYO magazine.

Cheers and Happy New Year

Final Tasting of Batch #17

Batch #17 was brewed for my brother's wedding in late September. I used many tradional wedding spices to give it an, "oh so special" vibe. My main goal is to be as spot on with temperature during primary fermenation. I was pretty pleased with it overall. With some of the ingredients (mainly cloves), this beer is a great winter brew. Last night we thought might be the best night to share the last bottle saved. I am almost regreting giving the 2nd to last bottle to our new neighbors as a house warming gift.

Right out the gate the cloves are present and dance nicely with the Belgian Ardennes yeast. I used fresh lemon and orange zest but coupled with that yeast and fermented at 78 degrees it was pleasently more sweet than dry. I laid off the Belgian grains with this recipe for no good reason except doing something completely opposite from Batch #15, a Lemon Rosemary Saison. My second regret was the length of time that I oaked it for. 30 days was not enough, or maybe I need another ounce of oak. It was more than mildly present.

Batch #17. Clove and Spice Saison
US 2 Row,  US White Wheat, Belgian Vienna, Belgian Cara 45, Flaked Maize and Carapils.
Mount Hood, Amarillo, and German Spalt Select Hops
Green Tea leaves, ground pepper, Rosemary, Parsley, Orange Zest, Lemon Zest, Cloves and Pinot Noir Oak Cubes
Wyeast Belgian Ardennes w/ starter.


Brewing Status:
Primary: Empty (first time in a long time)
Secondary: Single Hopped Pale Ale
Bottle Condioning: Rum Raisin Oatmeal Stout, Belgian Dubbel w/ Figs, Robust Porter w/ Molasses and Dates.
Up Next: Batch #18 (revised)- Imperial Chocolate Stout

Chicha Is On!

For many beer geeks I am sure that you either knew about the Perivian Beer, Chicha, or honestly, like me, heard about it through the Brew Masters episode rightfully titled, Chicha. Without getting deep down into the history, Chicha was and is a traditional Inca fermented beverage/ beer made from corn. It is best to watch the above linked clip to understand what you are about to read. To back things up I just got back from Peru and as much as the Inca Trail and 15th Century ruins were the main focus, I have hard time telling anyone that for 5 days, Chicha finding was what Dooglas and I had our sites on.

Now we heard tales that Chicha is hard to find in the traditional method of the brewer still chewing the corn. I saw a couple corona grain mills at the Chicharias. I would like to think that one (we visited many) in particular was as authentic as they come. We spotted our first "red bag" in Pisac. Eager and hesitantly we made our way into the homestead, past the chickens and into a dark structure where Dooglas asked, "Ahh, con permiso. Es la Chicha?" Si. Si.

In a small room with just us, our Chicha brewer, one or two locals and a floor full of coy, we sat on a small wooden beach and were served in a 20 ounce glass room temperture Chicha straight out the pot. We tipped our glass and let Pachamama have to first sip. It was very earthy, grassy, tart and delicious. An ancient Beriler Weiss comes to mind. Delicious to say the least.

We went back and got more Chicha to go in our water bottles. We got Chicha in Ollantaytambo and we enjoyed a few even our our way up the Inca Trail (we were "those" people). Nothing compared to the experience of the taste. It was a craft beer personified and a greater spiritual awaking for me.

Salud!

*Picture is a glass poured from a "to go" bottle brought to dinner.

Tasting: Batch #18

Chocolate Bourbon Cherry Wood Stout
Strong vanilla flavor. A bit overpowering. There is are subtle chocolate notes, the cinnamon comes through in aroma while the bourbon finishes. A slight woody taste from the cherry wood, jet black and a creamy tan head. A pleasant desert beer in the end.

With 8 ounces of cacao powder in the boil and another 3 ounces of dark chocolate in the fermentor I was thinking liquid cake. This batch's separated twin at birth (Chocolate Stout) has those characteristics. This will be a very tweakable recipe to say the least. It is a bit thinner and not as roasty as expected. I will up that portion of barley next time as well as maybe toast some oats and mash a bit higher and up the base malt a few more pounds. It only sits at 7.5% and it should probably have more warming alocohol notes. Come on...it's winter. I like the vanilla a lot though. It was a gift from Belize and probably the richest and most concentrated vanilla extract alive. I give this an overall B-.

Batch #20

Date and Molasses Robust Porter
Maris Otter, Munich, Rye, Chocolate, Crystal, Carapils and Black Malts.
Northern Brewer and Cascade Hops
Northwest AleYeast
1lb Molasses 8oz Dates

I haven't used this yeast in about 8 months. It moves like molasses. It is either the tortoise of yeast strains or I have grown to be impatient. But none-the-less it is my 20th batch of the year with a month to go in the year. Batch #21 is fermenting now on the other side of Roxborough. It's not a secret batch, #20 and #21 are for the holidays and some readers that I consider my tasters need to have something to look forward to. With this beer only 6 days in the fermentor I haven't even sampled it. I am debating on almond extract at bottling.

Half of Batch #18 was bottled and sampled 3 days ago. Low carbonation for the first seven days. This tends to happen during the late fall, early winter months in this house. The heat isn't turn on yet and without insulation my number of constant temp. rooms has fallen shot. As for the Chocolate Stout it had a very pronounced chocolate flavor and vanilla finish. Very thin though. It's counterpart, Bourbon Cherry Wood Chocolate Stout was bottled today and tasted delicious. I can not wait to see what some carbonation brings to it.