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.

Batch #19

Rum Raisin Oatmeal Stout
Pale Malt (Maris Otter), Flaked Oats, Roasted and Flaked Barley, Chocolate Malt, Crystal Malt,
Special B, Organic Raisins, Dark Rum.
Northern Brewer and Fuggle Hops
American Ale II Yeast w/ starter.

I have never had such an active fermentation. The blow off tube was a krausen subway for 60 hours. Finally, a week in it is calming down. I was looking to make a big beer. Not a 10%er, but something to enjoy for the holidays. I used a half pound of raisins in the boil and have another 4 ozs sitting in 8 ozs of dark rum for a few weeks. I didn't quite hit my OG on this. My mash tun was filled to capacity and I needed a small amount of DME to get it on it's feet. "We're gonna need a bigger pot."

Tasting: Batch #17

I wanted to make something "Fallish" without pumpkin, but still in the fruits and veggies category. Oddly, I am in recipe-mode for a pumpkin(ish) beer for the winter. For Batch #17, Plum Rye IPA, I found a new love affair.

It's fairly dark in color with a strong citrus aroma. It is very hop forward but the tartness from the plums finish nicely. I was hoping for a bit more rye, but if I had to sacrifice the plum overpowering it, then I am happy enough. It is overall what I was hoping for.  It packs a nice 6.9% ABV and is great to finish the end of the night with.

Plum Rye IPA
2 Row, Rye, Munich, Carapils and Crystal malts.
Simcoe, Columbus, Palisade and Amarillo hops
Lots of Fresh Plums
Wyeast American Ale II

Batch #18

Bourbon Cherry Wood Chocolate Stout
2 Row, Chocolate Malt, Crystal, Black Malt and Carafa Malts.
Cacao Powder, Dark Chocolate, Cherry-Wood, Vanilla Extract, Cinnamon
East Kent Goldings and Fuggle Hops
London Ale Yeast w/ starter.

After Primary Fermentation was complete I split this batch in two 3 gallon carboys. 2.5 gallons is from the recipe listed above. The second carboy is minus the cherry wood and vanilla. Bourbon has added a bit of vanilla flavor to my past batches, but I am hoping to have this one finish with it instead of it being more forward. The cherry wood for this batch was a gift given to me in a 5 foot plank that I have dried, sanded and cut into cubes. I have 2.5 ounces of cubes in 6 ounces of bourbon.  This will age for a minimum of 4 weeks and if my will power servers me right, more like 8 weeks. The vanilla extract used is a gift from another friend and contributor, Doog in Belize. I added about a tablespoon (+/-).