Untitled Update
I'm starting to regret implementing post titles on my brog. (No, "brog" is not a silly Asian-accent version of "blog", it is short for "brew log" just as "blog" is short for "web log".)
Anyway, let's look at, as Marvin Gaye would intone, "what's going on". Now everything is out of the primary. I got a bit of hope for my Double IPA, as I had added enzymes to it and raised the temperature, and it restarted a very slow bubbling, so it may be finishing its ferment. The Cherry Melomel is still slowly chugging along, and I assume it is going to end up rather dry. I've had a full glass of it when it was at 1.045, which is very sweet, but it was actually quite pleasant. I think the danger here is that it will end up too dry, but we'll see. I was worried about severe oxidation when I racked it to tertiary, but I think we are all right; the restarted ferment scrubbed a lot of oxygen out I'm sure. Who knows, the mead may have been low on oxygen and just needed a bit of a boost to restart the yeast. The Ginger Metheglin is drying out, at 1.010 or so. Not nearly what I had hoped, but acceptable, at least. I added about 10 oz of freshly grated ginger, or rather, I steeped that amount of ginger in a pint or so of boiling water, and added that ginger "extract" to the mead as I racked it to tertiary. The Black Braggot is slightly disappointing...I finally racked it to secondary, and it seems still, completely without activity, and stuck at the high gravity of 1.037, although the second test showed more like 1.040. This was supposed to be so much more fermentable than an Imperial Stout, and thus end up drier. Oh well, there's lots of time to correct that. The Agincourt Ale, my strong dubbel, is aging quietly in the basement. Once it clears sufficiently it will be bottled.
New plans...well, I have been somewhat taken with my cider. I liked it well before, but after I discovered the method of sweetening/flavouring it in the glass with a shot of Ribena, wow! It pairs wonderfully. The dry tartness of cider is tempered by the fruity sweetness in the Ribena syrup. Once I exhaust my supply of Ribena, which is rather costly, I suppose a decent Creme de Cassis would do fine as a substitution...making the drink into a "Snakebite". But that has prompted me to decide on my next brewing project...another cider. I think I'll stick close to the mold of my last one. I was thinking of going crazy and using a gallon to a gallon and a half of tart cherry juice, but that gets very costly, and it might end up just tasting like alcoholic Juicy Juice. But yes, more cider is on the way. Oh, and by the way, at least some of those bottles have carbonated. Can't beat it! Slight fizz, natural crispness. I'm really a bit put off that cider is so uncommon here, and especially that the few commercial examples are so "manufactured", sorbated, sweetened, adjusted, and tweaked until they are nothing more than apple flavoured wine coolers. This nation used to be a cider nation...sweet cider, hard cider, apfelwein, apple brandy. Beer was secondary to cider at one point. Remember Johnny Appleseed? I'd take a pint of good cider over a glass of any froo-froo wine for dinner, anyday.
Anyway, let's look at, as Marvin Gaye would intone, "what's going on". Now everything is out of the primary. I got a bit of hope for my Double IPA, as I had added enzymes to it and raised the temperature, and it restarted a very slow bubbling, so it may be finishing its ferment. The Cherry Melomel is still slowly chugging along, and I assume it is going to end up rather dry. I've had a full glass of it when it was at 1.045, which is very sweet, but it was actually quite pleasant. I think the danger here is that it will end up too dry, but we'll see. I was worried about severe oxidation when I racked it to tertiary, but I think we are all right; the restarted ferment scrubbed a lot of oxygen out I'm sure. Who knows, the mead may have been low on oxygen and just needed a bit of a boost to restart the yeast. The Ginger Metheglin is drying out, at 1.010 or so. Not nearly what I had hoped, but acceptable, at least. I added about 10 oz of freshly grated ginger, or rather, I steeped that amount of ginger in a pint or so of boiling water, and added that ginger "extract" to the mead as I racked it to tertiary. The Black Braggot is slightly disappointing...I finally racked it to secondary, and it seems still, completely without activity, and stuck at the high gravity of 1.037, although the second test showed more like 1.040. This was supposed to be so much more fermentable than an Imperial Stout, and thus end up drier. Oh well, there's lots of time to correct that. The Agincourt Ale, my strong dubbel, is aging quietly in the basement. Once it clears sufficiently it will be bottled.
New plans...well, I have been somewhat taken with my cider. I liked it well before, but after I discovered the method of sweetening/flavouring it in the glass with a shot of Ribena, wow! It pairs wonderfully. The dry tartness of cider is tempered by the fruity sweetness in the Ribena syrup. Once I exhaust my supply of Ribena, which is rather costly, I suppose a decent Creme de Cassis would do fine as a substitution...making the drink into a "Snakebite". But that has prompted me to decide on my next brewing project...another cider. I think I'll stick close to the mold of my last one. I was thinking of going crazy and using a gallon to a gallon and a half of tart cherry juice, but that gets very costly, and it might end up just tasting like alcoholic Juicy Juice. But yes, more cider is on the way. Oh, and by the way, at least some of those bottles have carbonated. Can't beat it! Slight fizz, natural crispness. I'm really a bit put off that cider is so uncommon here, and especially that the few commercial examples are so "manufactured", sorbated, sweetened, adjusted, and tweaked until they are nothing more than apple flavoured wine coolers. This nation used to be a cider nation...sweet cider, hard cider, apfelwein, apple brandy. Beer was secondary to cider at one point. Remember Johnny Appleseed? I'd take a pint of good cider over a glass of any froo-froo wine for dinner, anyday.
posted by SQLFunkateer at 7:27 AM
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