Fall Brewing
Well, beat me senseless with a distraught spoonbill, I've gone and forgotten to update the brog again!
Several brews have snuck through unnoticed in the meantime...another ESB (quite good!) as well as a cranberry cider and double stout. The latter two are set to be bottled perhaps this weekend. The cranberry cider surprised me...tart like every other cider I've done, but not tart like I expected...it has a unique fruity sensation that reminds me of (forgive me) Hawaiian Punch. Strange...its just apple cider and cranberry juice.
Up next, two more projects. The first is already in the fermentor, a cheap-ish grape wine experiment. Grape juice concentrate and cane sugar...this is the bottom of the wine barrel, but it was cheap, and I think it might end up being pleasant, with a little carbonation. I usually end up liking cheaper wines (when I like wine at all) so we shall see! It will be a bit more "grapey" and less wine-like due to the grape varietals used (probably Concord) but that doesn't bother me much. Hey, like I said, its an experiment. The second project is a new style....the "IBA", or Imperial Black Ale. Take a hoppy American IPA (in the style of Bell's Two Hearted), make it even bigger (more base malt) and hoppier (50% more hops), and colour it black with debittered black malts and Sinamar extract. Looks like a stout, tastes like a double IPA! Gimmicky, I know, but if anything this will be a fun trick to play on my Guinness-swilling but hop-fearing friends. I also realized with my hop additions I will be kicking this one substantially over 100 IBUs....this is with my recipe calculation estimating Centennial hops at 9% alpha acid, which is the low end. That is insane. On the high end (12%) it calculates to 133 IBUs...the average American lager clocks in around 10 IBUs, and most craft brews are in the 10-50 IBU range. This one will be named CENTENNIUM as it is a single hop brew, just Centennial hops. 7 ounces worth, added throughout the boil, with full wort hopping and dry hopping as well. Huge, huge bitterness, strong hop flavour and aroma. It will be awesome! It will scrape the enamel from your poor, helpless teeth! Muahahahahahaha! Bow before CENTENNIUM, the Darth Vader of beers, the world's first Imperial Black Ale!
Several brews have snuck through unnoticed in the meantime...another ESB (quite good!) as well as a cranberry cider and double stout. The latter two are set to be bottled perhaps this weekend. The cranberry cider surprised me...tart like every other cider I've done, but not tart like I expected...it has a unique fruity sensation that reminds me of (forgive me) Hawaiian Punch. Strange...its just apple cider and cranberry juice.
Up next, two more projects. The first is already in the fermentor, a cheap-ish grape wine experiment. Grape juice concentrate and cane sugar...this is the bottom of the wine barrel, but it was cheap, and I think it might end up being pleasant, with a little carbonation. I usually end up liking cheaper wines (when I like wine at all) so we shall see! It will be a bit more "grapey" and less wine-like due to the grape varietals used (probably Concord) but that doesn't bother me much. Hey, like I said, its an experiment. The second project is a new style....the "IBA", or Imperial Black Ale. Take a hoppy American IPA (in the style of Bell's Two Hearted), make it even bigger (more base malt) and hoppier (50% more hops), and colour it black with debittered black malts and Sinamar extract. Looks like a stout, tastes like a double IPA! Gimmicky, I know, but if anything this will be a fun trick to play on my Guinness-swilling but hop-fearing friends. I also realized with my hop additions I will be kicking this one substantially over 100 IBUs....this is with my recipe calculation estimating Centennial hops at 9% alpha acid, which is the low end. That is insane. On the high end (12%) it calculates to 133 IBUs...the average American lager clocks in around 10 IBUs, and most craft brews are in the 10-50 IBU range. This one will be named CENTENNIUM as it is a single hop brew, just Centennial hops. 7 ounces worth, added throughout the boil, with full wort hopping and dry hopping as well. Huge, huge bitterness, strong hop flavour and aroma. It will be awesome! It will scrape the enamel from your poor, helpless teeth! Muahahahahahaha! Bow before CENTENNIUM, the Darth Vader of beers, the world's first Imperial Black Ale!
posted by SQLFunkateer at 1:33 PM
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