Fear the Chipotle Beer!
I bottled two brews this weekend:
First, the Chipotle IPA. This 7.7% ABV IPA is light bodied with a coppery hue. The base beer (pre-Chipotles) was pretty bland, on the whole...not a lot going on in it, but it was OK. Fast-forward to this weekend, and I've bottled the whole thing, mostly in 12oz and pint bottles. Believe me, you will not be craving more than 12oz of this unless you are crazier than me. It is HOT. First sip, for a second I was like, oh, OK, and then within a second, BAM it hits you and you're gasping for air. Drinkable? Yes, of course...I'm not an insane heat person. But it is hot. I will have plenty of this on hand since I bottled it in small bottles so if you are ready to take the plunge into serious chili beer, let me know and I will hook you up. This is a fiery SOB...I may make a lot of beer chili with it. But if you are ready to have some burn with your beer, as I said, let me know.
Secondly and much more sedately, my blackcurrant cider. As a refresher, this is basically a very simple recipe. I fermented a base cider of 4 gallons apple juice and 2 lbs brown sugar using my favorite British ale yeast (S-04). Then I racked that onto 1 gallon of Trader Joe's 100% Blackcurrant Juice. It is a rich purple-black in colour, and it is surprisingly sweet and light in ABV...a final gravity of 1.013 and an ABV content of only 6%. Very appealing, on the whole; quite drinkable and won't devastate you after a pint or two. I may give a pure apple cider experiment another shot, especially bearing this in mind. I put this into the 2-liter growler, so hopefully it will be quite a hit at the next St. Crispin's dinner. For which I'm unsure of the best sort of food...I've thought about Mexican food, Danish food, or a return to British cuisine. Any comments, let me know. Cheers!
First, the Chipotle IPA. This 7.7% ABV IPA is light bodied with a coppery hue. The base beer (pre-Chipotles) was pretty bland, on the whole...not a lot going on in it, but it was OK. Fast-forward to this weekend, and I've bottled the whole thing, mostly in 12oz and pint bottles. Believe me, you will not be craving more than 12oz of this unless you are crazier than me. It is HOT. First sip, for a second I was like, oh, OK, and then within a second, BAM it hits you and you're gasping for air. Drinkable? Yes, of course...I'm not an insane heat person. But it is hot. I will have plenty of this on hand since I bottled it in small bottles so if you are ready to take the plunge into serious chili beer, let me know and I will hook you up. This is a fiery SOB...I may make a lot of beer chili with it. But if you are ready to have some burn with your beer, as I said, let me know.
Secondly and much more sedately, my blackcurrant cider. As a refresher, this is basically a very simple recipe. I fermented a base cider of 4 gallons apple juice and 2 lbs brown sugar using my favorite British ale yeast (S-04). Then I racked that onto 1 gallon of Trader Joe's 100% Blackcurrant Juice. It is a rich purple-black in colour, and it is surprisingly sweet and light in ABV...a final gravity of 1.013 and an ABV content of only 6%. Very appealing, on the whole; quite drinkable and won't devastate you after a pint or two. I may give a pure apple cider experiment another shot, especially bearing this in mind. I put this into the 2-liter growler, so hopefully it will be quite a hit at the next St. Crispin's dinner. For which I'm unsure of the best sort of food...I've thought about Mexican food, Danish food, or a return to British cuisine. Any comments, let me know. Cheers!
posted by SQLFunkateer at 9:46 AM
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