The Wedding

So, it's been a while since my last post, mostly because I've been so busy getting ready for my friend's wedding this past January. We decided on three beers: Blonde Ale, Strawberry Chocolate Porter, and the Irish Red. I pretty much stayed true to the original recipes, so I'm not going to post those here, but they are on my blog and pretty easy to find. I also made a flat cider, that we served as a wine due to its very high alcohol content (about 11%). The cider was simple: 5 gallons of apple juice, 2 pounds brown sugar, 2 pounds honey, and one pack of champagne yeast. I fermented it for 2 weeks before transferring it to wine bottles.

 I did make some minor changes in the malts to try and get the color just a bit better on the beers. Although it is perfectly fine for porters to be brown, I really like a very dark porter, so I added a little more roasted barley to the original recipe which did help. We also lightened the malt bill on the red, which helped a little. Instead of being black like the first go round, it was a dark brown, which is as good as it's going to get apparently.

Everything was a success. Everyone who visited me seemed to enjoy what they were drinking. A few even asked me where they could buy it. Some asked me for my information so they could get in contact with me about making their own beer, or having me make some for them. This all made me very excited. I am very glad that everyone seemed to like the beer. I'm also very excited that my friend's idea of having me make the beer went over so well.

At the end of the night, we ran out of the red and cider. We had more blonde than porter left. The blonde, while well received, seemed to be the least favorite of the night. This doesn't surprise me because the flavors of the other two beers are so much more complex and robust, which is going to attract people who like beer more than the simple offerings of a blonde. And ultimately we had a lot of beer drinkers in the house. However, those who were more casual beer drinkers really did seem to like the blonde a lot. The cider was a hit among those who were looking for something closer to wine to drink.

While I wouldn't necessarily want to do this all of the time due to the time constraints (and not to mention the pressure of getting it right), it was a lot of fun and I definitely wouldn't mind doing this again for very special occasions. We also came up for names for the brews (with the exception of the porter), which are entertaining but apt. I'm still taking suggestions on the porter. Leave me your idea in the comments section of this post.

What we served:

Strawberry Chocolate Porter (name pending)
OG: 1.070
FG:  1.018
ABV: 7%

"Black Irish" Red
OG: 1.064
FG:  1.020
ABV: 6%

Dirty Blonde
OG: 1.060
FG:  1.012
ABV: 6%

Sinful Sippin' Cider
OG: 1.090
FG:  1.010
ABV: 11%


Until Next Time,
RHSC

Updates on Cider and Porter (pt. 2)

I finally kegged the strawberry cider and the chocolate strawberry porter after about 4 weeks in the fermenter. Both have turned out nicely.

The cider is nice and refreshing with a very smooth texture. It has a little more sweetness than the last batch, which I'm attributing to the strawberries, but it has no noticeable strawberry flavor. I did some research and found that when using mild fruits in beer, such as strawberries, you really need to use a lot more of said fruit (one pound of puree to one gallon of beer or more) in order to get the desired flavor. I forgot to take a gravity reading (I know, I know... a rookie mistake), so I don't have a clear idea of ABV, but I'm guessing at least 8% (OG was 1.074 with fruit).

The porter really turned out well. The aroma has some dark chocolate overtones right up front, which I really like. You can also get a hint of the strawberries in the aroma, which really does add to initial impression of the beer. The beer has a nice smooth mouthfeel with a slight bitter taste to begin with and finishes off with a slight sweetness in the aftertaste (thank you, strawberries!). I was a little worried when the strawberries didn't show up at all in the taste of the cider that the same would be true about the porter, but I think the longer than normal fermentation time (a little over 4 weeks) really helped the strawberries to contribute to the flavor of the beer. I think next time I might use more strawberries, but I don't think I'll use more than about four pounds of puree (I used three in this batch). I didn't get quite the strawberry flavor I was hoping for, but you can definitely taste the strawberries. Overall, I really like this beer. It is a nice, rich porter with a lot of flavor. It did turn out to be very high gravity, so I will definitely go easy on it.

OG: 1.072 with fruit
FG: 1.018
ABV of about 7.25%

Until Next Time,
RHSC

Updates on Cider and Porter

We added both the porter (formerly titled Sexual Chocolate...still looking for a new name) and cider to the secondary fermenters last night. We added the boiled strawberry purees to the fermenters first (carboy for the cider and another brew bucket for the porter), and then added the beer.  We weren't able to get accurate gravity readings, so I made an estimate on how the strawberries will affect the gravity based on other recipes and a little research. I am very anxious to try both of these brews.

Cider
The gravity of the cider before adding the strawberries was 1.054. This was a little surprising, because it didn't consume very much of the sugar, yet (that makes it about 2.25% so far). However, once we added the cider to the strawberries in the carboy, we could literally see the yeast feeding off of the newly added sugar. Apparently initial fermentation was slowed down a lot for one reason or another. Once we added the cider to the secondary, an immediate reaction occurred. We had to wait almost an hour before adding the airlock due a slow steady overflow of foam. It has since calmed down a lot and appears to be fermenting at a steady pace.

It has a great dark amber color and smells wonderful. I can't wait to see how this turns out.

OG: 1.072; 1.074 with fruit (estimated)

Porter
We didn't have nearly the problems with the porter that we had with the cider. There are two good explanations for that: 1) we used a bucket, so there was more open space and the pressure didn't bottleneck (so to speak). 2) the gravity reading we took before racking the beer was 1.020. This places the beer at an ABV of 6.5% before adding the fruit. The yeast had already done a lot of work. We did notice about 10-15 minutes after we sealed the lid and placed the airlock, that we were getting a slow steady stream of bubbles.

This beer has a very dark brown color with a slight red tint to it. The aroma of bitter chocolate and sweet strawberries combined was amazing. I can't wait to try this beer.

OG: 1.070; 1.072 with fruit (estimated)


The plan was to wait about 2 weeks to keg both. I may transfer the porter over sooner simply because I don't want all of the sugar consumed. I already have a 6.5% beer, so I really just want the flavor from the strawberries. I don't need it to have a higher alcohol content.

A note for anyone keeping up with this at home, I ended up using about 2.5 pounds of fresh hulled strawberries for the puree for the cider. It was right at 3 pounds for the porter. I added about .5 cup of sugar to both purees in the pot. The puree was really easy to make if you have a blender; just add water and strawberries and blend until you have the consistency you want. Add it to the pot with any desired sugar and boil for about 5 minutes. I will update once I've added them to the kegs.


Until Next Time,
RHSC

Sexual Chocolate

I have had really good luck with porters since I've started brewing. I've also discovered more of a taste for them as I've been making them. A couple of friends of mine really liked the last porter I made (refer to Black Cat) and wanted me to experiment with another porter. We came up with an idea for a dark beer with strawberries after we had already planned to make a strawberry cider (see previous "Strawberry Cider" post). I found a recipe for a raspberry porter that I liked. I will simply substitute in strawberries. I've also added some chocolate to the recipe to add some texture and flavor (chocolate and strawberries go great together), and modified the grain and malt bill a little. This is a pretty simple recipe and we had a lot of fun making it at the same time as the cider. It turned out to be a strawberry themed brew party.

Ingredients

• 6.6 pounds Light LME
• 3.3 pounds Munich LME
• 8 ounces Unsweetened Baking Chocolate
• 1 pound Crystal Malt (40 L)
• 3/4 pound Chocolate Malt
• 1/2 pound Black Patent Malt
• 2 ounces Kent Golding Hops
• American Ale Yeast (12 grams)
• 3 pounds Strawberry puree

Instructions

• Steep grains at 150-160F for about 30 minutes
• Remove grains and add half of the light extract and the hops. Boil for 60 minutes.
• Add melted chocolate at 30-40 minutes into the boil.
• Add the remaining extract in the last 10-15 minutes of the boil.*
• Remove from heat after 60 minutes. 
• Cool wort and add to fermenter. Add water to get 5 gallons.
• Pitch yeast.
• Ferment in primary for 7-10 days (or until fermentation slows dramatically).
• Boil strawberry puree for 5-10 minutes (I will be making my own puree using fresh strawberries). Let cool.
• Put puree in the secondary fermenter. Rack the porter on top of the puree in the secondary.
• Let ferment in secondary an additional 7-14 days. 
• I will keg using CO2.

OG: 1.070

*I used all liquid malt extract (LME) for this batch. When using LME, I have found that you can get more flavor out of the malt by not boiling all of it for the entire 60 minutes. 

I am excited about this beer. It should be good. I hope to update at the secondary process when I take more gravity readings. We came up with this name as kind of an homage to one of Eddie Murphy's numerous characters in "Coming to America." We were trying to come up with something creative and original to capture the essence of what we hope this beer will turn out to be. After mulling over ideas like "Chocolate Covered Strawberry," "Strawberry Chocolate Porter," and "Strawberry Porter," one of the guys helping brew the beer blurted out "Sexual Chocolate." I hope it will fit--a little sweet, a little strong, a tad bit outrageous, but ultimately very enjoyable and satisfying. 

I could also be reading way too much into this. It's a creative and hilarious name for a beer.

Until Next Time,

RHSC

Three New Brews

So I've been a little busy lately, but I've still managed to brew three new beers in the last two weeks. Right now, I have a Belgian Triple, a Pumpkin Ale, and a Porter fermenting. They should be good.



Belgian Triple


Ingredients:

• 6 pounds Light Dry Malt Extract
• 0.5 pound Aromatic 
• 2 pounds Table Sugar
• 2 ounces Fuggles hops (bittering)
• 1 ounce Saaz (aroma)
• 1 package liquid Belgian Ale yeast
• 1 package dry Belgian Ale yeast

Instructions:

• Steep Aromatic grains at 150-160 degrees for 30-60 minutes
• Add Fuggles, extract, and sugar. Boil for 1 hour.
• Add Saaz in last 10 minutes.
• Cool wort to 65-72 degrees. Pitch yeast.
• Ferment for 14-21 days.

I know a lot of recipes call for Belgian Candy Sugar as opposed to regular table sugar, but there's really not a whole lot of difference between them. Also, a lot of recipes and sites I've seen recommend table sugar to candy sugar because there's no difference. It's also a lot cheaper.

OG: 1.071

"The Great Pumpkin Ale"

Ingredients:

• 3.3 pounds Amber Liquid Malt Extract
• 3 pounds Light Dry Malt Extract
• 1 pound Crystal Malt (60 L)
• 0.5 pound Chocolate Malt
• 2 ounces Goldings (bittering)
• 1 ounce Fuggles (aroma)
• 1 tablet Whirlfloc
• 8-9 pounds fresh pumpkin
• Pumpkin Pie Spice (cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg, ginger)
• Light Brown Sugar
• 4 Cinnamon Sticks
• 3 Whole Nutmegs
• 6 Whole Allspice
• 1 package London Ale Yeast

Instructions:

• Cut the pumpkin into large pieces and sprinkle with the pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar.
• Bake for 2 hours at 350 degrees until tender.
• Remove from oven and cut into 1-inch cubes. Remove peel. 
• Mash slightly.
• Steep grains at 150-160 degrees for 30-60 minutes. Remove spent grains
• Add dry extract, pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and Goldings hops. Boil for 60 minutes.
• Add liquid extract at last 15 minutes.
• Add Fuggles and whirlfloc at last 5 minutes.
• Remove whole spices and pumpkin.
• Cool wort and pitch yeast.
• Ferment for 14-21 days.

*Use 3/4 cup of corn sugar to 2 cups boiling water f3or priming solution if bottling.

OG: 1.042

"Black Cat Halloween Porter"


Ingredients:

• 6.6 pounds Amber Liquid Malt Extract
• 1 pound Chocolate Malt
• 0.5 pound Black Patent Malt
• 1 cup Black Strap Molasses
• 1.5 ounces Vanilla Extract
• 2 ounces Willamette hops (bittering)
• 1 ounce Tettnanger hops (aroma)
• 1 package London Ale yeast

Instructions:

• Steep grains at 150-160 degrees for 30-60 minutes.
• Add half of the extract, molasses and Willamette hops. Boil for 60 minutes.
• Add remaining extract at 15 minutes left.
• Add Tettnanger hops in last 5 minutes.
• Cool wort and pitch yeast.
• Add vanilla (you can add this in secondary process if you plan to use a secondary).
• Ferment 14-17 days (Secondary for last 7 days if using a secondary).

Use 1.25 cups dry malt extract to 2 cups boiling water for priming solution if bottling.

OG: 1.048

I will update once they are ready. Also, I only have 2 kegs, so I need to figure out which batch I'm bottling.

Until Next Time,

RHSC