Cherry Schwarzbock

I know it has been a few months since I've posted anything.  Things have been a bit hectic.

Here's what I've been up to lately -> brewing a cherry schwarzbock for my sister-in-law.  Think about a schwarzbier but in a bock profile.  When doing this, its important not to use too much roasted malt.  Otherwise, it carries too much coffee/espresso flavor and ends up tasting stoutish.  Its also important not to use too much wheat, like a dunkleweizen.  It ends up tasting too wheat-stoutish.

To try to avoid these problems in this attempt, I decided to use de-bittered Carafa II and Carafa III malts.  My sister-in-law also wanted something fruity.  Cherrybock beers have been around for a while, so that's what I went with.

I made this beer back on March 10, 2013.  Its been fermenting at about 45F for four weeks now.  I have just added the cherry puree.

Pumpkin Saison Fermentation Results

The pumpkin saison is finally bottled and in the process of carbonating.  I've been kind of sick for a while, so I've fallen behind on posts.  You can compare the beer results to what my original recipe and plan was here.

Pumpkin Saison in the bucket

Grain Bill
9lb Pilsen Malt
12oz Wheat Malt
8oz Biscuit Malt
8oz Crystal 20L Malt
1lb Belgian Clear Candi Sugar (added with 10 minutes remaining in the boil)

Hops
2oz 3.8%AA Hallertau 80 minutes
1oz 13.9%AA Citra 5 minutes

Spices (at flameout)
0.5oz Coriander
0.15oz Cinnamon sticks
0.15oz Clove
0.15oz Nutmeg

Fruit/Vegetables
3.62lb (58oz) of Canned Pumpkin Purée in the mash

Unibroue - Ephemere Black Currant White Ale

As John Cleese would say, "And now for something completely different."

I must admit that I am an out of the closet fruit beer fan. The second beer that I ever brewed was a peach cream ale. It turned out all right, but probably could have used different hops.

A white ale is a pretty good canvas for a fruit beer. White ales are typically subtile in flavor, so when you fruit them, the fruit flavor and color dominate.

I didn't know what to expect from this beer and I'm not sure what I think about it. The color is a pinkish red. The color does not extend to the white head.

2012 Pumpkin Ale - Part 2

I've been thinking about the pumpkin ale some more and something started getting me nervous:  when do I have to start brewing it?

My typical brewing schedule goes:  2-4 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, 4 weeks bottle carbonating.  And that's if I secondary.  For this beer, I think it will be worth it.

So according to that schedule, if I want to be absolutely sure it is ready for Halloween night, I have to brew it before the end of August.

Brewing in August is problematic for me.  I had to give up my fermentation fridge to my wife's new tattoo shop:  Liquid Jade Tattoos.  That means I'm at the mercy of my basement and cellar temperatures for fermenting.  My basement is currently 76F and my cellar is currently 78F and neither is likely to change substantially until mid to late September.

Solution:  Switching to a saison base and yeast for the Pumpkin Ale.  It should work.  I've never had a bad fruited, spiced, or herbed saison.

Here's the new recipe:
Fermentables
9lb of pilsen malt (mash)
8oz of 20L Crystal malt (mash)
12oz of Wheat malt (mash)
8oz of Biscuit malt (mash)

1lb of clear candi sugar (boil)

4lb of roasted pie pumpkins (mash) (I will substitute an equal amount of canned pumpkin because fresh pumpkin is not available)

Rice Hulls

Spices (added at flameout)
0.5oz Coriander
0.25oz Allspice
0.07oz Cinnamon (1tsp)
0.07oz Clove (1 tsp)
0.07oz Nutmeg (1 tsp)

Hops
1oz Hallertauer 60 minutes

1oz Citra 5 minutes

(edit:  my local home brew store was out of hallertauer, so I substituted 2oz strisselspalt)

Yeast
White Labs 566 - Saison II

Step Infusion Mash
120F for 30 minutes
153F for 60 minutes
168F for 10 minutes

OG = 1.067
FG = 1.019
ABV = 6.3%
IBU = 21
Color = 13L

2012 Pumpkin Ale

I'm not exactly a pumpkin ale fan.  But I've decided to make one this year.

My main problem with pumpkin ales is that they don't ever seem to be either pumpkiny enough our spiced enough or bready enough.

So I'm going to try to resolve those issues with the following recipe: