Now that things are settling down a bit, I’ve had a chance to get back to brewing and cooking. First on the list was to get a couple homebrews going to restock my homebrew inventory (which was desperately low). The first brew on the list was a re-brew of my Ruination IPA clone that I did last year (with a few updates from last year’s version). The second brew is a Chipotle Ale, which is a recipe I saw online based off a loose clone of Rogue’s Chipotle Ale. I packed both of these brews into one weekend, a couple weeks ago.
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| Big brewing supply order to cover me for a few batches, and then some. |
The Stone Ruination clone that I brewed last year is one of my favorite brews that I have made, and is one of the ones that has gotten the most positive feedback from friends and family. This beer demanded to be re-brewed. After making a few tweeks to the recipe (essentially, turning up the IBUs a bit), I had a pretty successful brew day (aside from spilling a little bit of wort when I was transferring it into the carboy, which dropped the potential alcohol level of the brew). After fermenting for about a week, I transferred it to a secondary fermenter and am going to dry hop it with a couple ounces of Centennial hops. After tasting a sample from the fermenter last weekend, I remembered why I love this beer so much – the bitter punch from the first addition of hops, the aroma from the finishing hops, and the clean yeast profile – all the signs of a great IPA. I am also planning on splitting the batch and bottling one half as the regular Ruination, and dry hopping the other half a second time with an ounce of Citra hops and putting it into a Party Pig. I can’t wait until this one is ready to drink in a few weeks!
Second on the list – Chipotle Ale. I decided to do an all-grain half-batch on this one, because if I mess up and put too many chipotles in, I do not want to end up with five gallons of beer that is too spicy to drink. It was also a good opportunity to do another all-grain batch in my new mash tun. This beer brewed pretty similar to any other beer, except, I added in about four small, de-seeded, home-grown jalapenos that I roasted/smoked on the grill this summer and then froze. After chilling the wort down, I added in most of the pieces of home-made chipotles right into the primary fermenter. After taking a sample from this beer last weekend, I’m pretty excited about it. The peppers did not seem overbearing at all. They actually added a subtle smokey flavor to this malty amber. This one should be going into bottles next weekend and be ready to drink in early- to mid-January.
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| Chipotle Ale on the left and Ruination IPA clone on the right. I can't wait until these are ready to drink! |
In addition to brewing up these two new beers, I also kept busy that same weekend by bottling my Bulldog Brew and my second mead. The Bulldog Brew came out great and is now carbonated and ready to drink, which helped replenish my beer supply. This rye amber came out pretty close to what I was going for – a well balanced beer with a great malt character from the rye, crystal, and chocolate malts that were used in brewing this ale. I am also planning on doing a label for this beer with a picture of my American Bulldog Abby, hopefully to come out soon. :-) I also bottled up my second small-batch mead, which tasted great from the sample that I took. More to come on this mead in a few months, after it has conditioned a bit.
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| Sample of my second small-batch mead, made with local honey. |
Taking a cue from Beer Advocate, I decided to make a beer inspired dinner last weekend with Cornish hens and Sierra Nevada Kellerweis. The dish was inspired by a recipe for doing a beer brine with a turkey that was published in the November issue of Beer Advocate. The original recipe called for brining a turkey in Allagash Tripel, tangerines, water, honey, salt, fennel, bay leaves, thyme, and a couple other spices for a couple days before baking it for Thanksgiving dinner. I modified the recipe a bit for a smaller scale and for availability of ingredients, swapped out the Tripel for a few bottles of Kellerweis (I had a bunch of Kellerweis laying around at home) and swapped out the tangerines for oranges. After brining the hens, I baked the two Cornish hens in a crock with chunks of potatoes, carrots, garlic, and onions in the bottom. The resulting hens were delicious and moist. Some stuffing and the veggies from the bottom of the pan rounded out the dish nicely. This is definitely a dish I plan on making again. Here are a couple pictures from the dish. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product (great move, John!) but you get the point.
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| Sierra Nevada Kellerweis - a fantastic hefeweizen to drink and to cook with. |
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| The brine cooking up. |
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| Cornish hens brining up before they got baked. |
With the holidays upon us, I wanted to take a moment and wish everyone happy holidays! I hope everyone has a great time with friends and family and enjoys some time off! Raise a glass of craft beer to great friends, great family, and happiness during this holiday season!
Song of the Day: “Angels We Have Heard on High” by Bayside
Beer of the Day: Allagash Four
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