Wizards Wit

A couple of months ago, I tried Anchorage Brewing's Whiteout Wit; it was delicious.  Bold lemon and spice, refreshing, and only a hint of any funk from the Brettanomyces the company used in it.  Flavoured with lemon peel, corriander, black pepper, and using Sorachi Ace hops (to further the lemony goodness).

Kedrigern's Best Brown, rebrew

One of my favourite brews I have made was the Kedrigern's brown--last time, I had a couple of issues...one of which was that it was only a 3 gallon batch, and therefore didn't last long enough.  The post for the original batch can be found here

So, this time I'm fixing that and brewing a full 6 gallons (in two batches, since my setup isn't made for more than 3.5).  I've made a couple of changes to the recipe, the most significant of which is the use of actual liquid yeast for the first time.  Plus, since I will be aging in a 5gal secondary for a few weeks, I plan to take one gallon and put it through a secondary with brettanomyces.

Should be 6.5 gallons in there, bubbling happily

Pumpkin Weizenbock

I decided--fairly randomly, although triggered by the thoughts of fermenting in a pumpkin--to make a pumpkin beer.  While my first thought was a oatmeal stout, I quickly decided that a weizenbock would work nicely.  I fell in love with the style after trying the original, Avantius (absolutely delicious...and propagating the yeast should be possible).
While I decided to not ferment in a pumpkin--too much work/cost for not much in the way of results (beyond being able to say I did it)--I did use fresh pumpkin in the recipe.

First Wild Brew

I'm excited to say that I finally pitched yeast on my first wild brew.  I've been wanting to do this for quite a while, simply out of curiousity.  The results being, that back in June I "harvested" (it was airborn) assorted yeast, microbes, and I don't know what else from the garden--this is known as an "ambient" starter (as opposed to one started from fruit skins, or flower petals).  See the prior blog post (here) for the journal of the starters.



What this is, is a semi-spontaneous fermentation.  I say the semi, since a completely spontaneous fermentation would have used the full volume of wort, and no starters to make sure it won't just go bad--too risky for me.  For information on Spontaneous fermentations, like lambics, read here.  The Milk the Funk wiki, and their FB group are both very good sources of information.  This article is also a good one.

The wild capture starter in the middle is the one being used.

Cold-mixed Absinthe, a (legal to make) recipe

A guest post from a friend who needed a place to share his recipe.

Conrad’s Ever-changing Absinthe Recipe

This recipe is based on looking at half a dozen regional absinthe recipes.  This recipe is non-distilled for ease and legality.  

The Highwayman Old (well...) Ale

One of my favourite songs is The Highwayman, a poem written in 1906 by Alfred Noyes, and performed as a song by Loreena McKennitt (Link to youtube of the song). 

For some reason, the song spoke to me, saying it wanted to be made into some kind of beer.  Something traditionally English, common to the inns of the time, BUT with some continental influences--specifically French or Belgian character, since the mental feel I have of the Highwayman stereotype is at both English and French.  While the primary yeast and grain bill (other than the Special B) are English (and I will use something like treacle or apple cider concentrate for bottle carbing), I want plummy red wine and rum flavours in there as well. 

"Belgian" Dubble Graff

This was my New Year's brew for 2013--it turned out fairly good, but seems to have only gotten better with time; I opened one of the few remaining bottles last night and it was amazing.  Ripe with dried fruit flavours.

This is one of my graffs--a cider with malted grains--which has a Belgian dubble based grain bill, and contains home made dark candi syrup.  Belgian yeast was not available to me at the time, and I ended up--for some unknown reason--using a lager yeast (and fermenting in cold temperatures, of course).  I actually consider that to be a success--it was drinkable extremely quickly, and might not have been with a quicker fermentation.

(Light) Cherry Cyser

This is a sweet, hopefully juicy mead--easy to drink and enjoy, and done fairly quickly (both times, I made it in September, and bottled for New Years).  The "light" in the name refers to the ABV% which is slightly lower than the average mead--around 10%.  Thus far, I have made it twice--with differences in each.

So, here are the recipes and my rather minimal log notes.

2014 Batch.  And I am still mourning this glass.

Cup O' Cheer Rhubarb Wine

I don't repeat recipes.  I'm famous for not doing so--however, this is the third year I have made a batch of my rhubarb wine, and the amounts made are getting larger.

Even though the overall recipe is the same, I have been changing it slightly each time--slightly more rhubarb per gallon, perhaps a different steep time, more or less brown sugar, different yeasts (last years batches were made with Belgian-Canadian ale yeast/1116, and Cote des blanc.  71-B is my choice this year and the first year).  Given the amounts of rhubarb I have available, I may make a second 5 gallon batch this year, perhaps in mid August.
The rhubarb I use is a blend of red and green--same varietal, but the red (which I prefer, so I can get more colour in the finished wine) is exposed to more sunlight.

This years must.  Here's hoping it doesn't try to escape...

Sauerkraut Pie

Sounds a bit...odd, doesn't it?  It isn't quite what you are thinking, but is a kind of Germanic Shepherd's pie, covered with mashed potatoes.  I really cannot remember where I first found the recipe I based mine off of.

Rosehip Tripel (and small beer)

At some point in the last few months, I decided to brew something...complicated--a brett finished Tripel with--second use--rosehips.  That second use is the key--the plan was to use the rosehips in a mead (1.5 gallon, approx), ferment the rhodomel on them for five days or so, before racking a gallon of the young mead off into a smaller vessel, and racking the Tripel on them for a secondary fermentation.  At some point around then, I intend to add brett brux (from Anchorage Brewing dregs) and let it age.

I decided to use the second runnings in a "mini-mash" to make a small table beer.

Butterbeer recipe

Updated 8-6-16 with the correct butter measurement! 

 

Updated 10-2-17 with some more info on eggs and beer selections.  And updated some volumes.

What could be better for a miserable day than buttered beer?  This is not the low alcohol stuff from the Harry Potter books, but based on a recipe (modified by my taste) from 16th century England--it's rich, thick, and warms the body and soul.  Not to mention clogs your arteries...

My buttered beer

Apple Blossom Metheglin

I came up with this recipe a couple of years ago--probably after making my Fireweed blossom mead.  Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get to make it last year--I missed when the crab-apple in the yard bloomed. 

I am aiming at a floral mead, off dry--I may actually be able to lightly carbonate this one, which would work well with the style.

Black Lagoon Hydromel

One of the earliest meads I made that turned out good.  The name comes from the colour--after seeing it, we joked it looked like swamp water.  It also got dubbed the colour changing mead, for reasons which will be obvious.
I have also made a honey based (naturally fermented) soda off of this recipe, which was lovely as well.

Black Lagoon Hydromel

12 dried juniper berries

10 fresh bay leaves (cracked)

3 (small) sprigs of fresh rosemary

1.25-1.5 pounds honey

I made a tisane with herbs by boiling for about 10 minutes then letting it steep for about an hour and a quarter.  At the beginning it was a nice, pale green, after steeping it was a beautiful cranberry red, and when I added the honey it turned grey—which is a shame, I would have rather that it stayed red.

French Seafood Soup

A fairly classic French soup, utilizing whatever seafood you can get your hands on.  I used steamer clams and halibut since that was available, but a greater variety of protein would be better.



2 lb Halibut (or other firm white fish), boned and skinned, and cut into chunks
1 lb other seafood (steamer clams and shrimp will do nicely
2 medium onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
3-5 roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped finely
2 bay leaves
3-5 cloves garlic
3 tbsp butter
1 heaping tbsp paprika
Cayenne pepper to taste
1 quart fish stock (use bones, skin, etc.)
2 cups dry cider or white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onions and bay leaves in butter, adding bell pepper and minced garlic when translucent.  Cook through. Add the liquids, seasonings, and tomatoes, and cook thoroughly at a simmer.  Shortly before serving, add seafood and cook on low until slightly underdone (they will continue cooking off the heat).  If you have a variety of seafood, staggering the order so they all finish cooking at the same time may be necessary.


Serve with crusty French Bread and/or rice, and aioli.


Aioli:
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 cloves garlic, ground or pureed
Fresh basil, finely chopped
1 egg yolk, farm fresh if possible
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup extra virgin olive oil

Using a hand mixer, blend the yolk and lemon juice. Slowly add olive oil a few drops at a time, integrating fully before adding more.  Once the mixture has emulsified (started to thicken) you can add a bit more oil at a time.  Add the garlic and basil when the mixture has emulsified.  S&P at end.

© John Frey, 2015. The Author of this work retains full copyright for this material.  The recipes and other contents therein may not be used for any commercial purposes.

 

Kedrigern's Best Brown

For those who know me fairly well, you know that one of my go-to series when I'm upset or need to just curl up and go elsewhere is the Kedrigern series, by John Morressy.  Fun read, I recommend it.  Anyways, I conceptualized this brew based loosely on something the main character would call for when he is settling in with a book--a classic English brown, modified by my tastes, of course.

I chose a brown porter as the basis, and did some research on the more classic style, before it lowered in ABV% around the time of WWII.  Namely, I wanted a somewhat malty, medium strength, brown ale with some hop and English ester character; medium to high body, and medium carbonation--good head would be preferred.  I also would have been perfectly happy to add Brett C., but am not yet prepared to do so.

New England Apfelwein

An old brew--it took a full six to eight months after bottling to be good, but now--down to my last few bottles--I'm wishing I had far more of it left.  I'm thinking I'm going to brew it again soon, with a couple differences; use 4 gallons of apple juice, and different yeast--preferably an English Ale yeast, otherwise it'll be the Belgian-Canadian strain from Wyeast.
Another modification, if I so feel like it (and am using the Belgian yeast), may be to use a medium candi syrup (homemade, naturally) along with the molasses.  Or made with molasses...

Walnut Belgian Graff: Brew Day

Some time ago, I had a thought that I wanted to make a beer (or cider) with walnuts--I originally chose a Belgian tripel based cider, lightly hopped.  This...did not work.  The grain bill ended up putting it more on the lighter end of the Strong Dark Ale spectrum--which I really have no problem with.

Anyways, I wanted a high abv cider with malted grains, a good degree of maltiness and no hops, flavoured with a couple of spices (vanilla and cinnamon) as well as subtle walnuts.  My recipe and notes are below.
I have heard of issues coming from brewing with nuts, but decided I don't really care...the issues are with head retention, something I consider nice, but not necessary.  Regardless, I added some wheat malt to possibly help with that (the jury is out on whether the addition of wheat helps with head).

I used my standard procedure for graffs--mash the grains, then use a prolonged boil to reduce the malt almost to a syrup.  At flame out, add other sugars and the apple juice (which quickly cools the wort), and siphon into the carboy.  Because there are no hops, I did not have to worry about oxygenating or light.
My mash was done with the BIAB method--I found it worked quite well, although it was tricky to keep the temperature constant (neither did I really care, so long as it was between 145-155...the low end will be closer to style, the upper end closer to what I like)....I cannot complain about the results, given my efficiency (and will be using the method again).

As for the yeast; it is unavailable commercially, and I could not find out what it may be.  I pitched the dregs from a bottle of Ommegang's Abbey Ale into a half gallon of apple juice to grow a good starter.  Repeated it, with another 1/2 gallon to check the flavour (don't ferment cold...the strain throws off sulfur), then pitched 2 oz of the lees from that batch into the graff wort.  If you don't want to try "culturing" your own from a commercial brew, just use whatever appropriate Belgian yeast you wish...something with moderate esters.  Some sources (mrmalty) says that the Ommegang strain may be the White Labs Belgian Wit II...or it may not.
(After tasting the second batch of test, I like the flavours--it gives off some nice, tart, fruitiness, once most of the yeast has dropped).

Malty, Appley, Caramelly goodness.  With maybe a hint of walnut.

Dwarven Mushroom Stout

I got the idea a while back--while reading Eragon, I think--to make a proper Dwarven brew.  After pondering for a while, I decided on a strong stout...with mushrooms. 
The point of the mushrooms (other than thematic) was to add earthiness and maybe umami--lip smacking goodness.

Even though I made some errors, I consider the recipe a fair success--I would make it again. 

Below is a one gallon batch.  There are some important differences if you make this--my efficiency, in a word, sucks...so I would suggest reducing the pale by 0.5 lb, and the Crystal/Special B by 0.25 lb each.  It will be higher ABV, but that works with this theme.

Dwarven Mushroom Stout - Foreign Extra Stout
================================================================================
Batch Size: 1 gallon
Boil Size: 3.364 qt
Boil Time: 60.000 min
Efficiency: 45%
OG: 1.078
FG: 1.019
ABV: 7.6%
Bitterness: 20.2 IBUs (Tinseth)
Color: 90 SRM (Daniels)

An (unnamed) Middle Eastern Stew

For those who are familiar with how I cook, you know I like stews.  A lot--Particularly ones from all over.

This particular one was inspired by a beef stew recipe in the book, Real Stews.

As always, the measurements are approximate--spices should be done to taste.  However, they are approximately proportionate.

1 stick butter
1.5-2 lbs beef, either ground or finely chunked
2 onion, sliced
1 cup spinach, measured as frozen
1 can diced potatoes