Monday, June 14, 2010

Mead Bottling and Racking...

Saturday was a day of Mead for me...I bottled the following:

Wildflower Metheglin (Corriander & Cardamom) - A little spicy from the spices added, but it is interesting and nice...will be great once it mellows a touch!
Chyser (Cherry Cyser) - This one is not my favorite. Perhaps a bit of age will make it better, but it could be that I just don't like Cysers after all.
Blueberry Bliss - This one is pretty tasty! A little tanic still, but I think that will age out quickly.

Since I had the motivation, and they were ready, I racked the following:

Mandarin Methomel - Racked this one on to 22 oz. of Mandarin Orange slices, along with 1/2 tsp. Ginger (ground), 1/2 tsp. Cloves (whole - crushed), 1 Star Anise "flower" and 1 5" stick of Ceylon Cinnamon.
The Aphrodisiac - Racked this one on to 24 oz. Grade A Maple Syrup and 1 5" stick of Ceylon Cinnamon.

More later, I am sure...

Friday, June 4, 2010

Fire-Eyed Blonde Ale...

Bottled this last night...WHOOO! Man, talk about spicy! I think this one may be a winner...at least for those that like the spicy beers. It smells similar to how it tastes! And the nice part is that I did not leave it on the peppers too long...no vegetal flavors that I could tell.

We'll see how all my other stuff turns out this weekend!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Sunday brewing...

Well, I brewed up 5 gallons of Prizefighter Barleywine (OG 1.104) on Sunday, which was put onto some of the yeast from the Suicide Blonde...bubbling and had krausen within 6 hours! I tell you what, this conical is a nice way to tranfer and re-use yeast!!

I also racked 3 gallons of the Suicide Blonde onto a LOT of hot peppers to make the Fire-Eyed Blonde for my dad. I must've gotten a little Habanero under my nail because my entire left hand burned for the rest of the day!!

Brew day went great overall, and I really think I am starting to get a handle on my processes. I don't get the best efficiency, but even Jamil Zainasheff (of The Brewing Network) says that is something homebrewers shouldn't worry about. The only thing I have left to figure out is exactly how much more wort I need to put into my kettle...I can't believe I boiled off 3 gallons in that 2 hour boil!!

Up next...brewing an American Stout!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Started a couple new meads...

So yesterday morning the mood struck me to start a couple new meads. I started by breaking my scale, so I had to pause to get on Ebay to win a new one (I did)...but after that small delay, I got underway. Here's what I started, and what I will add to them when I rack to secondary:

Mandarin Methomel-
3 pounds Orange Blossom Honey being fermented with Lalvin 71B. In secondary, I will add:
22 oz. Mandarin Orange Segments
1- Star Anise Flower
1- 5" Ceylon Cinnamon Stick
1/4 tsp. Ground Ginger

The Aphrodisiac-
3 pounds Orange Blossom Honey being fermented with Lalvin R-2...I have added the following in primary:
8 Tbsp. Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper (boosts the chocolate flavor, believe it or not!)
Then when it goes to secondary, it will get the following:
12 - 24 oz. Grade A (Dark Amber) Maple Syrup
1- 5" Ceylon Cinnamon Stick
I may be forgetting something on this one, but will edit if I did!

Odd sounding, I know...but I do like to experiment! The Aphrodisiac smells GREAT (super cholcolaty) as it is fermenting like mad! The Mandarin currently just smells like an OB mead, but that smells good too!