I have a dark sense of humor I guess, but that is not what this is all about. This is an idea I had months ago. What would it be like to have a witbier that was brewed with mostly traditional ingredients, but instead of being white, it would be black?
Well I finally have come to the time to find out. This is my still not brewed white beer recipe with a pound of black patent subbed in for a pound of pils malt. All the traditional and some not so traditional spices are used to lightly flavor, and I am using the yeast from one of my favorite all time brewers.
Black wit.
4 lbs German pils
4 lbs German wheat
1 lb black patent
1 lb flaked spelt
1.5 oz hallertau pellet @ 90 min.
7g coriander
7g dried sweet orange peel
1g black pepper
1g white pepper
.5g cumin
.1g ground ginger
.1g grains of paradise
.1g star anise all @ 10 min.
.5 oz Czech saaz pellet @ 2 min.
Wyeast 3864 Canadian/Belgian.
og- 1.048
fg- 1.011
4.86% abv.
9/15/10- Toasted all the spices except orange on low heat until aromatic, crushed with a pot to a coarse texture. Mashed in at 144 for 40 min, decocted to 156 for 4o min, decocted to mashout.
9/29/10- Bottled with 4.5 oz corn sugar, aiming for 2.5 or so volumes of carbonation.
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Two reviews.
With my 30th birthday coming and going this week, I decided to treat myself to a few nice bottles of beer to celebrate.
First I chose Drie Fonteinen's Oude Kriek. Their guezue was excellent, so this seemed like a logical choice. It poured into the glass ruby red, with a pink tinged head and aromas of fruit, tart, brett, and additional funkiness. The beer was a chameleon in drinking and tasted different and better as it warmed up while I drank the bottle. It presents with a nice tartness, fruit, and very big brett/funk/barnyardy flavor. The end is more restrained, with the cherries, vanilla, and a light oak. As it warmed, the big funky flavors subdued themselves.
Good stuff, and a world class kriek. I would recommend removing it from the fridge 30-45 minutes before drinking so you can get the best out of it. It's 6% abv, and was about eleven dollars at Harvest wine and spirits.
The second is Bam Noire by Jolly Pumpkin. I have reviewed several of their other beers, and find that to my tastes, they are all pretty good. They definitely have a terroir; all of their beers do have a distinctive house taste. I would say Unibroue is the only other brewer who I find that to be true for.
This one is a seasonal release in September, and billed as a dark farmhouse ale. It pours pretty dark with a nice light mocha head that remains with the beer until the last sip. When held to the light, it looks a mahogany color. It has a very wine like aroma, dark fruits, oak. The taste is not at all what I expected, with a nice tartness throughout, very light mouth feel for a darker beer, with just a hint of the dark malts (coffee, cocoa) after swallowing. Not a long finish, but longer than I would expect for how light it feels.
This beer is 4.3% abv, and will probably run you somewhere around ten bucks. It is worth a try, but I think the perceived value is a little low because their other beers which are 7+% abv are only a dollar or two more expensive, and it takes more raw product to make them. I know Jolly Pumpkin ages all their beers in oak casks for a bit of time, so that it where the cost comes in.
First I chose Drie Fonteinen's Oude Kriek. Their guezue was excellent, so this seemed like a logical choice. It poured into the glass ruby red, with a pink tinged head and aromas of fruit, tart, brett, and additional funkiness. The beer was a chameleon in drinking and tasted different and better as it warmed up while I drank the bottle. It presents with a nice tartness, fruit, and very big brett/funk/barnyardy flavor. The end is more restrained, with the cherries, vanilla, and a light oak. As it warmed, the big funky flavors subdued themselves.
Good stuff, and a world class kriek. I would recommend removing it from the fridge 30-45 minutes before drinking so you can get the best out of it. It's 6% abv, and was about eleven dollars at Harvest wine and spirits.
The second is Bam Noire by Jolly Pumpkin. I have reviewed several of their other beers, and find that to my tastes, they are all pretty good. They definitely have a terroir; all of their beers do have a distinctive house taste. I would say Unibroue is the only other brewer who I find that to be true for.
This one is a seasonal release in September, and billed as a dark farmhouse ale. It pours pretty dark with a nice light mocha head that remains with the beer until the last sip. When held to the light, it looks a mahogany color. It has a very wine like aroma, dark fruits, oak. The taste is not at all what I expected, with a nice tartness throughout, very light mouth feel for a darker beer, with just a hint of the dark malts (coffee, cocoa) after swallowing. Not a long finish, but longer than I would expect for how light it feels.
This beer is 4.3% abv, and will probably run you somewhere around ten bucks. It is worth a try, but I think the perceived value is a little low because their other beers which are 7+% abv are only a dollar or two more expensive, and it takes more raw product to make them. I know Jolly Pumpkin ages all their beers in oak casks for a bit of time, so that it where the cost comes in.
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
Continued Evolution- Grisette tasting.
Yum. This is one of my beers that I have been really digging as I continue to taste it over time. The main reason being that it was accidentally 'infected' with Brettanomyces at bottling time. Some of the bottles got a dose, and some didn't. The ones that did have evolved into something magical.
A great golden color with a champagne like effervescence and a thin but lasting moussey head. Complex wine like aromas of citrus, oak, hay, light brett touch. Dancing on the tongue with stronger flavors of those same aromas, with the brett a bit more apparent. Good bitterness present, but no hop flavors really. Toasty oakiness. Quick finish with little lingering taste, only a touch of bitterness. Very dry.This has now had almost five months in the bottle and is at around six months after the day it was brewed. I like that each bottle continues to evolve and move on to something else. It's pretty great. It was a great summer beer and I look forward to enjoying the remaining bottles I have over time and into next summer.
First tasting.
Where we are.
I haven't posted much in the past month for a few reasons. My family was all out to visit, therefore I didn't have the time to brew much (only once in August) and a lack of fermentor space with 20 gallons of beer in my pantry. Reviews have been lacking as I have not been buying much commercial beer since I have a glut of my own and I have been buying more wine recently.
That being said, here is were several of my current brewing projects are...
Historical Saison:
This has been fermenting for nearly six months now. I haven't tasted it recently (probably since July at some time) and it's flavor was evolving as time went on. Now it has developed a nice pellicle. There seems to be little activity going on, with little gas production, but some of the organisms in the mix don't produce co2 as they ferment. I am now planning to let this beer until the one year mark and bottle it then.
Sour Mash no2:
This beer has been fermenting now for a little over three months. At this point I would say it is ready to be bottled, I am just waiting to accumulate enough cap-able champagne style bottles so I can bottle it at a higher pressure. Tastes somewhat Lambic like but no where near as complex. The color is a dark ruby red. Pretty sexy.
Berliner Weisse:
This is at a little over a month of fermentation time, and there is still a good bit of activity going on. It already tasted pretty tart when I racked it to the secondary, so I am interested in seeing how it develops. It should spend another five months or so in there, and be ready to bottle in the spring. I am excited to try it!
That being said, here is were several of my current brewing projects are...
Historical Saison:
This has been fermenting for nearly six months now. I haven't tasted it recently (probably since July at some time) and it's flavor was evolving as time went on. Now it has developed a nice pellicle. There seems to be little activity going on, with little gas production, but some of the organisms in the mix don't produce co2 as they ferment. I am now planning to let this beer until the one year mark and bottle it then.Sour Mash no2:
This beer has been fermenting now for a little over three months. At this point I would say it is ready to be bottled, I am just waiting to accumulate enough cap-able champagne style bottles so I can bottle it at a higher pressure. Tastes somewhat Lambic like but no where near as complex. The color is a dark ruby red. Pretty sexy.Berliner Weisse:
This is at a little over a month of fermentation time, and there is still a good bit of activity going on. It already tasted pretty tart when I racked it to the secondary, so I am interested in seeing how it develops. It should spend another five months or so in there, and be ready to bottle in the spring. I am excited to try it!
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