We know its been a long time since our last post and yes we owe some sort of explanation, but the truth is... we've been busy/lazy. Since the trip to Ohio in early May, we've been having a difficult time getting back into the swing of things work related and brewing related. Additionally, the super garden discussed in the previous post has been planted and with the planting and regular maintenance involved, the brewing has sadly been put on the back burner. We are happy to say that this is not the case anymore! On Saturday (or Sunday) a batch of beer will be brewed, although it is still yet to be determined what variety it will be.
In our own news involving beer, we have the following updates. The Ohio trip was a great time with most of the time spent with family. The Great Lakes Brewery tasting and dinner was awesome as we got to try four of GLB's best brews: Eliot Ness Amber Lager, Dortmunder Gold Lager, Grassroots Ale, and Edmund Fitzgerald Porter. The Edmund Fitzgerald Porter is the most decorated porter style in America. Also, while in Ohio, a trip to World Market was taken to try some of the beers from other nations. Because most of them were consumed in the same night and this was almost a month ago, all of them are not remembered.
The trip to the Great Lakes Brewery was a blast but we quickly found out that they had canceled tours for the day. We consoled ourselves over several pints and some delicious locally grown mushroom pizza with gorgonzola. Not only does this company make great beer but their food is ridiculously amazing.
On our own brewing front... we still have the I.P.A to look forward to on the bottling process. We tried to bottle the Choco, Orango, Cayenno Craziness Stout but it died during the bottling process due to technical difficulties. It did taste pretty good, before it found itself on the floor of our kitchen.
We will be back on the brewing bandwagon in the next few weeks and continue to stockpile full bottles instead of the several hundred empties our friends have helped us accumulate.
Here is somewhat of a list of the beer we've tried over the last month or so:
Duvel
Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA
Wexford Irish Cream Ale
Sierra Nevada Pale Ale
Sierra Nevada Bigfoot Barley Wine
Guinness 250 Anniversary Stout
Samuel Adams White Ale
Rogue Cayenne Ale
Rogue Mocha Porter
New Belgium Skinny Dip
New Belgium Mighty Arrow
New Belgium Sunshine Wheat
Oxford Organic Wheat Ale
Buffalo Bill's Blueberry Oatmeal Stout
New Glarus Fat Squirrel
Capital Brewery Island Wheat Ale
Great Lakes Brewery Edmund Fitzgerald Porter
Great Lakes Brewery Eliot Ness Amber Lager
Great Lakes Brewery Dortmunder Gold Lager
Great Lakes Brewery Grassroots Ale
Great Lakes Brewery Burning River Pale Ale
Great Lakes Brewery Commodore Perry I.P.A.
Slainte!
Showing posts with label Chocolate Stout. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chocolate Stout. Show all posts
Experiment - Chocolate Stout variations
Over the past couple of weeks we had forgotten about our three 1 gallon fermentation vessels that we bought to use for experimental brews. Well, the time has come to try some funky, fresh brews that may either turn out wonderful or disastrous. Here is the game plan:
1) Make 3 gallons of chocolate stout similar to the Muckalee Oatmeal Stout.
2) Use 1 of these gallons as a control formula because every good experiment has a control (thanks elementary school science).
3) Add 2 tbs. fresh organic navel orange zest to one of the variable gallons during primary fermentation.
4) Add 2 tbs. fresh organic navel orange zest and 1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (or chipolte pepper) to the last of the variable gallons during primary fermentation.
5) Drink, compare, take notes.
6) Destroy and completely forget any bad combination. Replicate if tasty.
If anyone is curious as to the inspiration behind these somewhat wild flavor combinations, we offer the following examples:
- Green & Black's Organic Maya Gold Chocolate - Amazing flavor combination of chocolate, spices, and orange.
- Chocolove xoxox Chilies & Cherries in Dark Chocolate - Great combination of fruit and chocolate with just enough chili presence to round out this complex flavor without being overbearing.
- Chocolate covered jalepenos - intriuging, excellent treats from Carol Widman's Candy Company (home of the famous chocolate covered potato chip, and the less famous chocolate covered olives and pickles, seriously).
Understanding many beer drinkers enjoy their fruit, spices and beer separately, we realize this flavor combination would be something of a specialty brew. That is if any of these combinations make it out of the test kitchen without being disposed due to unpalatable flavor. We'd like to say we're optimistic about the outcome, but, honestly, this idea has the potential to die a fiery death. Why not try it, this could be the start of something beautiful.
If anyone has any other crazy ideas that could be materialized into a fermented liquid, let us know, we can try to make it happen.
Slainte,
Taxford
1) Make 3 gallons of chocolate stout similar to the Muckalee Oatmeal Stout.
2) Use 1 of these gallons as a control formula because every good experiment has a control (thanks elementary school science).
3) Add 2 tbs. fresh organic navel orange zest to one of the variable gallons during primary fermentation.
4) Add 2 tbs. fresh organic navel orange zest and 1/8-1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (or chipolte pepper) to the last of the variable gallons during primary fermentation.
5) Drink, compare, take notes.
6) Destroy and completely forget any bad combination. Replicate if tasty.
If anyone is curious as to the inspiration behind these somewhat wild flavor combinations, we offer the following examples:
- Green & Black's Organic Maya Gold Chocolate - Amazing flavor combination of chocolate, spices, and orange.
- Chocolove xoxox Chilies & Cherries in Dark Chocolate - Great combination of fruit and chocolate with just enough chili presence to round out this complex flavor without being overbearing.
- Chocolate covered jalepenos - intriuging, excellent treats from Carol Widman's Candy Company (home of the famous chocolate covered potato chip, and the less famous chocolate covered olives and pickles, seriously).
Understanding many beer drinkers enjoy their fruit, spices and beer separately, we realize this flavor combination would be something of a specialty brew. That is if any of these combinations make it out of the test kitchen without being disposed due to unpalatable flavor. We'd like to say we're optimistic about the outcome, but, honestly, this idea has the potential to die a fiery death. Why not try it, this could be the start of something beautiful.
If anyone has any other crazy ideas that could be materialized into a fermented liquid, let us know, we can try to make it happen.
Slainte,
Taxford
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
