Thursday I cooked up a couple batches of chili (one with meat for me, the other vegetarian for DeAunn) based on Sean Paxton’s recipe, which first rocked my world in the spring. I kept it pretty much the same, though I simplified the meat bill; the vegetarian version got black beans and diced red potatoes in place of the meat. My batch got a bottle of Old Rasputin (always a winner) while DeAunn’s employed a local option: Epic Brewing’s Smoked Porter. The smoke phenolics went well with the chipotle pepper I added to the vegetarian chili. Both batches turned out exceptionally, and we still have a little of each left to enjoy. We complemented them with some sharp cheddar and whole wheat crackers.
Thursday night, I finally managed to bottle my Holiday 2011 and chocolate-mint-oatmeal stout. The Holiday was pretty easy; the sample seemed bland, but as the rye 70/- started out the same way and really came into its own in the bottle, I’m not too worried. The stout was a bit messier; the cocoa powder had formed a rocky doppelganger krauesen in secondary, which made my original plan to whirlpool it all to the middle of the fermenter less of a great idea. Even after giving it some time to settle before racking, the beer ran off looking like really dark chocolate milk. I added vanilla extract and all of my mint tincture, but the mint wasn’t really coming across, so on a whim I added some of the mint extract we had in the cupboard. It wasn’t until after I added it that I read the label: it’s an alcohol-free extract that includes sunflower oil, which caused it to bead up in the bottling bucket. I kept stirring as I bottled to hopefully keep it in solution long enough for it to get into the bottles, but at least the mint aroma was there. The bottles have already formed chunky cocoa krauesens, and we’ll just have to see if they develop any head at all with the oil in there. I’m also still trying to get the mint aroma out of my bottling bucket and plastic bottling pieces.
After some excitement Friday morning involving the dog, a chocolate cookie, an emergency vet visit, and some induced vomiting, I made it down to the LHBS to pick up the packet of Wyeast Brett L I special ordered for an upcoming batch, along with grains for said batch and an extra fermenting bucket. Then late Friday night, DeAunn and I cracked open the reserve bottle of my last blueberry stout, now more than two years old, with a friend. This friend has volunteered to buy the blueberries for a new batch, so the time was right for sharing. It’s mellowed a lot, and has traded much of its winey quality for more blueberry flavour, a pleasant surprise.
The only action Saturday saw was the prepping of two starters. The traditional one of Denny’s Favorite 50 (WY1450) went on the stirplate, and looks to have already finished up. The other was a lacto starter made of table sugar and a bit of base malt kept warm with an aquarium heater; that one will keep going pretty much right up until pitching time to grow as much as possible.Sunday morning I put the new bucket to work as a secondary for a citrus saison; more on that coming soon. Six and a half pounds of frozen mandarins and satsumas floating in five gallons of beer looks pretty cool, in my humble opinion, especially with the temperatures outside right now. I also washed the yeast cake for a Belgian dark strong in the new year. Now I’m just waiting on those blueberries to arrive so I can rack the stout onto them and leave it until the middle of next month when I get back from Chicago.
Next on the brew docket is a pretty simple pale ale and an attempt at a low-gravity “quick” sour/funky beer. Don’t know yet if there’ll be time to get one or both done before leaving town for the holiday, but it sure would be nice to do so. Writeups on the beers in primary coming soon, too.
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