Friday, September 22, 2017

Ginger Spice Hard Cider

Since it is now fall, I wanted to make a fall beverage so I opted to make a spiced hard cider. I used store bought juice, frozen concentrate, and fresh ginger. I ran the ginger through my juicer and added it to the thawed concentrate. I then topped it off with the store bought juice and tossed in some cinnamon sticks and a few whole cloves. Starting gravity is 1.082, and if I get good attenuation, this hard cider will come in at just above 10% ABV. It should finish more on the dry side, and I've found with the Vintners Harvest SN9 yeast, there is usually just a hint of background sweetness as other ciders I've made with this yeast finish at 1.004. This will be great for the holidays!
Thanks for reading! Cheers!
Steve

Friday, September 15, 2017

Summer Wheat White IPA

Wow! A year has elapsed since my last post here. I have been slacking off. Not really, life gets in the way. Anyhow, I decided to brew up my white IPA, which is similar to Deschutes Brewery Chainbreaker. (My wife's favorite!) And I dig it too! The recipe contains Pilsner malt, Vienna malt, pale wheat, dark wheat, unmalted wheat, and flaked wheat. I'll be using seven types of hops in this one. Centennial, Challenger, Chinook, CTZ, (Columbus, Tomahawk, Zeus), Cascade, Cluster, and Citra. I'm adding some ground coriander seed as well. I'll be using Fermentis T-58 yeast which is a Belgian style strain. Hop additions will be late to maintain flavor and aroma and to keep the bitterness more on the tame side to make this an easy drinking IPA.

I brewed this beer on July 10, 2017 and I bottled it on September 9, 2017. This is one of my wife's favorites so it usually disappears quickly!

Aromas of spice, tropical fruit, and citrus fill the nose. Crisp and clean bittering hops notes with a silky smooth mouthfeel, and a pleasant, moderate, lingering, bitterness, reminiscent of white grapefruit.

After 1 week of bottle conditioning, here it is! It still has a week or two to continue conditioning.
Coming along nicely! As always, thank you for stopping by and reading! CHEERS!