ChIPA v2

Our first batch of limited run ChIPA (we split a batch of dark IPA and did about 15 bottles of this as a test run) was a big success so we decided to have another go at it.  This time as a full batch and with an all grain Cascadian dark IPA brew.

After fermentation, just prior to bottling, we did a masala chai steep as follows:

Approx 5 cups of boiling water
3 sticks of cinammon
tsp ground cinammon
24 cardamon pods (crushed with a chef knife)
24 cloves (soft heads crushed with your finger nail)
1 1/2 tsp ground ginger

We let that steep for about 30 minutes, stirring periodically, and then added this (alongside the priming sugar) before bottling.

Time will tell how successful we were...........

The last week or so

Quick update on the last week:

- 3rd batch of farmhouse cheddar made, waxed, and presently aging.  Had great luck on getting a clean break in the curd this time.  Used Horizon Whole Milk (pasteurized, homogenized, gallon) and also used calcium chloride for the first time to restore some of what gets damaged in the pasteurization process.

- Had our son's friends over and taught them how to make hummos, tzaziki, and homemade pita bread. 

- Soaked the single origin cacao nibs I found in some vodka to kill any nasty bugs and start pulling the chocolate flavor out of them, and threw the whole lot into the 5 gallons of Russian imperial stout we have fermenting

- Found some other cacao nibs, soaked those in vodka, and added to my micro batch of high ABV RIS - was at 10% when I added them, the last batch hit 12% but I reduced the grain bill so that it wouldn't end up as sweet. Will probably bottle in a week or so.

- Our 3rd attempt at mead seems to have finished fermenting, which is strange since the first 2 attempts are still gong strong.

- Split the ginger beer plant a few days ago and instead of making a batch of ginger beer out of it we've kept the concentrate to use in some Asian dishes we're making soon.

- Bulked up the garden a bit - as well as the herbs we had growing we now have a bunch of tomato plants, some squash, strawberries and some new herbs. Fingers crossed. We've never had much luck with fruit and veg.

- Successful experiments with broiling instead of baking our pizzas.  Found this tip in Bon Appetite this month and it works really nicely.  Heat your pizza stone in the middle (instead of the bottom) of the oven for upwards of an hour at the highest temperature you can get your oven.  Then when you are ready to cook your pizza, turn off the oven and turn the broiler on instead.  The pizza will cook pretty quickly --- half the time from baking at a high temp. from our experience so far.  It gets a beautiful char and crisp crust.

Cutting into the farmhouse cheddar

Batch 2 of the farmhouse cheddar was cut open today while entertaining some friends. We got it right this time ---- very tasty, decent amount of depth for a cheese that is only supposed to age for a month. Quite moist---apparently farmhouse cheddar 'can' be quite dry, so this was a very happy surprise.

Higher alcohol ginger beer

A few weeks ago I decided to try and get a higher alcohol ginger beer out of the ginger beer plant we have here. Managed to get it to just under 3%, which left a nice amount of residual sweetness - probably would have gone higher but I'm getting a bit bored of seeing it sitting there. Bottled it this morning, decided to leave it pretty flat and use it as a mixer. yumyum.

Far too much stuff fermenting in this house

Last week we bottled the first attempt at the 666 imperial stout - ended up at at just under 12%, decided to roll the dice and bottle it before it finished fermenting, so we'll see if I get some real carbonation (vs the alcohol level killing off the yeast), or exploding bottles.

The bottles are hidden inside a heavy plastic container just incase.

The 5 gallons of 8% or so RIA have finished fermenting, and I've picked up some great single origin cacao nibs to throw in a few days before we bottle. Going to look into whether I can throw nibs inside the bottle, or if they make the beer too bitter over time.

We brewed a cascadian dark earlier in the week - last year we did a test run with an extract brew cascadian dark and bottled 2 gallons of it with a chai mix, our "chai-p-a", so now it's time to do an all grain and step up all the chai additions to do a full 5 gallons.

Finally we did a second version of our 666 imperial stout, upping the chocolate and caramel flavors. I also lowered the OG to try and dry it out more (first version ended at a very sweet 1.040):


666 imperial stout #2

to make 2 gallons:

4.5lb 2 row pale malt
1.5.5lb roasted barley
0.5lb special B
0.5lb German chocolate malt
0.5lb crystal 80L

sparge at 152 for 60 mins

1.5oz challenger 60 mins
0.75oz goldings 30 mins

using US05

Stout Bread

February 14, 2012

I could have sworn I posted about this the other day but we did have a lot going on.

We managed to surpass the last beer bread with an intense stout bread:

3.75 cups king arthur white flour
2.75 cups king arthur whole wheat flour
1 cup spent grain (from the Imperial 666 Stout)
1 cup Cummings sourdough starter
1.5 Tbsp kosher salt
2 cups of lukewarm water
3/4 cups of Susan's Birthday Stout, warmed to room temperature
1 Tbsp barley malt syrup
2 tsp barley malt powder
1 Tbsp commercial yeast
Flax Seeds for crust

(method is same as with past loaves)

The Cutting of the Manchego

February 14, 2012 (V Day)

Last night we decided to cut into the young manchego --- at 7 days a mere Manchego Fresco --- as we're still young in our cheesemaking and wanted to experiment to see what a young Manchego tastes like for comparison.

First, it was a big success.

The texture is firm but supple.  The flavor is slightly, pleasantly tangy (like a feta).  You can tell that with aging, this would be pretty stellar and already, at a week, very edible and tasty.  We're going to have some tonight when friends are over for dinner.  I learned that a great way to store cheese is to wrap it in parchment paper (marked with name/date in pencil) and then loosely in saran wrap and then store all your cheeses in a big tupperware.

Today, when we get some spare time, we're going to bottle the Heff!

Last night we tasted a bottle of Barred Aged Old Rasputin XIV which I picked up for Lee as a surprise.  Stellar.  If you can find it, buy it.  They're calling it one of the best RIS beers you can get.  Hopefully the one we have fermenting will be just as tasty (esp considering the price tag on this one):