Update: Rhubarb Raspberry Hefe and Cider Update

Just a couple things to update on the brewing front:

 Opened a bottle of the Rhubarb Raspberry Hefeweizen ... Yummy!

The first taste you get as you drink it is a nice tart taste from the rhubarb and then as it finishes and goes down the back of the throat you get the sweetness of the raspberries.  Pleased with the carbonation level on this one (4 tablets) still have to open a 3 and 5 tablet.  Anyway really pleased with the way this turned out in the end.

CIDER UPDATE
Added the yeasts to the carboys on Saturday.

In the the first carboy I used White Labs Belgian Saison yeast which is a classic Saison yeast from Wallonia. It produces earthy, peppery, and spicy notes. Slightly sweet.

 In the second carboy is White Labs Hefeweizen  IV yeast which has a large clove and phenolic aroma and flavor, with minimal banana. Refreshing citrus and apricot notes. Crisp, drinkable hefeweizen.

Currently both are bubbling away...and I am not sure if it is the light or what but the one on the right with the hefeweizen yeast looks like it is lighter in color...or it could just be my brain playing tricks on me...

Anyway I can't wait till these are ready to sample.

Bottling the Rhubarb Raspberry Wheat

Well Summer is half over and at least I finally got around to bottling the Rhubarb Raspberry Wheat.  It sat in the secondary for just over a month because of a vacation home to WV, the extreme heat and humidity, and just general procrastination


My original plan for priming was to use two different priming methods: Priming Tabs and sugar cubes
Unfortunately I was unable to find sugar cubes at the store but did end up purchasing a new type of conditioning tabs that are supposed to allow you to have a bit more control the carbonation levels.

So as an experiment I did the following:

22oz Bottles - 8 conditioning tablets

12oz bottles with 3 conditioning tablets: 3

12oz bottles with 5 conditioning tablets: 3

12oz bottles with 4 conditioning tablets: 12

I also didn't get as many bottles as I usually do from a 5 gallon batch because some of the Rhubarb didn't get totally pureed and was clogging the tubing and bottling wand.   This  made it difficult to fill the bottles since the pieces Rhubarb were preventing the tip on the end of the wand from closing.  I ended up tossing the bottling wand (needed a new one anyway) along with the tubing

Overall my initial tasting of the beer is promising and I can't wait to try it once it is conditioned. This batch has also made me want to do 3 gallon batches and move to kegging as soon as possible.

Holiday Brewing

Last thing most people are thinking about this time of year is the upcoming Holidays (i.e. Thanksgiving and Christmas) and like most people I for the most part don't or want to start thinking about them either but I must when it comes to brewing.

Last year I brewed five batches of homebrew which I gave as gifts to family and friends which were:

• Biere de Festivus - a winter warmer ale
• Zum Wohl Oktoberfest 
• Empire State Maple Porter - made with NY maple syrup
• Minty Moose Stout - a stout with peppermint and spearmint (think a peppermint patty)
• Indian Ladder Hard Cider - my first ever attempt at making a hard cider which turned out great 

For the most part I think (and hope) these were a hit with the people I gave them to. Personally I think the Oktoberfest was the weakest of the five because it was a lager and those are just too much work with trying to get the temperatures for fermentation stable.

This year I want to try some recipes I have found from a homebrewing book I got from Barnes & Noble about a month ago.

This is a really nice book because it has recipes for beer, gluten free beer, mead, cider, and soda (something I really would like to try soon)

 These are the brews I am considering doing this time:

• Pumpkin Ale (from book)
• Belgian Christmas Ale (from book)
• A Winter Warmer (from local homebrew shop mailer)
• Cider w. hefewiezen yeast
• Cider w. Belgian or Saison yeast
• TBD (Maybe Raspberry Rhubarb Hefe if it turns out well)

I really should start these soon especially the Belgian Christmas Ale since it is a high gravity beer and needs at least 3 months to bottle condition.

Summer HefeWiezen Part Duex

Last night I racked my HefeWiezen to the secondary and added the two summer ingredients which will make this a one of a kind homebrew: Raspberries and Rhubarb

I have been wanting to use rhubarb for sometime now and figured that a wheat beer would be the best base beer for this endeavor.  Because rhubarb is very tart I decided that to try and balance it out I would add a "sweet" berry.  The first choice was Strawberry but after some research I found that real strawberries don't work that well in beer and I have had success with the Razzburly Cream Ale (eventually to be reviewed here) and figured to go with what I know.

The Rhubarb came from my girlfriend's mother which she grew in her garden and the raspberries were frozen organic berries from the store. Both were frozen (break down the cell walls) and taken out the freezer three days prior to racking the beer.

Not wanting to just dump the rhubarb and raspberries into the new carboy, I put both in the food processor to make a puree

Rhubarb

Rhubarb and Berries

Pureeing the two allowed me to sample the mixture so that I could find a balanced taste between the tangyiness  of the rhubarb and the sweetness of the berries.  I then added it to the carboy

In to the Carboy

Here it is almost 24hrs later:

I will probably let it sit like this for 2-3 weeks before bottling it. I am going to estimate that by the time it is ready to bottle it should be about 5% ABV

I am really looking forward to the time when this is ready to try

Berkley's Gluten Free Brown Ale

Brew Type: Extract with Specialty Grain
Style: Gluten Free Brown Ale
Batch Size: 2.5 Gallon

Date Brewed: 4/24/2011
Date Bottled: 5/15/2011

Ingredients
Amount       Item                                                   Type          
3.30 lb         Briess White Sorghum Syrup              Extract        
0.70 lb         Buckwheat (Roasted in Oven)             Grain
0.70 lb         Millet (Roasted in Oven)                     Grain
5 oz.            Maple Syrup (Grade A)                     Adjunct
6 oz.            Blackstrap Molasses                          Adjunct
5 oz.            Dark Candi Syrup                             Adjunct
Hops
0.70 oz   Fuggle    (60 min)                                 4.8%        
0.50 oz   East Kent Golding   (15 min)               4.2%
Yeast  
1/2 Packet   Nottingham Dry yeast (Gluten Free)

Background:

          This batch of homebrew was one of two that I did for my sister-in-law over in Conn.  She was unable to enjoy beer and couldn't find a gluten free beer that she enjoyed and didn't have a sour from taste from the sorghum.  So I started doing some research on gluten free homebrew recipes on HomeBrew Talk forums and came up with this and another recipe.

          This batch was also my first time roasting the grains in the oven as I did with the Buckwheat and Millet which I used as the steeping grain.  It also took me some time to locate the White Sorghum Syrup which I found at my local homebrew store which had just started caring it.

          I am really pleased with the way this turned out...it is very cloudy for some reason but it does not take away from the overall taste...I think I am still have some carbonation issues which I am currently researching.  From what I have heard my sister-in-law enjoys the beer. 

        I will probably be making this recipe again since it was a hit with the intended audience so I should be able to tweek and perfect this particular recipe.

-c

Watermelon Wheat

Batch #: 8
Brew Type: Extract Kit with Specialty Grain
Style: American Wheat
Date Brewed: 6/20/2010
Date Bottled: 7/18/2010

Ingredients
Amount       Item                                                   Type             %
6.60 lb         Wheat Liquid Extract  (8.0 SRM)     Extract        86.84 %
1.00 lb         Wheat, Torrified          (1.7 SRM)      Grain         13.16 %
Hops
2.00 oz    Hallertauer [4.80 %] (60 min)   32.8 IBU
1.00 oz    Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min)    15.4 IBU
Yeast   
1 Pkgs    American Hefeweizen Ale (White Labs #WLP320)
Secondary:
5.00 lb    Organic Watermelon (2.0 weeks)

Measured Original Gravity: 1.044 SG
Measured Final Gravity: 1.009 SG   
ABV: 4.56%


Photo Album

Background:
This was my second time adding fruit to the beer during the secondary fermentation.  My inspiration for this one came from both the Amer. Craft Brewing Scene and from my friend Craig who got me hooked on homebrewing.  The craft brewing influences Hooker Brewery's Watermelon Ale and 21st Amendments Hell or High Watermelon Wheat both which used the artificial watermelon flavoring which in my opinion can be at times to sweet for me.  My friend Craig had previously done a Watermelon of his own and used sugar to sweeten it.  My goal was to try and only use the watermelon in hopes the natural flavor came through without sweetening it.

Thoughts:
I was pleasantly surprised with how well this batch turned out.  Unlike the my Raspberry Ale where all the color was drawn out of the berries when I went to bottle it the watermelon pieces retained their color and tasted almost normal yet imparted a nice finish to the beer.  Almost 1 year later the taste still holds up and makes a nice refreshing drink.