halleyscomet

[	Current Location	|	United States, Massachusetts, Cambridge	]
[	mood	|	thirsty	]

Mead is a fermented beverage made form honey, and may very well be the oldest alcoholic beverage on Earth.

I'll be starting two small batches of mead this Saturday. First, will be a Mesquite and Prickly Pear mead. The other won't be a strict mead, but will be a mead recipe made using Agave Nectar in place of honey. Let me know if you're interested in joining in on the fun.

Mead Day Facts
2008 More than 950 people produced more than 820 gallons of mead at 54 sites in 29 states and Russia.
2007 More than 1,050 gallons of mead were produced at 51 sites by more than 500 meadmakers. There were Mead Day sites in 23 states, and in Canada, Australia, and Russia.

[

mood

|

tired

]

So, I've passed the pumpkin spice ale around for a couple of days now and it's getting rave reviews - even from the beer judge who knows far better than me  - so the recipe, with the modification of course, works.

Tonight I tried another one of my own design:  Vanilla Cream Stout.  the wort tastes like candy.

For those of you who might want to try it.  Here's the recipe:

Vanilla Cream Stout

First brewed: November 2006

8 oz. Roasted Barley

2 oz. Flaked Barley

4 oz. Chocolate Malt

2 oz. Black Patent Malt

6 lbs Munton’s Amber DME

4 lbs Munton’s Dark DME

16 oz. Lactose

4 oz. MaltoDextrine

1 oz. Fuggle Bittering Hop

½ oz. Kent Golding Flavor Hop

½ oz Cascade Aroma Hop

1 oz. Vanilla Extract

1 Tbsp Irish Moss

White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Heat 1 gallon of Spring Water to 155° F

Remove from heat and add:

            8 oz. Roasted Barley

2 oz. Flaked Barley

4 oz. Chocolate Malt

2 oz. Black Patent Malt

Steep at 150° F for 30 minutes then sparge grains with ½ gallon of 150° F water

Return to heat, bring to a boil, then add:

            6 lbs Munton’s Amber DME

4 lbs Munton’s Dark DME

            4 oz. MaltoDextrine

            1 oz. Fuggle Bittering Hop

(note: add the dry ingredients slowly, seeing that each one boils down.  You must watch this wort closely, it will boil up on you)

Boil for 45 minutes

In a separate pot, boil 1 lbs lactose in ½ gallon of water.  When the lactose is dissolved, add to brews pot.

After 45 minutes, add ½ oz Kent Golding Flavoring Hop and 1 tbsp Irish Moss

Boil for 10 minutes and add ½ oz Cascade Aroma Hop.

Boil for five minutes, remove from heat and stir in 1 oz. Vanilla Extract.

Chill wort.

Pour in Fermenter

Add 4.5 gallons of water and 2 ½ tsp of calcium carbonate.

Add one tube White Labs Irish Ale Yeast

Seal.

Wait two weeks, rack into secondary fermenter.

Wait two weeks.

Boil ¾ cup confectioners sugar in 2 cups of water

Add to beer.

Bottle.

Wait 2 weeks.

Consume.

I (finally) bottled the Pumpkin Ale yesterday, now I just have to wait for it to carbonate.  I hope to be able to open it for Thanksgiving.  In any case, I'm quite satisfied with the result.  It has a deep reddish amber color.  The flavor is very malty with undertones of the pumpkin and other spices.  I will admit that the original recipe came out a little on the hoppy side, so I doctored it going into the second fermentation.  Another gallon and a half of water, a can of the Amber extract syrup, a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice, a can of pumpkin, and 8 oz. of brown sugar later, I got the result I was after.  I'll let everyone know the verdict once I break it open next week.