Sunday, October 17, 2021

A Normal Sunday

I'm finally able to make beer on a Sunday again, after being banished to working weekends over a year ago.  The hard times hit our company and thankfully I managed to survive.

I'm making Stout once again.  But this year, in honor of my wife's obsession with everything pumpkin, I've decided to make this a Pumpkin/Holiday Stout.

It's basically her old stout with Pumpkin Spice, Nutmeg, and a Cinnamon stick.

College visits and home improvements have taken time from the brewing arts but still I have been able to make lots of my beer lately (Ambers, IPA's and Pales).   
Now it's time to have one ready for the holidays for the love of my life.
It's a near perfect fall day so I'm diving head first into the task.  Stout is a good Winter beer but I admit Jennifer is probably more interested in it than I am.
I mashed at 156 and added a teaspoon of pumpkin spice, a pinch of nutmeg and a cinnamon stick at 10 minutes and eased the hop schedule to create a thick dessert beer.
Adding spices to these beers is always tricky.  A pinch too much and you've got a sappy, thick glass of crap.  Too little and you get an off-tasting base beer.
We'll say a prayer to St. Arnold of Soissons asking for a good fermentation and a pleasant flavor.

Truthfully though, I may still have a couple of bottles of this left this time next year.  I tend to shelve these beers to see how they age.
But there are more specialty beers on the horizon for me.
I'd like to make an Oktoberfest cause' I guess, I do one about once a year.  
And Jenny wants a sour.  
This is another beer that can be tricky.  But, with the exception of some Vienna and  Munich malts, I have the grain.
Anyway, sorry for being a terribly infrequent blogger.  I'm grateful for the attention I get and I understand that a proper blogger makes an entry twice a week, not twice in two years.  I won't call it an excuse but I have been busy learning some new things at work and assisting my wife shooting videos for her Disney blog.
I resolve, once again, to be a better blogger, a better brewer and a better human.
Please be kind to others and, as always,
Good Beer To You.