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.
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