It has been quite a while, so I thought I'd post something to let everyone know that I have not stopped. We have been trying a few new things, and though nothing is quite ready, I am really excited about a number of them.
First, is the Lindeman's Framboise pseudo clone. I call it a pseudo clone, because we are doing our version of it. We took a basic Belgian wheat recipe, fermented with Belgian Ale yeast, and then racked it onto 6 pounds of sweet dark cherries, and then added a lambic bacteria blend (Wyeast 3278). It currently still resides in the secondary, until I can rack it into a third carboy for a few weeks to clear and get really happy. We will prime with DME, and most likely bottle in large Belgian corked bottles.
The next great thing is a Baltic Porter. This is still several months from being ready, but I attempted a step mash of this through decoction. It did not go even remotely according to plan, but my numbers ended up being only slightly off. While aiming for 1.070, I ended up around 1.064...not bad despite the fact of having to fight through a stuck sparge and making quite the mess. This big ale is fermented with lager yeast to keep the fruity esters at bay, and make it nice and crisp. This will be sampled in the early spring, with the majority saved until next winter.
Following close behind is a nice American lager. While I forgot to add the pound of carapils (providing for some frustration mid brew), this may very well become the house lager. Still in the primary, I am going to keg it and put it in the garage for a few weeks to keep it nice and cool before tapping.
And finally, on the wine front. The blueberry still wine is just about ready to be bottled after having relaxed in the secondary since August. I have high hopes for this one, and maybe even a few lucky individuals will be able to procure a split for the holidays.
That should just about catch everyone up. Since December is a rather hectic month, things may be on hold a bit, but perhaps a Sunday brew of a black lager will happen...
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