Chocolate Cardamom Ale
I just couldn't stay away from the brewery this weekend. Had to get something started.
I've been thinking that I should probably make something basic, work on fundamentals a bit. I should, but then I remind myself that I can get great "basic" beer any day of the week at reasonable prices, so to hell with that. I'll worry about basics if I ever decide to go into business.
No, I decided to try something fancy, again.
The following is a sequel, of sorts, to Matrimoniale, which I am calling "Lune de Miel" ("Honeymoon"). It's built on the basic elements of Matrimoniale, but it is flavored with (I guess I killed the suspense with the post title) chocolate and cardomom, a combination to which I was introduced at the Pierre Marcolini boutique right around the corner from our hotel, while on our lune de miel. Also, coriander, to give it a bit of citric acidity and spice, to balance the bitterness of the chocolate.
I may be making some additions to the secondary, depending on how the flavors are coming along. So I'll wait to post the recipe until I can describe it from beginning to end.
As of this morning, I didn't even have pressure in the airlock, though I know enough to know not to panic--yet. Depending on how much chocolate drops out of solution (I'm expecting a lot, actually), the color will likely be somewhere between burnt orange and orangey-brown. (At the moment, it just looks like brown sludge. As in hell of chocolate.) OG was 1.052, and I'm expecting 80-85% fermentation, so we're looking at a relatively mild 4.5-5.5% ABV.
Updates to follow. Estimated bottling date: March 12. First taste: as long after that as I can hold out. Probably March 19.
I've been thinking that I should probably make something basic, work on fundamentals a bit. I should, but then I remind myself that I can get great "basic" beer any day of the week at reasonable prices, so to hell with that. I'll worry about basics if I ever decide to go into business.
No, I decided to try something fancy, again.
The following is a sequel, of sorts, to Matrimoniale, which I am calling "Lune de Miel" ("Honeymoon"). It's built on the basic elements of Matrimoniale, but it is flavored with (I guess I killed the suspense with the post title) chocolate and cardomom, a combination to which I was introduced at the Pierre Marcolini boutique right around the corner from our hotel, while on our lune de miel. Also, coriander, to give it a bit of citric acidity and spice, to balance the bitterness of the chocolate.
I may be making some additions to the secondary, depending on how the flavors are coming along. So I'll wait to post the recipe until I can describe it from beginning to end.
As of this morning, I didn't even have pressure in the airlock, though I know enough to know not to panic--yet. Depending on how much chocolate drops out of solution (I'm expecting a lot, actually), the color will likely be somewhere between burnt orange and orangey-brown. (At the moment, it just looks like brown sludge. As in hell of chocolate.) OG was 1.052, and I'm expecting 80-85% fermentation, so we're looking at a relatively mild 4.5-5.5% ABV.
Updates to follow. Estimated bottling date: March 12. First taste: as long after that as I can hold out. Probably March 19.
posted by Brian @ 9:09 AM
1 Comments:
At 10:32 AM,
Bryan Kolesar said…
Any updates? It really sounds interesting! My neighbor (Adam, my brewlounge partner) and I (kind of the sidekick) brew beer together and are always looking for new adventures/recipes!
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