Feliz Navidad

For Christmas this year I wanted to brew a beer that I could bottle and hand out to friends, neighbors, etc. I wanted something approachable to everyone, but also something that stood out and was special, it is my Christmas beer! I have been throwing around the idea of brewing a Mexican Hot Chocolate style beer for some time. I attempted this last year, using an amber base but once I tasted the amber with ancho chilies, it was so good I left it as is. That beer placed 1st in the Southwest regionals of the NHC in 2011, although it didn't place in the finals. I finally got my act together this weekend and brewed a Chocolate Stout as a base recipe and will add Ancho chilies, cinnamon and probably a hot pepper to add a slight heat spice. The base beer is a export stout/American stout hybrid with cocoa powder added at flameout. I hope the base beer turns out nice, because I know the anchos will be nice with a chocolaty base beer. I am debating how I will add the cinnamon. I am making a tincture of vodka and cinnamon sticks which I could add to the keg to taste, or I could add the sticks with chiles and dry-cinnamon the beer. Haven't decided yet.

Recipe: Us 2-Row, wheat malt, Chocolate malt, Crystal 40L, Roasted Barley, Crystal 80L, Cocoa Powder (unsweeteneded), ancho chilies, cinnamon, spicy pepper (most likely), US S-05, US Goldings @ 60 min.

Russian Imperial Stout and American Small Beer

I decided to brew a few beers earlier this week. I wanted to brew something that would be good in a few months, something that would be good in a few weeks and something that may be good in a year or more. I have never brewed a Russian Imperial Stout and they are not usually my favorite style of beer but after having a couple of Old Rasputin's, a Port Sticky Stout and Drakes RIS I was inspired. What I love about these stouts is that they do not punch you in the face with roasted grain harshness, they slowly jab you over and over again with complex malty bills that lean away from too much heavy roast malt. So I started to build a recipe to reflect the style of RIS I like (see below). I also wanted to add some more complexity to the grain bill so I added some oats and rye malt. I also figured that since I had a big grain bill I might try and get a second runnings small beer out of it. For the small beer, I would top off with any grain. I used US S04, and pretty hop aggressive additions.

Dead Moroz (Russian Imperial Stout)
Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % MCU When
US 2-Row Malt 11.00 lb 57.9 % 3.7 In Mash/Steeped
US White Wheat Malt 2.00 lb 10.5 % 0.9 In Mash/Steeped
US Chocolate Malt 1.50 lb 7.9 % 99.4 In Mash/Steeped
US Roasted Barley 1.00 lb 5.3 % 56.8 In Mash/Steeped
US Caramel 120L Malt 1.00 lb 5.3 % 22.7 In Mash/Steeped
US Rye Malt 1.00 lb 5.3 % 0.7 In Mash/Steeped
US Flaked Oats 1.00 lb 5.3 % 0.6 In Mash/Steeped
Sugar - Muscovado 0.50 lb 2.6 % 1.9 Start Of Boil

Hops
Variety Alpha Amount IBU Form When
US Centennial 9.7 % 1.65 oz 41.4 Loose Pellet Hops 60 Min From End
US Centennial 9.7 % 1.18 oz 22.7 Loose Pellet Hops 30 Min From End
US Cluster 6.2 % 0.73 oz 5.8 Loose Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
US Centennial 9.7 % 0.71 oz 8.8 Loose Pellet Hops 15 Min From End
UK Golding 4.2 % 1.00 oz 2.2 Loose Pellet Hops 5 Min From End
US Centennial 9.7 % 0.65 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops At turn off
UK Golding 4.2 % 0.52 oz 0.0 Loose Pellet Hops At turn off

Yeast
White Labs WLP001-California Ale

I wanted to use Northern Brewer Hops instead of Centennial but the LHBS has been really bad about having lots of hop varieties on sale. I think next time I do a beer that really requires a specific hop I will order online. I used cluster to replace some of the Goldings they didn't have either. Not ideal but sometimes you just gotta role with it.


Small Beer (American Dark Mild)

Fermentables same as grain bill except minus the sugar and add some extra oats.
Hops Cluster at 60, 20, and 1 minute.
Saf Ale US 04


I am thinking I may age half or all of the RIS on American Oak or American Oak soaked in Port Wine.