The last of the trio of brews that I have done in the last few weeks (or so) is a Black Ale that was at least somewhat inspired by a sample of the Southern Tier Iniquity that I had for the first time at the FBG Beerfest. Now it really won’t be the same since (among other things) the Iniquity is an Imperial Black Ale and I will likely be adding some extra ingredients to secondary that will bring an entirely different flavor profile (stay tuned). That and mine will almost surely not be as good as Southern Tier’s version, though I will enjoy it all the same!
The video from the first part of the Pomegranate Hefeweizen is still a good reference (as it was with the Belgian Saison) since the initial setup was much the same. Not that the Saison was difficult, but this one was an incredibly simple brewing process.
Grains before
As with every batch, I do my very best to ensure that everything used for my brewing has been sanitized to the best of my ability before getting started. With that, I again brought 2.5 gallons of water to about 160 degrees, turned off the burner, and put the following into the grain bag:
- 2.5 lb 2-Row Malt
- .5 lb De-Bittered Black Malt
- .5 lb Crystal 90L Malt
Grains after
The grains were then soaked for 45 minutes while maintaining the temperature at about 155 degrees. I have made notes as to how I can better control that temperature which involves turning the burner off short of the 160 degrees as I typically do. My process becomes more refined each time and I am looking forward to testing the altered method on the next batch. With that, the grain bag was then pulled out and I poured 2 quarts of 170 degree water over it to ensure all of the grainy goodness was not lost. I removed the pot from the heat and then added:
- 5 lb Amber Extract
Bringing it up to a boil.
Once the malt extract was stirred in, the pot went back on the heat until there was a good rolling (controlled) boil. I set the timer for 60 minutes and then it was time for:
- Bittering hops – .75 oz Galena
- Flavoring hops – .25 oz Galena (last 15 minutes of the boil).
- Aroma hops – None this time
Green nuggets of goodness
After the 60 minutes of boiling I was able to get everything pretty quickly down to below 80 degrees and without any difficulty this time. After all of these batches maybe I have figured out what can work well for me and I will see how the flavor of the beer turns out as a result. Perhaps I can continue to put off building that wort chiller after all?
When the temperature was at roughly 77 degrees (with water added to about 5.25 gallons) I pitched in the bloomed Windsor Ale dry yeast that I was using for the recipe. The yeast was bloomed by adding the contents of the packet to 2 cups of warm water and letting it sit for 15 minutes. Using two cups was actually a mistake, as I must have had the method used for the Saison still in my head. Regardless, I then boiled 2 tsp. of sugar in a small amount of water, cooled the mixture, added it to the yeast, and again covered it as I continued with the boiling step of brewing. The yeast was not as obviously bloomed as it has been in the past, likely a result of my water volume mistake. Even with that, the airlock was bubbling away in a relatively short time, so all should be well.
It certainly turned out to be black.
The original specific gravity came in at approximately 1.0527, which was only slightly lower than expected. Maybe I actually am getting close to getting the final volume closer to being correct? I will let this one sit for about a week before racking it to secondary with the additional ingredients.
Stay tuned . . .
What Others Say