Baby Maker Cider

So time to post again, I have had a few brews since last posting, but I think this is one of my cider favorites. Whats with the name you ask? If you drink it, it doesn't seem like its alcoholic until it hits you. At a whopping 7.6% this one will sneak up on you, just like the surprise that sneaks up on you 9 months after you drink this. I was actually surprised that my best hard cider to date was made with Motts Apple Juice, after trying numerous attempts with local New England Ciders from many orchards. However looking back it is clear to me now that the consistency in the Apple Juice will bring about the ability to perfect the recipe. This is version 1:

ABV: 7.4%
OG: 1.068
FG: 1.011

Ingredients:
5.5 Gallons Motts Apple Juice
2 lbs Dark Brown Sugar
1 lb Honey
1 lb Turbinado Sugar (Raw sugar)
US-05 yeast

Back Sweetening:
0.5 Gallons Motts Apple Juice
5 Campden Tablets
3 tsp Potassium Sorbate
1 lb Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 lb Honey
1 Tbsp Cinnamon
1 packet of unflavored gelatin

Take 0.5 gallons of the Motts, and heat it to 120F, while melting all the sugar into it. Pour the other 5 gallons into a fermentor and then pour the half gallon with dissolved sugar into the fermentor, and swirl it around to bring the temperature down then add the yeast.

Ferment for 2 weeks at 62 degrees.

I used gelatin to clear it mix 1 packet of unflavored gelatin in 0.5 gallons of Motts Apple Juice. Additionally add the campden tablets, potassium sorbate, sugar honey and cinnamon to 150F. Make sure not to go over or you risk the gelatin solidifying. Splitting the batch in half into 2- 5 gallon fermentors, carbonating at 12 PSI for a week.

Tasting Notes: Pleasantly Tart, remnants of the original Motts Juice. The back sweetening balances out the tartness, but is not overly sweet. the honey and dark brown sugar mixed with the cinnamon make it almost like a carmel hard apple cider.

Guter Weizen IPA

So I was in Disney World for the Epcot Food & Wine Festival, it was a great time. I went to the Germany showcase, and they had a beer called Indra, brewed by Braufactum. It was delicous. It was kind of like a dunkel, however it was a wheat based IPA. In my opinion it was a great combination of the two styles, and I had to brew it or something like it, it was portrayed as a fusion between a German wheat and an American IPA. And so began my journey to replicate this fine brew.

Going to their site and translating through Google Chrome, I was able to get the basic ingredients: Light Wheat Malt, Vienna Malt, and Caramel Malt, and the hops were Cascade and Magnum.

Notes were: A bright golden yellow color, slightly cloudy and with a slight head. Amazing opening aromas of oak, and behind that are a mixture of honey, orange soda and spices emerge. On the palate the blends of an earthy undertone with an herbal finish.

Going with these I formulated the following grain bill:

1 lbs Caramel Wheat Malt
1 lbs Caramunic Malt
5.5 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) Belgian
6 lbs Vienna Malt

BIAB (Brew in a bag):
Mash  @ 153F for 60 min
If BIAB (Brew In A Bag) Raise Mash temp to 168F for 10 min otherwise Sparge with water @ 168F

90 min boil
0.5 oz Magnum @ 60 min
0.5 oz each Magnum & Cascade @ 30 min
1 oz Cascade @ 5 min
1.5 oz Cascade Dry Hopped 5 days

Yeast: WLP300 - Hefeweizen Ale Yeast

I typically ferment for 7-10 days in the primary, with the WLP300 I started out at 65 and slowly raised the temp to 70, to bring out the banana esters from the yeast, but not so much that they were over powering. I then rack the beer to a secondary for about two weeks where at the end of the first week I added the dry hops.

The beer came out great. The color was a bit off, but the taste was close enough from what I remember, because I have not been able to find that beer anywhere else, for comparison.