The third installment of our Juniper Ale series may prove to be the best yet. The basic idea for this beer is to replace the bitterness of the hops with the flavor and bitterness of the juniper berry. We dry-hopped again to strictly add hop flavor and aroma. For this recipe I used about 4 oz of berries smuggled into MN from Alabama (thanks, Walter). Prior to the boil, I mashed the berries in a bowl of vodka and let them sit for about 2 hours. The vodka (hopefully) killed any bacteria on the berries. I then drank the vodka. Damn it was good. Here is the recipe:
Specialty Grains: 1 lbs Dingemens caramel pils
Fermentables: 6 lbs Gold Malt Syrup
Wyeast 1056 American Ale
Hops: 2 oz Willamette leaf hops dry hopped into the primary.
Berries: mashed in vodka, soaked for 2 hours, bagged and tossed into the primary with the hops.
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2 comments:
Wow. This beer is really interesting. It tastes almost like a mouthful of southwestern pine forest. I was wrong about the bitterness. The juniper berries just make the beer taste more like, well, juniper. In fact, this one tastes more like a carbonated beery juniper wine---but in a good way. However, I think I will backtrack and go back to the earlier recipes. An added benefit to the beer is that it has given me really fucked up dreams...including one where I am chased by some murderous cult. Total bonus!
Seems like other people like this beer more than I do. Then again, they have to live with it. Dear god, will this ever end. Will we ever again darken the doors of the corny keg and the dedicated fridge with something quaffable? Getting desperate. Might have to poor some out to make way for the new rising.
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