Brewday: Jasmine IPA

Sunday was a brewday, and I've been trying to use up ingredients that I have stockpiled. So this was a 10 gallon batch of Elysian's Avatar Jasmine IPA, based on a recipe provided by their awesome head brewer Dick Cantwell. Some substitutions were made though. First, I used Maris but you could use any pale malt. Second, I used Magnums to bitter, I think he uses Chinook. I used Horizons and a bit of leftover Glacier, he uses all Glacier. The Horizons I had were old, the 2004 crop, and though they didn't smell cheesy or anything, they didn't smell vibrant and fresh either. We'll see, but I think they'll be fine. I split the batch and did half American Ale yeast and half British, just for kicks. He recommends the American yeast.

The key to this beer is dealing with the jasmine/malt balance. You'll notice that the IBUs are a bit low for the style (even below the guidelines in fact). But if you've ever over-steeped jasmine tea you know it can get bitter. With 3 ozs (remember: 10 gallon batch) boiling for 10 minutes, the jasmine will impart a lot of flavor and bitterness that we don't have the numbers to account for. Also, the beer has an OG around 1.062 but is only 5.6% by volume: meaning a high final gravity. The sweetness needs to be there to balance the jasmine, the hops are just there for background bitterness and aroma. So we'll see how the yeast does, hopefully stops about 1.016. I got an OG of 1.060, meaning only about 70% efficiency, but it was a 10 gallon batch and I think some just gets lost in the volume. Also, I had to pull a decoction instead of an infusion due to the volume of the Igloo. Should help up the maltiness and body though, so it's ok. This beer is great, it has a wonderful IPA nose with a hint of jasmine, then a round full malt and jasmine flavor, finishing with a nice bitterness.

Elysian Avatar Jasmine IPA

American IPA

Type: All Grain	Date: 4/20/2008
Batch Size: 10.50 gal	Brewer: Russell Everett
Boil Size: 13.80 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 90 min	Equipment: Brew Pot (15 Gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (10 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 22 lbs Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 91.67 % 1 lbs Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 4.17 % 8.0 oz Carahell (Weyermann) (13.0 SRM) Grain 2.08 % 8.0 oz Caramel Malt - 40L (Briess) (40.0 SRM) Grain 2.08 % 1.50 oz Magnum [14.60 %] (90 min) Hops 33.4 IBU 0.50 oz Glacier [5.60 %] (2 min) Hops 0.4 IBU 3.00 oz Horizon [11.00 %] (2 min) Hops 4.0 IBU 1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] (0 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops - 1.00 oz Jasmine (Boil 0.0 min) Misc 2.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc 3.00 oz Jasmine (Boil 10.0 min) Misc 1 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale 1 Pkgs SafAle English Ale (DCL Yeast #S-04) Yeast-Ale
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.065 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.060 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.015 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.015 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 6.44 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 5.87 %
Bitterness: 37.7 IBU	Calories: 269 cal/pint
Est Color: 8.1 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body	Total Grain Weight: 24.00 lb
Sparge Water: 9.98 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 7.50 gal of water at 165.9 F 154.0 F 10 min Mash Out Decoct 2.26 gal of mash and boil it 168.0 F

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Coconut Cup

So another Coconut Cup has come and gone! Many thanks to everyone in the club who worked to make sure it went near-flawlessly. This year we had fewer entries, around 250, but at three bottles each that means we had more bottles to deal with than ever before. I know that I personally judged many fine beers this year, particularly a flight of nearly flawless lagers! Good job homebrewers, keep it up! In terms of the club competition MASH lost the Cup for the second year in a row to the Tampa Bay BEERS. But we did come in second, which is better than last year!

Most everyone in the club who entered won a medal, some for the first time, so congrats to all. The results can be found here. I didn't get into homebrewing for the competitive aspect, though I know some people are really into it. But I save a couple bottles throughout the year for our own club's competition, you know, solidarity and all that. This year I took three medals: a Gold for Shoggoth's Old Peculiar Barleywine, a Silver for Brother Russell's Tripel, and a Silver for a Coconut Beer, affectionately titled "A seagull eating pommes frites from the husk of a coconut on a hot day after Christmas while Pater Noel roasts slowly in the afternoon sun on South Beach...dreaming of next year."

And no, that's not my tanned, leathery chest in the photo. It's our dining room table, which just happens to be tanned and leather (it's an Equipale).

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CSA Week 12

Crazy weekend, what with the Coconut Cup on Saturday. Here's this weeks' haul:

• Lettuce

Salads this week.

• Kale

Still a bit unclear. Thinking about a pasta dish, or kale chips again for a party tomorrow.

• Roma Tomatoes

Salad, salsa (oh man are our chile plants producing!!!), maybe into some pasta. Last week we did a Carbonara (Armandino Battali's Recipe from Salumi!) and added two Romas so it wasn't all pancetta and cheese... Just mostly.

• Strawberries

Like the last round of Strawberries these were right on the verge of going bad. So they were immediately chopped and placed in a bowl with some sugar and chopped carambola and left to macerate in the fridge for future use. See below.

• Dill

Will go into a variety of sides and salads.

• Green Beans

Three-quarters or so went into Dill Beans last night for a side. The rest will be part of a general catch all Thai stirfry.

• Canistels

When they're ripe I'm thinking Canistel Pie Mk II?

• Callaloo

Argh, I thought we were done. Well I've still got a bunch of West Indian Curry spice that I mixed up. I'll see if I can find some more goat or maybe use the greens as a base for a Jerk Snapper or something.

Last Week Wrapup / Uses So far

The Black Sapotes went into another round of Black Sapote Muffins and they are excellent. Even better this time. In a flash of genius, I took the macerated strawberries and carambola slices and made a sortof Strawberry Shortcake with a Black Sapote Muffin, Strawberries and Carambolas, and a dollop of Meyer Lemon Curd on Top. Outstanding.

Last night's dinner took a German twist. I had some leftover Weisswursts that I made last month and decided to use them. So on the left we have a Weisswurst (recipe from Michael Ruhlman's Charcuterie) on a bed of the red potatoes we got last week, par-boiled then sauteed with some leftover sauerkraut, red onion, garlic, and juniper berries. There were some steamed green beans with butter, chopped dill, salt, pepper, and dill seed. And a radish salad using the radish tops and sliced red radishes and french breakfast radishes with dill and a leftover bit of tzatziki from Mykonos. All in all a pleasantly satisfying dinner.

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Brewday: Oatmeal Stout

So the stout for an upcoming wedding was brewed last week. It's a typical British Oatmeal Stout. I used some 200L Light Chocolate Malt instead of normal Chocolate Malt. Quaker Quick Oats. Modified the Miami water to get closer to London. Yeast was dry SA-04 British Ale yeast. A pretty flawless brewday until I accidentally pushed the Stopper Thermowell into the carboy. D'oh! That will be fun to retrieve. At least it was thoroughly sanitized...

Oatmeal Stout

Type: All Grain	Date: 2/8/2009
Batch Size: 5.50 gal	Brewer:
Boil Size: 8.13 gal	Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 115 min	Equipment: Brew Pot (15 Gal) and Igloo/Gott Cooler (10 Gal)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0	Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.00
Taste Notes:
Ingredients
Amount Item Type % or IBU 8 lbs Maris Otter (Crisp) (4.0 SRM) Grain 69.57 % 1 lbs Oats, Flaked (1.0 SRM) Grain 8.70 % 12.0 oz Chocolate Malt (350.0 SRM) Grain 6.52 % 12.0 oz Victory Malt (biscuit) (Briess) (28.0 SRM) Grain 6.52 % 8.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 % 8.0 oz Roasted Barley (Briess) (300.0 SRM) Grain 4.35 % 0.13 oz Summit [18.00 %] (90 min) Hops 8.0 IBU 1.75 oz Williamette [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 23.7 IBU 0.25 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.3 IBU
Beer Profile
Est Original Gravity: 1.053 SG	Measured Original Gravity: 1.010 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.014 SG	Measured Final Gravity: 1.005 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 5.16 %	Actual Alcohol by Vol: 0.65 %
Bitterness: 34.0 IBU	Calories: 43 cal/pint
Est Color: 32.7 SRM	Color: Color
Mash Profile
Mash Name: Single Infusion, Medium Body	Total Grain Weight: 11.50 lb
Sparge Water: 4.45 gal	Grain Temperature: 72.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F	TunTemperature: 72.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE	Mash PH: 5.4 PH
Single Infusion, Medium Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp 60 min Mash In Add 3.80 gal of water at 165.3 F 154.0 F 10 min Mash Out Add 2.07 gal of water at 197.2 F 168.0 F
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).

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CSA Week 11

Sorry for the delay, the weekend was consumed by first round beer judging for our club's homebrew competition, The Coconut Cup.

Here's this week. M had to bike down to pick it up due to the Coconut Grove Arts Festival, which she decided was actually a very civilized way to get one's groceries.

• Red Potatoes

Unfortunately we had already bought some the week before, so now we have a glut of potatoes. Still, they'll keep. Three of them went into a somewhat failed Spanish Tortilla last night. I'll try again and maybe post a photo if I get it right. Tonight some of them are going into another Norwegian dish from Viestad's Kitchen of Light: Dill Scented Roast Chicken with Potatoes. This should use up last week's dill, some of the potatoes, and who knows, maybe the last of the turnips and the chard?

• Arugula

Ah the arugula we were supposed to get last week. It was consumed as a salad last night, with some capers, one of the Roma tomatoes, some radish slices, and a bit of olive oil and sherry vinegar. I broiled some large sardines (marinated in olive oil, garlic, salt, paprika, sherry vinegar and some of last week's thyme) and put them on top, which nicely wilted the leaves under the fish. Unfortunately the rest were on the tough side. If I had it to do again I would have blanched the leaves quickly.

• Breakfast Radishes

Will be breakfast presumably. A little cold butter and salt. That's it. Tops will probably go with last week's radish tops for a radish and radish top salad this week.

• Chard

Donno. May throw it in for the last few minutes in the roast chicken I'm doing tonight.

• Roma Tomatoes

Will find a home, even just cooked up with some pancetta and pasta.

• A Starfruit

Still not sure what to do with these. Doesn't feel right to just eat them straight.

• An Avocado

Ripe in a week. Then probably guacamole again? Last week's was Saturday's guac. Ended up being almost all local: local avo, tomato, a Serrano chile and cilantro from the yard. Only the red onion and lime weren't from around here.

• Honey!
  

Local honey. This should be tasty. I still have two black sapotes in the fridge that are very ripe, and we have a recipe for Pumpkin Scones that is spot on for the ones Starbucks sells. Maybe Sapote Scones and a little honey?

WEEK 10 WRAPUP

The big meal of last week was a Goat and Cabbage Stew inspired from a recipe in Kitchen of Light for Norwegian Lamb and Cabbage Stew, but using things we had: 3lbs frozen Goat meat chunks, the whole cabbage, some turnips, red potatoes. Browned the goat and deglazed with Linie Aquavit, added some caraway seeds. Otherwise the flavor is simple as the original recipe: goat, cabbage, and a lot of whole black peppercorns. There's about one serving left, we've been eating it for days and it just keeps getting better. The goat was cubed, bones and all, and in no particular anatomical manner, so it's a finger food that kinda freaks people out when you bring it for lunch and the pile of bones builds on your plate. Overall it was nice, simple, comfort food.

Canistel Pie

I took the four ripe canistels and made this recipe for Canistel Pie from Fairchild Tropical Gardens. First off, I try to make the recipe the way it was written, at least the first time around. But the whole teaspoon of cloves sent up red flags that I unfortunately did not heed. The cloves were way too strong. I'd cut back and go for more of a pumpkin pie spice and I think this would be outstanding. Also, pie dough from scratch reminded me what a pain in the butt it is to make. Still good though.

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CSA Week 10 / Week 9 Wrapup

CSA Week 10:

• Green Beans
• Turnips
• Avocado
• Bell Pepper
• Starfruit
• Spring Onion
• Radishes
• Tomatoes
• Dill / Thyme
• Tatsoi
  

Last week we did a sortof Surf n' Turf one night with a nice steak, some stone crab claws that were on Superbowl sale, and green beans. Will probably do something similar with the remaining steak (we only used half a rib eye for the two of us), some turnip mash and green beans with dill.

The spring onion and probably bell pepper will go on the grill for Andouille Po-Boys for lunch tomorrow, as we have remoulade leftover and it's a brew-day.

The cabbage was a mystery. But with the dill and turnips we started thinking Scandanavian. So we'll be making a Lamb and Cabbage stew from Andreas Viestad's Kitchen Of Light. To this we'll make a colcannon of sorts with the turnips and cabbage and bake it on top like a Shepherd's Pie.

There will be a mid-week clearup stirfry, we still have last week's bok choi plus our own. The tatsoi are pretty tiny and sad, so they'll go in.

There will be a mid-week salad of some kind, with the radishes, radish tops, leftover lettuce, komatsuna, etc.


Leftover Wrapup:

We ended up making a big pot of Red Beans and Rice, using some of our homemade andouilles and tasso, some Trotter Gear, and some parsley and red bell pepper from the CSA share. To go with this we made Fried Green Tomato with the lone green tomato.

Fried Green Tomato(es)

Thickly slice your tomato(es). Make up a batter of about 2/3 cup flour and a cup of milk. Add a pinch of salt, pepper and cayenne. Whisk. It has to be fairly thick or the breading won't stick. In a second bowl put some panko. Heat a half inch of oil in a frying pan to 350, then dip the tomato slices in the batter, then the panko and into the pan. Minute and a half or so each side, keep finished ones warm in the oven. Serve with remoulade.

Remoulade

This recipe is based on the one from Jambalaya, the Junior League of New Orleans cookbook. Some recipes use a hard boiled egg and oil and vinegar. I just used mayo.

Whizz two garlic cloves and three anchovies in a mini-prep Cuisinart. Scrape into a bowl and add:

salt and pepper to taste
about 3/4 to 1 cup mayo (to taste basically)
1 T lemon juice
1/2 C ketchup
2 T Worcestershire
2 1/2 T Creole Mustard (I used stone ground though)
2 t Dry Mustard
2 t Dijon Mustard
1 T paprika (I accidentally used cayenne pepper, oops not paying enough attention! Less mead more attention... Made it wicked spicy and delicious though. Sometimes there are happy accidents!)

Mix and let sit to meld.

Verdict: Tasty in the extreme.

Canistels and Black Sapotes

We now have four ripe canistels and two black sapotes. Probably another round of Sapote Muffins. The canistels present another challenge, I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them. Don't feel like trying the ice cream again. I'm thinking a canistel cream pie of some kind?

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CSA Week 9

Here's Week Nine!

We've had some cold weather over the last two weeks, and it's hit South Florida farms hard. Our house is by the coast, so the temps don't get as cold as they do inland. Even still, some cucumber seedlings I had going didn't make it. So like last week, this one was a little sparse. Still, gives time to catch up and finish off any leftovers.

• Corn - Two ears

Probably will go on the grill sometime later this week. Maybe a sortof mixed grilled veggies with four large sardines we have in the freezer.

• Bok Choi - Two
  

Small guys, and a bit hard traveled. Still, will likely be grilled or quick stirfry as a side this week.

• Green beans

These will be a side tonight. I'll make up some compound butter in a serving bowl with some of the parsley, some lemon juice and zest, some shallots, salt, pepper. Boil the beans, then drain and into the bowl. The leftover heat will melt the butter and dress the beans!

• Parsley

Will go into various things, such as the compound butter. We're making Red Beans and Rice sometime this week, so some will go in there. The rest will go into salads using the rest of last week's lettuce.

• Cilantro

Some will go on the grilled veggies. Some will go in salads.

• Black Sapotes

When these are ready in a week or so, they'll probably go into muffins again. See below. They're awesome!

• Monster Red Bell Pepper

Is huge. Will form part of the trinity for the Red Beans and Rice. The other half will probably go on the grill.

• Green Tomato

We got a tomato that is completely and totally green. Probably will be sliced and pan fried to go with the Red Beans and Rice.

• Strawberries

Weren't fuzzy yet! Hooray! And I won't make the same mistake as last week... So they are becoming tonight's dessert: Strawberry Short Cakes. Right now they're sitting in a bowl, sliced, with some sugar poured over and a healthy splash of Clear Creek Distillery's Kirschwasser that we brought back at Christmas. It's a traditional cherry schnapps made with Oregon and Washington cherries, and that's it. Any cherry or other flavor is whatever made it through the distillation. And it tastes like burning. (It's high-octane stuff!) But once that subsides there's a pleasant cherry finish. Once the strawberries are all macerated they'll be served with some of the awesome scones Meredith made yesterday, with a little whipped cream. Should be delicious.

LEFTOVER WRAPUP

• "Slimer" Cupcakes (Black Sapote Muffins with Avocado Frosting)

So the sapotes were ready to be used, all browny-black and mushy. I find that black sapotes can be substituted in pretty much anything you bake persimmons in. So earlier this week Meredith made a batch of muffins using the sapotes based on this recipe. Minor changes were that she used heavy cream instead of milk because we were out of milk, so they were deliciously rich and really quite awesome.

Friday rolls around and we're having a dinner party. And I didn't feel like making dessert, on top of everything else I was doing. And the canistels that were supposed to be dessert weren't ripe yet. But I did have a very ripe Monroe Avocado. And an idea. Alton Brown had an episode where he was using avocados to make ice cream and various other sweet things. So I made this icing.

All I can say is don't leave the lemon extract out, it's deliciously lemony but that's about it flavor-wise.

Oh, and it is bright green and has the consitency of snot.

So it was immediately dubbed "Slimer" icing and thus, Slimer Cupcakes. I garnished them with some chopped nuts, just out of a sense of decency. The verdict: they were super delicious, just not the most attractive baked good I've ever produced. Still, any kid would love the snot icing!

• Kale Chips

I made Kale Chips with last week's Lacinato kale. Sorry, no photos. Camera was out of batteries. Still they were really good, crunchy and yet sortof etherial, salty, and peppery. The outer bits instantly crumbled to nothing in your mouth, while the inner stem had a nice crunch. Just wash the kale, and dry. Heat the oven to 250. Lay the kale out on cookie sheets. Spray down lightly with oil, then flip and spray the other side of the kale. Sprinkle with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. It took about 20 minutes I'd say, then let them cool. Served them standing up in a pint glass as a snack on the table. You can use any kind of kale, but if it's big and has a big stem, cut it in half and remove the stem.

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