Holiday Ale pt deux

Scroll down for the holiday porter recipe...

For the base of the ale we used The Oak Barrell's Pale Ale kit and added the following:
2lb orange clover honey
for last 45 min of boil...
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground clove
1/2 oz dried ginger root
1 cinnamon stick
1 Tbsp lemon zest
with last dose of hops...
1 Tbsp lemon zest

This had a potential alcohol of 7%. They are both still fermenting loudly on day 6. We will bottle after 10 days.

Holiday Brews

We brewed two batches of Holiday Ale on Friday. One Pale Ale & one Porter. Since we haven't done many specialized recipes we thought it best to amend our favorite kits.

To the British Porter we added the following spices:
4 grams Nutmeg
4 grams Mace
2 Cinnamon Stick, broken up
2 Vanilla Beans, split (one infused in the boil the second placed in the fermenter)
Zest of 5 medium Oranges

I'll let you know the Pale Ale ingredients tomorrow... I can't recall all the spices at the moment.

The potential alcohol for both at first measurement is in the 7-8% range. They'll end up about 4-5% when ready.

I really enjoyed the aroma & subtle warm flavors in the Porter. The Pale Ale was strong on hops so it will be interesting to see how it turns out when it's ready for consumption. I think the ingredients we used with the PA would be excellent with a dark wheat ale.

Come on over for a holiday brew! Ho Ho Ho

GREENS!

Since we started membership at Eat Well Farms organic produce delivery we are getting lots of great seasonal produce. Most of what we get it stuff we wouldn't typically pick up at the store so I'm eating lots of new interesting veg. I have to admit I really like greens. Here's my latest tastey treat

Bacon Braised Russian Red Kale (you could probably use any type of Kale or hearty green)

Ingredients:
3-4 slices of bacon chopped into bite size pieces
1 onion diced
1 close garlic minced
1 bunch kale (remove long woody stems) slice leaves across rib into 1 inch ribbons
splash of broth (chicken or veg stock)
dash of seasoned rice wine vinegar to taste

Procedure:
saute bacon
add onion just before bacon is crispy
add garlic
add kale & turn to mix in the bacon, onion
add splash of broth
turn/stir occasionally
add lid for a minute or two to steam

It's ready to eat when it's wilted down to cooked spinach consitancy. Sprinkle with vinegar. Eat. Enjoy.