Battle is the Great Redeemer.
It is the fiery crucible
in which true heroes are forged.
Edge of Tomorrow
Hello fellow Caesurians and welcome to a new year of awesome content on The Art of Caesura!
As I mentioned last week, I want to save all the annual resolutions for a few weeks' time when this blog turns one. In the meantime we've an important bevvy to wax lyrical about.
Way back in October I started a brew that was a little different than my previous efforts. I still used a Mangrove Jacks mix but rather than just adding glucose as fermenting sugar I used half glucose and half brown sugar.
Let us recall from our high school chemistry that glucose and dextrose are enantiomers of each other (that is to say the "right" and "left" hand versions of the same chemical - and that chemical is the most basic sugar - or monosaccharide). In your body it is only type of food your brain uses and it is simple enough for yeast to break it down with minimal leftover waste.
As far as I recall, brown sugar is mostly just white sugar (sucrose) with a bit of glucose and fructose in it. What makes it brown is molasses. So then what is molasses? Well it too is mostly sucrose, again with a bit of glucose and fructose in it, but it's less refined and so it still has a bunch of vitamins and minerals in it. So basically, we're using predominantly sucrose (a slightly more complex sugar - or disaccharide) instead of glucose. Theoretically, the yeast may have a harder time breaking this down which would lead to more residue in the bottle and perhaps a lower alcohol content. Happily, neither of these things seem to have happened and instead the molasses really gave some nice treacle depth to this beer.
The short review is that this is actually my favorite of the ones I have brewed thus far! It is a nice deep ale with a wonderfully crisp head (finally!!) and lingering fruitcake flavours.
Let us recall from our high school chemistry that glucose and dextrose are enantiomers of each other (that is to say the "right" and "left" hand versions of the same chemical - and that chemical is the most basic sugar - or monosaccharide). In your body it is only type of food your brain uses and it is simple enough for yeast to break it down with minimal leftover waste.
As far as I recall, brown sugar is mostly just white sugar (sucrose) with a bit of glucose and fructose in it. What makes it brown is molasses. So then what is molasses? Well it too is mostly sucrose, again with a bit of glucose and fructose in it, but it's less refined and so it still has a bunch of vitamins and minerals in it. So basically, we're using predominantly sucrose (a slightly more complex sugar - or disaccharide) instead of glucose. Theoretically, the yeast may have a harder time breaking this down which would lead to more residue in the bottle and perhaps a lower alcohol content. Happily, neither of these things seem to have happened and instead the molasses really gave some nice treacle depth to this beer.
Colour: Mahogony
Clarity: Clear
Head: Full
Aroma (hops): Spicy
Aroma (malt): Molasses
Fruit flavours: Raisin
Floral flavours: Grass
Roasted flavours: Smoky
Spice flavours: Nutmeg
Sweet flavours: Treacle
Alcohol flavours: Esters
"Off" flavour and aromas: None really - woo hoo!
Mouthfeel: Tingly
ABV: 5.5%
So, in my first year of brewing I've made 4 batches of 23L of different types of beer: an IPA, Porter, APA and now an Old British-style Ale. I'm happy to say that as my confidence has increased over the course of the year, brew day and bottling day have become speedy. I'm happy that my little shred of creativity (using a different type of sugar) paid off.
It'll be a few weeks before I start my next brew, but I'll be sure to keep you posted when I do!
See you next week as we approach the one year anniversary of The Art of Caesura!
Watching: Passengers
Gaming: Blood Bowl 2
Drinking: you guessed it, Great Redeemer Ale
Next week:
The beginning of the end...of the first year of The Art of Caesura!
Clarity: Clear
Head: Full
Aroma (hops): Spicy
Aroma (malt): Molasses
Fruit flavours: Raisin
Floral flavours: Grass
Roasted flavours: Smoky
Spice flavours: Nutmeg
Sweet flavours: Treacle
Alcohol flavours: Esters
"Off" flavour and aromas: None really - woo hoo!
Mouthfeel: Tingly
ABV: 5.5%
So, in my first year of brewing I've made 4 batches of 23L of different types of beer: an IPA, Porter, APA and now an Old British-style Ale. I'm happy to say that as my confidence has increased over the course of the year, brew day and bottling day have become speedy. I'm happy that my little shred of creativity (using a different type of sugar) paid off.
It'll be a few weeks before I start my next brew, but I'll be sure to keep you posted when I do!
See you next week as we approach the one year anniversary of The Art of Caesura!
Watching: Passengers
Gaming: Blood Bowl 2
Drinking: you guessed it, Great Redeemer Ale
Next week:
The beginning of the end...of the first year of The Art of Caesura!
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