Spicy Beer?! Yes!

So this post's title isn't the punniest I've come up with, but that's ok because the batch of homebrew written about isn't that original.  This is the second time I've repeated a recipe and this time it was because I really enjoyed the beer the first time I brewed it.  The beer in question is a Saison, a continental beer brewed during the winter from the leftovers of the harvest and let condition until the summer.  Saisons are traditionally low in alcohol and light of body and were drunk by the fieldhands during their working hours to quench their thirst and keep them hydrated.  This recipe ups the alcohol content by adding Clear Belgian Candi Sugar and Agave Nectar at the end of the boil.  This additional sugar is more food for the yeast to ferment without adding more body, keeping the beer light but increasing the kick.  And this recipe has another strength: jalapeno!

Hops, Agave Nectar, more hope, yeast, jalapeno, clear Belgian Candi sugar.  All this make a mighty fine brew.

If You've Been Worried About Me...

Worry not!  I haven't fallen into a well, just live a busy life and haven't put time into beer writing.  But I have been beer making since posting last on Feb 7.  Here's what I've been up to:

• The Winter Wheat has been tested and is... alright. I think it's a bit sour, but my neighbor and fellow brewer liked it.  
• The PB & Porter has been tasted with several bottles drunk and is a success!  The mouthfeel has the texture of peanut butter, and the aroma is there, but the flavor doesn't have any PB in it, which is strange but ok.  Overall, I think that beer turned out well and I like it!
• I have a goal to have three different batches of homebrew ready for grilling season starting Memorial Day.  For that I brewed two 1-gal batches back-to-back in two days.  I brewed the Jalapeno Saison again and then a S'Mores Beer the next day, and three weeks later I brewed a BBQ Beer, all of which will have their own posts soon enough.  The first two have fermented and have been bottled, the third is still fermenting.
• I've been planning my next brews and they will both be IPAs.  One will be a black IPA based on a recipe a former roommate gave me that's similar to Stone's Sublimely Self-Righteous Ale.  The other will be an IPA that uses only Zythos hops, a Hopunion homemade hop strain, from a recipe found at Hopunion.com.  The first will be brewed sometime in April.

So with the winter winding down, although Cleveland just got hit with a couple inches of snow, I'm looking toward the summer and am even planning for the fall.  Expect two pumpkin beers by Halloween, the porter again and a brown ale this year, and I hope to get a good stout going for next winter.  My beer efforts continue even if I don't dedicate much time to documenting my exploits here.

Until next time friends, happy brewing!