Sugar Plum Winter Lager with Juniper

[mashani]

I've made something very much like this before, and am rekindling it for a friend who enjoyed the last batch. It's turns out like an extra smooth Baltic porter with a bit of Juniper on the finish to keep it from being cloying. It compliments the dark fruitiness of it nicely. This is a partial mash due to Munich.

For 2.5 gallons

A mash of:

2# Weyermann German Munich Malt
3oz Honey Malt
6oz Special B

Add a cold steep of

3oz Roasted Barley (24 hour cold steep)

Add

3# MoreBeer Pilsner LME

1/3oz Magnum (12.6) @60
1/3oz Juniper Berries (crushed) @10

I used WLP810 last time I made this, but I'm going with 34/70 this time. My temps will be around 57-59, so it should be happy.

Don't have OG yet but it should be around 1.066-1.070. Should be around 26 SRM. If it's like last time it will have nice dark ruby hues.

I'm waffling about adding 4oz dextrose, which I may do if my OG is 1.066 or <

EDIT - OG was 1.066, so I went ahead and added 4oz of dextrose boiled in a little bit of water. That took me up to 1.070 at closer to 2.6 gallons of final volume. Which is about perfecto, and at 34 IBUs, the extra drying out will be a good thing.

I pitched a pack and a half of 34/70, because my 34/70 is old and that's what Mr. Malty says.

I've been a bad boy and munching on special b while I brewed LOL.

[bpgreen]

Looks interesting. I don't think I've used juniper berries in anything but a great before. I've had a commercial beer that had them, though.

I wasn't sure if I'd like the flavor, since I'm not a big fan of gin. But I haven't tried gin in a long time, so maybe I'd find that I like it now.

[mashani]

Nowhere near as strong as gin is the affect here with this amount. There is some fruitiness to the berries that is overwhelmed by the piney/gin like flavors normally, but the special b and honey malt bring it out and overpower the flavors you think of as in gin. In this beer, it comes across kind of like a modest piney late hop addition, except you can't figure out what the hop was exactly, and with berries on top. You can also use 50/50 mix of 120L and Special B if you want to tone down the dark fruit a bit. But I like it in this with the Juniper. I think if you like late additions of Mosiac where you get some pine and berries, you would like the mix of dark crystal and juniper. It's not the same, but it's a similar affect. The juniper does add a little bit of extra bitterness, which is welcome in a beer like this.

Besides in beers like this, I've used Juniper in Saisons, IPAs, Rye IPAs (it is awesome in those) Roggenbiers (awesome in those too), even in a Kolsch instead of any late hops. I've always been happy with how it turns out. But 1/4 to 1/3 oz is usually plenty in a 2.5 gallon batch, with 1/4 being better if your grain bill is simple (saison, kolsch, that sort of thing). Saison was the beer that was the most ginny, because of how dry it fermented out. But it still wasn't like taking a swig of gin, it was still more subtle. Any more then that and it will start to get more intense. Which is good if you like it. But I like it more subtle.

If you are using rye in any way, Juniper is a good addition IMHO.

You can rack your hot worth through fresh picked juniper fronds with fresh berries if you can find them and get a more complex affect then just the berries, as some of the resin from the fronds gets into the mix. But you have to be sure it's really juniper, and pesticide free. Which isn't easy where I live. There are things that are "juniper like" that are more toxic* and you don't want that. Also the intensity of the results while doing this is somewhat unpredictable.

* (juniper is technically toxic, but nobody eats enough of it to notice)

[mashani]

Bottled this at 1.016.

It is very smooth already.

[mashani]

I popped a sampler after warm conditioning but no real lagering yet (this bottle was in fridge for a few days, that's all). This is really good right now without any lagering. But I know it will get even better with some, so the rest will stay in the cold for a while. It looks like a brown porter, but it tastes more like a Baltic porter, except smoother. I'm pretty happy with how the 34/70 worked in this. It's even smoother then the WLP810 was.

The juniper flavor is noticeable - but it's not too much. It plays against the special b nicely. There is some nice aroma from the malts and juniper.

I'll give some of this to the Dawg one day to see what he thinks of it. I'm sure the person I brewed it for will like it a lot. This would be easy to drink fast, but it will be good for a year or even longer, and will be interesting to see how it changes with age.

[mashani]

A picture of the second half of my taster bottle (it was a big bottle because this is meant to share with friends). This stuff is yummy.

IMG_1710.JPG (47.66 KiB) Viewed 373 times