Coren's Corner: Cocoa's Nut House

Greetings everyone! Time for another trip to Coren's Corner, and this time it is a special one: my first day doing the brewing!

 We all know that I join Brian when gets the itch to boil a pot of wort. Hell, he even calls me his “malt muse.”  This time around, however, we shook it up a bit and I had the opportunity to do my very first batch completely on my own (with Brian within shouting distance, just in case).  

The reason this beer came to be was something like a daydream that hit me last week.  Brian already has laid out a schedule for himself on what he wanted to make for the next few months.  So, I figured if he knows when he isn't brewing, why not brew one of my own?  

So, the question came down to be what exactly did I want to make?  There were two styles that were stuck in my head:  nut brown ale or an ESB (Extra Special Bitter). What it came down to was, with this being my first brew, I did not want anything that was too complicated.  I decided to go with the nut brown ale.  Brian and I came up with ideas of what exactly I wanted to the recipe.  Ultimately, I wanted it to be nutty with a hint of vanilla.  Brian just ran with the idea and the results of the recipe came out with balance being the name of the game.

For malts, we needed some color, so we went with  Crystal 10L, Brown, and Pale Chocolate (roughly 25% of the grain bill). Brian also suggested keeping this close to its source, so he opted for Maris Otter and Mild to further compliment the roasty, nutty notes. We rounded it out with some extract to fill out the rest, some flaked oats for more body, and just for kicks, we added some honey at the very end to add to the dry finish.

Now, when it comes to hops, Brian is a real hophead, but he also respects the origins of a style. He restrained himself to using only British hops, which got us to about 28 IBUs overall.

The special ingredients were some actual nuts, which is not typically done in this style. Nut brown is a commentary on the color, not an extra ingredient. Brian thought we could slide by and use some roasted pecans in the very end of the boil, along with some whole vanilla beans, to enhance the flavor of the various malts. Smelling it I think he made the right call.

For a yeast, we just went simple and used Wyeast 1335 for the extra dryness in the finish of the beer. Plus, this one does a better job of cleaning itself up, which Brian explained means I get my beer in my hands faster!

Now, like I said, I've been right there with Brian for almost all of  his different brewing sessions.  But, since I was taking the reins on this one, I was a little nervous.  Brian has told me over and over again that rules 1 through 3 of brewing are the same: 1) Sanitize 2) Sanitize 3) Sanitize. I was pretty comfortable knowing what I did from watching him over the past year, so I wasn't worried about that. 

The other major rule, however, is to watch the clock.  I had to make sure I added all the ingredients at the right time in order for the wort to end up at the right gravity and taste good. Now, I'm not one to brag, but I was VERY much on my game that day, but I appreciated the fact Brian was there to help.

Can I tell you something though? I LOVED that immediately the beer was a nice smooth dark brown.  The hops added a great smell to it as we hit the different additions, plus, we added a our roasted pecans and vanilla right at the end.  I am very curious to see what impact they have on the overall beer.

I do have to admit that it was a ton more fun to make beer than watching it, so I know why Brian always enjoys this. The work afterwards, though, sucked. Transferring this to the carboy was labor-intensive to say the least. That part is very boring and back breaking, due to straining all the little bits out of the wort before adding the yeast.  It seems like it takes forever and I am an impatience person, but I did see the value to it as we got more and more stuff out of the beer that just didn't need to be there. Maybe next time Brian will just do that part for me while I get a refill on my pint (a girl can always hope!).

After a few days, I can say that Cocoa’s Nut House (still makes me laugh) is currently fermenting nicely.  I believe it will stay in the 6 gallon carboy for at least 2 weeks and then it moves to secondary to let some more conditioning to take place. We also get to reinvigorate this with a bit more vanilla and pecans for a few days before it goes to bottle. I am super excited to have this beer on a not-so-distant summer night in front of a bonfire!

I do want to take a moment to thank Brian for all of his knowledge and helping me gain the confidence to just want to make my first beer, let alone actually doing it.

I will for sure keep everyone updated on the process of the beer.  

Until than, Cheers!!!!

Coren