I am a little shamed to admit I’ve not brewed since I did a fresh-hop ale back in October of 2009. Thesis work, kids, renovations, sloth, and guilt all got in the way. But tomorrow morning I’ll be brewing a Cascadian Dark Ale, which I’ve not yet “officially” tried. I’ve brewed a few browns and stouts that were a bit too hoppy, but this will actually be to style. Well…. if you can call it a style yet. When trying to find a guideline, I saw several different versions. I suppose I could aim for the top for the range, but I’m going to try incorperate fresh hops from my yard so there’s a bit of unpredictable going in to the brew.
A while back I’d spoken to my man Joe about how to create a successful dark without imparting too much burn flavor, and he recommended either steeping or mashing carafa III. Having since tried O’ Dark:30, I figured he know’s what he’s doing. Sadly, Steinbarts (which was a zoo) only had carafa II, so if the beer fails…
The malt bill will be:
- 10 lbs domestic 2-row
- 8 lbs Gambrinus pilsner malt
- 1 lb Crystal 60
- 1 lb Crystal 20 (they ran out of 60)
- 1 lbs German Carafa II
- 1 lbs domestic chocolate malt
The jury is still out on hops, but I have a 1 lbs brick of Cascades begging to get in on this. It’s a whopping 8.6% alpha, so I really need to be cautious. Plus, I have a yet to be determined amount of fresh Centennial hops which are just lovely, but I doubt it’ll amount to more than an ounce or two, wet.
So, the gear is staged in the garage, ready to go, and I’ll get up and start heating the HLT at 6am tomorrow, hoping to knock off with 10 gallons of wort and no more “dishes” by noon.
Glad you’re getting back to it!
Don’t worry, Carafa II will be just fine. It would be fine even if you didn’t steep it. I use it frequently. In fact, I had never even heard of III until now.
Hope the brew went well!