Let the scratch brewing begin

Scratch brewing season! We started the season off last weekend planting our Cascade hops, Black Lace Elderberry, Juniper, Raspberries, Lemon Balm, Bee Balm, Moonshine Yarrow. All ingredients for our scratch brewing experimental beers for brewing this spring and summer. We got lucky this year and saved some money by finding the plant sale at the senior center, talk about a good deal! Who could turn down those old folks in their Lions Club vests! 

Here are how some of these plants are used in brewing:

Juniper: Can be propagated from seeds, but germination may take up to two years. Cuttings are a more reliable method. To harvest pick the berries starting in the second year (Bummer none this year) after they turn color; the needles can be picked throughout the season. Brewing: Foliage and berries have be en used to flavor traditional ales and gin in the Netherlands for centuries. Use fresh berries 1-2 tablespoons late in the boil for a ginlike flavor, use the leaves 1-4 ounces to the secondary fermenter to give a bittersweet aroma. 

Elder: We bought the blacklace elderberry plant. Harvest: Harvest flowers when they are open, berries when fully riped. Brewing: Use 2 ounces of the flowers for dry hopping. Use 1-6 pounds of berries to add a sweet, honeylike flavor to fruit beer. WARNING: Flowers and berries are edible the bark and leaves are poisonous and shouldn't be eaten!!

Lemon Balm: Harvest: Cut the leaves just before plants flower. Use fresh or dry immediately after harvest. Brewing: Use 1/2 an ounce of the fresh leaves late in the boil to add a strong lemon scent and flavor. 

Yarrow: Harvest: Pick the leaves and flowers soon after the plants come into bloom. Brewing: Used to bitter 1/2 ounce of fresh leaves or blossoms early in the boil for a mild bittering. 

Source: The Homebrewer's Garden & The Drunken Botanist 

We also planted the hops. Which took a full day of clearing blackberry bushes and digging holes. We used a large bamboo pole and hemp twine for our trellis. This year we planted eight Cascade rhizomes from Hops Direct.   

Building the hop trellis

Tommy also started the season off with a scratch brew of Dandelion Bitter Ale. This ale is a bright brown-orange and cloudy, with a sour piquancy unlike that of hops. Yield 5 gallons. 

Stewing the Dandelions

Dandelion Bitter Ale-

Grain Bill:

5.00 lbs. Maris Otter

0.75 lbs. Bairds Crystal 60*L

0.50 lbs. Dingemans Aromatic Malt 17-21*L

1.00 lbs. Briess Victory Malt 28*L

Adjuncts:

2.00 lbs. Dandelions (flowers, stalks, leaves, and roots); soaked multiple times & cleaned well

1.00 oz. Kent hops (15 minutes prior to flameout)

2.00 oz. homegrown hops (2 minutes prior to flameout)

Mash the grains from above at 153 degrees for one hour.  Boil the dandelions for 45 minutes then remove the large matter.  Fifteen minutes before flameout, add the Kent hops (I used store-bought pellets).  Two minutes before flameout, add the homegrown hops (I used this past season's hops, so they were a little tamed from before).

This year it was a Dandelion Bitter instead of Dandelion Cream Ale.  It was also all-grain brewed (using Brew-In-A-Bag, aka BIAB), so the efficiency took a slight hit, but the OG was at 1.045 or so.

Finding a clean place to pick the Dandelions is the hard part

Cranberry Walnut Bread

Cranberry Walnut Bread is my favorite and when we moved to Seattle two years ago I went on a long hunt to find the cities best. To my sheer surprise I couldn't find any in Seattle! Finally after asking the hundred (well like 4th) bakery in town and they told me to "google it" I decided it was time to make my own.

Here is my simple easy no fuss Cranberry Walnut Bread Recipe:

Makes enough to share!

You will need:

• 2 cups warm water, not hot 
• One packet of Yeast
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 5-ish cups flour, all-purpose or wheat
• 1 Cup of Cranberries (more or less depending on you)
• 1 Cup of Walnuts (more or less depending on you) I like to get the cranberries and walnuts from the bulk section it is cheaper this way.

To Do:

1. Mix the yeast into the water.
2. Combine the salt with two cups flour.
3. Add the flour and salt to the water, stirring.
4. Add the rest of the flour and continue to stir until the dough holds together and is not wet.
5. Add the cranberries and walnuts
6. Place the dough onto a clean, floured surface and knead. If you need to add more flour do so you want it to more sticky than dry. 
7. Knead until you can hold the dough up to the light and stretch a portion of it and you can see light through it before it breaks. App. 10 minutes
8. Shape the bread into two or three Italian-shaped loaves or several mini-loaves. Do this by pressing the dough flat and folding it into thirds, or by rolling it up. Put the ugly seamed side down and tuck under the ends. Place the loaves on a lightly greased pan. 
9. Set on top of the fridge or other out of the way place, the oven is too hot and will kill the yeast.
10. Let rise until about doubled in size. App. 45 minutes 
11. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. 
12. Slash the top of the loaves several times diagonally, and place a small pan of water on the bottom rack. This makes the crust nice and soft. This is optional however so if you want to keep it simple don't mess with it. 
13. Put the dough in the oven. 
14. Bake 12 to 20 minutes or more, depending on the size of your loaves and pans.
15. Tap the bread; if it sounds hollow, it’s done or take an instant read thermometer. If the temp reads 190 to 210, it’s done.
16. Remove let cool a little and enjoy! 

Our Seattle Summer & Fall

Apple Harvest

We went apple picking in Skagit valley and had lots of apple leftover to make goodies with. We rented an apple machine from our local tool library and easily peeled, cored and sliced the apples.

 "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." -- Martin Luther

Apple Butter
-6 pounds peeled, cored, quartered apples
-2 cups sweet cider
-3 cups sugar
-1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

-In a heavy, nonreactive pot, cook the apples in the cider simmering slowly until tender. Process the cooked apples through a food mill, or press through a sieve.

-Return the apple pulp to the pot and add the sugar and spices. Simmer slowly, uncovered, stirring frequently as the mixture thickens. When it is very thick and mounds up on the spoon, transfer the hot mixture to sterilized canning jars, leaving a 1/4 inch headspace. Process in a boiling-water bath for 10 minutes. Careful it is Hot!
Yield: about 3 pints

Canned Apple Pie Filling
-4 1/2 cups white sugar
-1 cup cornstarch
-2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
-2 teaspoons salt
-10 cups water
-3 tablespoons lemon juice
-6 pounds apples

1. In a large pan mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg. Add salt, water & mix well. Bring to boil and cook until thick and bubbly. Remove from the heat and add lemon juice.
2. Sterilize canning jars, lids, rings by boiling.
3. Peel, core, slice apples. Pack apples in hot canning jars leaving a 1/2 inch headspace.
2. Fill jars with hot syrup & gently remove the air bubbles with a knife.
3. Put lids on and process in water bath for 20 minutes.

Hard Cider-
2- gallon jugs of Old Fashioned Apple Cider (we got our's locally from Cedardale Orchards in Mt. Vernon)
2 -half gallons jugs spiced cider from Trader Joe's
2- half gallons apple juice from Trader Joe's
5 Camden Tablets
Pectic Enzyme
White Labs Champagne Yeast

1. Sanitize a food grade bucket as the primary fermentor.
2. Pour in all the cider into the bucket.
3. Crush 5 campden tablets in the mixture. (Pitching) to kill off wild yeast and unwanted bacteria that occur naturally.
4. Wait one week
5. Add pectic enzyme & pitched white labs champagne yeast.
6. Ferment until dry. Starting gravity of about 1.1
7. Age for 2 weeks
8. Bottle
9. Age for at least 4 months

Happy Fall!

Fennel Liqueurs

We grew some fennel in our backyard garden this summer and with it brings the fall harvest. We wanted to experiment with creating infused liqueurs so here is our first shot. It turned out great! IT's sweet with a hint of licorice!

Fennel Liqueur-
1. Bottle of Vodka of the Gods from Trader Joe's
2. 10 heads of fennel (when they are yellow and flowering)
3. 1 cup sugar for one quart vodka
4. 3 gallons water
5. Cheese Cloth

-Harvest Fennel and seed. Place fennel seeds in mason jar
-Pour sugar on top of fennel seeds
-Take 3 gallons of water and heat to 160 degrees and place mason jar in the water sealed. Take off heat and place pot and mason jar in the oven (without heat)
-Let sit for 1 hour
- Strain with cheese cloth
-Chill and pour over ice
-Enjoy!

Lesser known facts about fennel:
*Fennel is used for various digestive problems, also used for upper respiratory tract infections and visual problems.
* Fennel powder can be used for a poultice for snakebites.
* Fennel oil is used as a flavoring agent in food and beverages.

Summer's Beer Brewing Bounty

This summer we grew a small herb garden and grew ingredients for small craft scratch brews and other kitchen essentials. We have lavender, chamomile, coriander, fennel, and peppers.

Coriander-
Coriander can be used in cooking for  homemade hummus and falafel, in sautés, and sometimes even on plain pasta.
Harvesting: 
Coriander is cilantro that has gone to seed so if you are a lazy gardener this is the plant for you! Coriander that isn’t fully dried tastes bitter so once you have picked your seeds be sure they dry completely. We live in Seattle so our coriander was ready to be harvested in early September.
Brewing: The seeds are a traditional ingredient in Belgian White beers and holiday ales. They have a sweet, clovelike flavor. The fresh leaves have a strong, distinctive scent and flavor used as a regular ingredient in Mexican and Chinese cooking. Use from one sprig to one ounce of fresh leaves or 1/4 to 2 ounces of seeds at the beginning of the boil for flavoring. (The Homebrewer's Garden pg.73)

Lavender- If you ask my mom what CAN'T lavender do!? And she's not the only one, lavender is known for its relaxing qualities as well as its gentle smell.   
Harvesting: 
Cut the leaves and flowers 6 inches below the flower spikes just as blooms open.
Brewing:
Lavender has a history as a brewing ingredient dating back to at least to the 1600s. It contributes a complex bitterness much like that of heather. Use 1/2 ounce of fresh or dried flowers late in the boil. The flowers can also be used for dry hopping (The Homebrewer's Garden,pg.86)

Chamomile-
Chamomile has been used as a medicine for thousands of years, dating back to the ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks.

Read more: http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/german-chamomile-000232.htm#ixzz26sgtaRl9

 Harvesting: You'll harvest the flower heads at their peak and dry them whole. After they are completely dry, you can crumble them up to store them. No stems and no leaves. OR You can use chamomile fresh by keeping dried herbs as whole as possible. Crushing/crumbling releases the volatile oils and there goes the flavor and medicinal value. You can crush as you use the herb. 
Brewing: Mild when stepped, it begcomes bitter when boiled. Use 1/4 to 2 ounces of fresh flowers at the end of the boil for bitterness. (The Homebrewer's Garden, pg.71)

Hops-

Tommy Harvesting

This is the most obvious beer ingredient in our summer's bounty. Hope growing in the Pacific Northwest is a proud tradition dating back to the late 19th century. We got our start from our landlord and neighbor. He had some old hop variety in his garden that wasn't growing, so he gave us some of our own to try out. In a matter of weeks we had a growing thriving hop plant in our yard. 
 

A great resource for if you are interested in learning more and how we got started is "The Homebrewer's Garden" by Joe Fisher & Dennis Fisher.

Our Seattle Spring

Our Seattle Spring