Fireplace Contraband #2
Last night, I opened the first bottle of Fireplace Contraband #2, my second homebrew creation. The beer is a doppelbock, about which I’ve previously posted. It is very dark, quite strong, and, for only my second creation, successful.
I brewed it using honey, which China immediately noticed upon tasting it, coriander, which is subdued, and cinnamon. A lot of cinnamon. As you can probably guess from the image I chose to accompany this post, possibly too much cinnamon. The smell of cinnamon, as Adir pointed out, is overpowering.
Luckily, however, the cinnamon does not overpower the taste of the beer. While the smell is unquestionably cinnamon-y, the taste focuses more on the honey and the malt. It reminds me, in this way, a lot of Pyramid Audacious Apricot, which, although the apricot smell is very strong, only has undertones of apricot taste.
I’m satisfied with Fireplace Contraband #2, largely because it’s darker, fuller, richer, and less sweet than FC1 was. This was a big plus for both Yoni and Adir who felt that last year’s creation was too sweet. However, I still have a long way to go in my home-brewing future.
My verdict is as follows: Sight – beautiful color, nice full head, strong consistent full body. Aroma – Overpowering cinnamon takes away from the other scents of the beer. Taste – Full bodied taste with obvious honey tones. Feel – Very smooth with a great finish.
And of course, another benefit is that since my beer is brewed right here in my room, I get one more beer to add to my American Beer List. Evviva!
[...] Recently at lunch in the JTS cafeteria, my friend Adam asked how one goes about making Beer Can Chicken. Amidst the discussion of marinating and sitting a chicken on top of a can of beer, I realized that actually I use a lot of beer in my cooking, if only because it’s unbelievably delicious. [It helps that I always have a plentiful beer supply.] [...]