Spiced Cherry Holiday Stout

This will be my third foray into the world of spiced holiday ales. I intend to spice the beer by infusing a few ounces of bourbon with fresh cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and vanilla bean for a week, then dosing the batch at kegging time to taste. The cherry flavor will come from the addition of 64 oz tart cherry juice concentrate to the secondary fermentors. This beer has potential for great success or failure. Time will tell.

Brewer:	Matthew R.		Email:	mathstew@gmail.com
Beer:	Spiced Cherry Holiday Stout		Style:	Irish Dry Stout
Type:	All grain		Size:	10.5 gallons
Color:	204 HCU		Bitterness:	31 IBU
OG:	1.060		FG:	1.010
Alcohol:	6.5% v/v (5.1% w/w)
Water:	RO water, pH adjusted as necessary.
Grain:	3.54 lb. Roasted barley 4.4 lb. Flaked barley 7 oz. American black patent 1 lb. British Crystal 75 9 lb. American pale .75 lb. Belgian aromatic 3 lb. German Munich
Mash:	83% efficiency
	Mash hot (156*F) for one hour to leave some sweetness in the final beer -- sweetness that will somewhat balance the tartness from the fermented cherry juice. Double batch sparge to yield 12.5 gallons pre-boil volume.
Boil:	60 minutes	SG 1.051	12.5 gallons
	Wyeast yeast nutrient added 5 minutes before flameout.
Hops:	2 oz. Northern Brewer (8.5% AA, 60 min.)
Yeast:	2 pkts US05, rehydrated.
Carbonation:	Force carbonate to 2.0 volumes and bottle with my Blichmann beer gun -- instant holiday gifts.
Tasting:	One fermentor doused with 64 oz of cherry concentrate, the other fermmentor was left "plain." I ended up using a ratio of one part cherry stout to 4 parts plain beer. The tart cherry flavor is very prominent unless diluted accordingly. The spice tincture method worked perfectly: 1.5 tsp of my tincture nailed the spice level perfectly. Overall, a really complex beer that was beloved by all on my xmas list, but not my cup-o-tea (I typically don't care for spiced or fruit beers). Next time around I would chemically arrest fermentation before adding anything cherry to preserve the fresh (non-fermented) fruit character.

Recipe posted 10/27/11.