Inspired by the scent of prairie cedar carried on the wind and a love of Scottish Heather Ale, we decided to try capturing those two essences in a medium bodied winter lager. This experiment is loosely based on two other recipes…a scotch ale and a honey spruce lager. Our concoction follows Feel free to try it out for yourself, or wait until we report back on the ultimate results. We’re also interested in your own successes and hope you’re willing to share!
5 Gallon Recipe for Cedar Logger
- 3.3 lbs. unhopped amber malt extract syrup
- 3.0 lbs plain dried amber malt extract
- 1 lb local honey
- 1 lb toasted rye berries
- 1.5 oz Cascade hops (boiling)
- .5 oz Hallertau hops (finishing)
- 1/4 C berries from prairie cedar (or use Juniper berries)
- 1 pkg lager yeast
- 3/4 C corn sugar (for bottling)
Add toasted crushed rye grains to 1.5 gallons of cold water. Remove the grains when boiling commences. Add the malt extract, honey, and boiling hops and continue to boil for 45 minutes. Add the finishing hops and crushed berries during the final few minutes of boiling. Sparge immediately into the fermenter and cold water. Add yeast when cool and bottle when fermentation is complete.
This first batch is currently bubbling away, and smells darned good. We’ll post an update after sampling the finished brew!
UPDATE: This was a consistent big hit, and will be a regular seasonal feature brew.
February 19, 2009 at 9:15 pm
I sat here down here with a Purple PIls, and so it shall be reviewed, with ramblings on the Cedar Logger soon forthcoming…
Cob sent me away with a tester last week, and what I can recall still holds true: it it the most luscious of Thistledown brews I’ve encountered as of yet! In these fluxing days of late winter, it is the richness of the Purple Pils which makes my toes twitch the most. The maltiness is right there, for sure, but then, there it is in the middle: the complex sweetness of blueberries!
I’m not going to pour it out of the bottle, because I don’t have a glass anyhow. Nonetheless, the aroma is all citrusy goodness and maybe some blueberries too, though of never been able to pin down their smell, me being from Illinois.
I don’t know if Cob stuck the hydrometer in this one, but I say it’s pretty strong: after just two, the green Paintshop bunny on the label is telling me to throw cabbage at the cos playing Settlers in the Great Room. There will be none of that.
All in all, I say the Purple Pils is a smooth and juicy extravaganza, perfect for an evening of Joanna Newsom and seed catalogs… Thanks Thistledown! Love, Thermos