Trail Mix Brown Ale

I recently was sitting eating trail mix and inspiration suddenly arrived.  I wondered if I could somehow infuse a beer with some of the great flavors in the trail mix, including dried cranberries, raisins, bananas, chocolate and nut flavors.

My hop additions including both Williamette and Fuggle hops.  I wanted to keep the  hop flavor low in order to not compete with the large amount of flavors going into the brew.

My specialty grains included 6 oz of Chocolate Malt, 8oz of Biscuit Malt, 8 oz of Cara 20, and 8 oz of carapils.  I am hoping both the chocolate and biscuit flavors show through.

At flameout, I added 1 pound of  pureed raisins.I am hoping to get some nice, subtle raisin undertones.

 It was now time to use my new wort chiller.  Thank god for this simple tool.

 Upon racking into the secondary, I added 8 oz of dried bananas and cranberries.  I want to give this brown ale flavors that are tasted in the aftertaste and not boldly upfront.  

I will post again upon first tasting.  This could go either way.

New Equipment!

I recently got some new brewing equipment and it rules.


First, my wife purchased me 2 Corny Kegs and a regulator.  This means nice, cold fresh draft beer avaialble in the house at all times!  I  immediately racked both my Blueberry Amber and Chicorye into the kegs.  Both beers turned out great.  Very pleased with the results.

The second piece of equipment I purchased was a nice new wort chiller. This is such an upgrade from chilling my wort in a cold sink or freezer.