From a Wandering Mind

I've been having a lot of thoughts lately on different high gravity ales to make in the upcoming months. Most of these beer will take a good amount of time to ferment, age and condition, but the prospects of whats running through my head get me very excited and god and money willing all of these beers will come to be. I thought I'd share some of the ideas with you and see if any of them got you excited about drinking beer.

Sometime this month or next I am going to do an experimental batch (~3 gals) of an imperial chocolate pumpkin porter that should weigh in around 8.5% ABV. I would like to have this ale ready for the Oktoberfest party and pass it around in my 3L glass from Germany so that everyone can get a taste. If its not ready by September, it should hopefully be ready by Halloween. Next, I had an idea to brew a Belgian Dark Strong Ale (Quadruple). I believe I'm going to do 5 gals of this beer and keg 3 gals of the original brew. With one gallon I'm going to add 1.5 lbs of cherries to referment and then I'm going to bottle condition it. The other gallon I'm going to bourbon age using oak cubes and Makers Mark. I will be bottling this gallon as well. I'm hoping this ale will be ready by Christmas (fingers crossed) so that I can have it on Tap on New Years Eve this year. Also this summer I'm going to make my first attempt at brewing an English Old Ale, which is similar to a Barley Wine. I'm only gonna brew 3 gallons of it because its my first attempt and to brew 5 gallons would require more equipment than I have. This brew should be very malty and boozey. I will need to age in the keg for quit a while, so hopefully by next spring it will be ready to sample and by next fall ready to drink. Additionally, I'll be brewing two of my favorite ales this summer. I'm gonna brew Batch #2 of Kremlin Joe's Russian Imperial Stout this August and Batch #2 of The Palate Pulverizer this September. Look for both to have a gallon or 2 aged in bourbon soaked oak cubes and both should be ready to drink for the winter months......mmmmm drunk times!

My mind is always wandering in different directions for things that I can do with beer. I will of course post when each of these brews is ready to consume, so be sure to tune in and pass out!

Cheers,
Matt