The Yeastworks has been sadly quiet for the last month or so due a number of factors—kids moving in and out, the Jewish holidays, and then this:

Apparently, we had flying ants, not termites, but we haven’t tented the house in ten years, so let’s not let the house get eaten.  Everything comestible in the house—including brewing ingredients—went into that box in front of the Yeastworks for three days while the house was pumped full of poison gas.

Obsidian Malt and a whole lot of rice hulls

On Sunday I was finally able to start my new project.  I’ve been itching to try making a beer with Obsidian malt, a specialty barley tracking its heritage back to Egypt.  This grain is naturally a purplish-greyish color.  Yes, this is just another stop on my quest to make a naturally-hued purple beer.

Most beer recipes (including mine) call for a blend of grains to adjust for taste, color, mouthfeel, and fermentability.  But this was clearly the occasion for a single-malt:  let’s see what Obsidian would do all by its lonesome.  It is huskless, so I threw in some rice hulls so the wort would filter nicely.

Cleaning out the hop bin

The other theme for Sunday was garbage hops.  I firmly believe in the power of restrictions to spur creativity, and I’ve amassed a whole lot of excess hops over the past year.  How do we create an interesting flavor balance from the stuff left over in the fridge?  This beer wants to be a Double IPA, so there will be no hiding if this didn’t work.

Stirring the mash

I enjoyed triple-decocting Sunset Dervish several weeks ago, and the results were tasty, so why not do it again?  As a result, today was basically a whole lot of boiling and stirring.  

Still not purple

And after all that, did I get my purple beer?  No, but I’m not too sad about it—the wort came out a truly lovely copper.  You generally need a dash of roasted malt to get into this hue neighborhood—cool to get it from a base malt.

So into the fermenter we go!  Look forward to sharing the results with you in a month or so!