A second attempt at a prickly pear beer. The
one I made last year still isn't very good. I tried a bottle today, so I know for sure. This year, I did things a little different. First, no honey. Second, no cooking of the prickly pears. I just added them at flame out and let them sit for about 10 minutes. Like last year, I ran them through my food processor first to make sort of a prickly pear soup.
10 gallon batch.
15 lbs 2-row
1 lbs wheat
8 lbs prickly pears (just a guess, I didn't actually weigh them)
2 oz Delta hops, 60 minutes
Wyeast 1318, London Ale III yeast
Mash at 152F.
I didn't calculate any sugar contribution from the pears, so I really don't know what they add. Just the grain should have given me an OG of 1.045, I ended up with 1.052 actual. Volumes were dead on, so I'm going to guess the difference is from the pears.
I used the
new stainless braids that I made today. They worked very well.
A few brewday pictures:
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wlnEVQQBwPQ/TaJ1G2g3_pI/AAAAAAAAF5g/0RdZABYofuM/s640/IMG_1284.JPG) |
The prickly pears. Lots of seeds and a lot of very small cactus spines. |
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MtJZpJzG_nQ/TaJ1HHH0PsI/AAAAAAAAF5o/oMnbiLVIQV4/s640/IMG_1286.JPG) |
About 2 gallons after the food processor. |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_Ik9jtfmk38/TaJ1HGk892I/AAAAAAAAF5k/KORKe5T4Rp4/s640/IMG_1287.JPG) |
New screen in the boil kettle. |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1sgkNOUbfvI/TaJ1IRrDoyI/AAAAAAAAF5s/yWhB2IlEFOE/s640/IMG_1288.JPG) |
New screen in the mash tun. |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0Ju9y1gIAXQ/TaJ1JmBBspI/AAAAAAAAF5w/e9PTGInWAeQ/s640/IMG_1289.JPG) |
No screen in the HLT. |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IaXWXEef4fY/TaJ1L4O9gXI/AAAAAAAAF50/IEHfkJzyHTs/s640/IMG_1290.JPG) |
Grain is ready to grind. |
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FS0oSpYfHrI/TaJ1Nxt0h-I/AAAAAAAAF54/OrfmlUt4Sb4/s640/IMG_1291.JPG) |
Grinding grain. Mostly 2-row with a little wheat. |
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yuzhcGOH-Ds/TaJ1QuorCbI/AAAAAAAAF58/75zSEwitTH4/s640/IMG_1292.JPG) |
A picture of me brewing. |
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MFRyYqHFzrc/TaJ1TAnTXiI/AAAAAAAAF6A/FfF9fc1_JOo/s640/IMG_1293.JPG) |
Another picture of me. |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-il6R8xF0JEQ/TaJ1UHQkncI/AAAAAAAAF6E/XDSTHlZRX00/s640/IMG_1294.JPG) |
Mash out. I sure do like this thermometer. |
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-y5j5lmAdabg/TaJ1WCh2vfI/AAAAAAAAF6M/4CxREDOSqiI/s640/IMG_1295.JPG) |
Hops are ready. I went with Delta instead of Willamette because I was out of Willamette. |
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r9kOxkp1QWU/TaJ1YosQy9I/AAAAAAAAF6Q/We5r7WKmjoc/s640/IMG_1296.JPG) |
I put this screen over the boil kettle because the trees kept dropping things. |
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jUBvTpeUgQs/TaJ1cHmo6AI/AAAAAAAAF6Y/nBsfcUPq8jo/s640/IMG_1297.JPG) |
Those are the things I hope to prevent from getting in my beer. |
![](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-m0Gno1PHXRs/TaJ1dQbu-vI/AAAAAAAAF6c/78AdfMxAvHA/s640/IMG_1300.JPG) |
Those are the trees. Last day of skiing at Bogus. |
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-budgXQk9bwY/TaJ1d0CtAlI/AAAAAAAAF6g/dd5umTKqdrE/s640/IMG_1302.JPG) |
It's quite red in color, no scorched flavor this year! |
![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Z0kiK7eWFrE/TaJ1f2eCdeI/AAAAAAAAF6k/R3VYEkpSk9U/s640/IMG_1303.JPG) |
Almost done, just filling the fermenters. |
Looks tasty. Hoping for a sample in a month or two. Cheers!
ReplyDeleteLooks tasty. Hoping to get a sample in a couple of months. Cheers!
ReplyDelete