We have the ingredients, we can brew it better, tastier...

So I've gotten my two pre-planned brews made, fermented and bottled (Humpday Peach Ale and a Cranberry Honey Wheat). In my downtime, I'm working on considering what my next brew will be. I've got enough "parts" left over to make two half-batches right now. Some of what I've got right now was bought with the intent of making a Scottish ale and a Bavarian anything. Problem is, I don't feel like trying my hand at secondary fermentation, which I understand is a hallmark of a Scottish ale. And I'm kind of bored with Euro style beers at the moment, so I may pass on a general Bavarian. Without further ado, here's the list of ingredients I have on hand:

3 lb. Dark DME

3 lb. Sparkling Amber DME

1 packet of Wyeast 1728 - Scottish Ale

1 packet of Wyeast 3056 - Bavarian Wheat

A whole bunch of different hops, at least 8 varieties

One of my ideas was to take the dark DME and the one of the yeasts (perhaps the Scottish?) and make a festive apple cinnamon (real cinnamon sticks) beer since those always seem to be done as lighter beers. I could make it interesting and make an apple pumpkin cinnamon but that might be going to far.

What do you folks think? With those ingredients, is that an interesting approach? I'm definitely interested in hearing which yeast you think would better suit a dark apple beer. If you want to suggest any add'l ingredients or approaches, I'm all ears. I love hearing your feedback, thanks!

If you think you can manipulate the Bavarian Wheat yeast to get the phenols, but not so much ester, that would go very well in a spiced beer. I wish I could tell you how to do it, but I don't know (although, I know some have pulled it off). I'm just not an experienced wheat beer brewer, but I believe it has to do with fermenting the yeast a little cooler. The phenols will still come, as that is the nature of the yeast.

In any case, the esters could still work nicely in the beer, and the apple you add might influence ester perception to be quite nice. A low addition of spicy hops (with a judicious late addition) also could complement the other aspects.

If you want to go the safer route, go with the Scottish Ale yeast. The diacetyl could even be nice there. I don't see the fun in going safe here, though. Rather, it sounds like a perfect time to play around and see what happens.


TL