Spiced beers are standard holiday fair. The market Trader Joe's does an interesting holiday ale, Sierra Nevada does something similar. These beers are different every year, with a new mix of spices, pine needles, hops and other adjuncts to create a unique flavor. This beer is no different.
This beer is the first of three I made of a split batch of dry Irish stout (5 gallons/1 keg/50 beers each batch). The grain bill is simple: 20 lbs of Maris Otter, 3 lbs roasted barley, 2 lbs oats. That's it!
For the hops, I eyeball a larger handful than normal of CTZ because stouts require more bitterness than many of the session beers I make.
At 4.5% before accounting for the rum, this is a very drinkable beer. The dark rum brings a deep, heavy flavor of molasses that makes you want to sip it even though it drinks very dry.
The vanilla from the oak is subdued and you wouldn't know it was there unless I told you. It is that kind of thing that really brings polish to a beer like this.
The fig leaves meld in a sublime way with the rum and roasted malt. I picked up the idea of using fig leaves from a foraging mentor here in Los Angeles who does wildcrafted cuisine. Learning about foraging and native ingredients opens up a whole new world of possibilities to a brewer like myself.
The verdict? I would absolutely do this beer again next Christmas. It isn't something you want to drink multiple glasses of, so the keg is going to be around for at least another month as I rotate through my other more sessionable beers.
A very well known variety of Irish dry stout is Guiness, which is often served on nitrogen instead of CO2. I chose to use CO2 for this keg because I didn't want to flatten the flavors of the adjuncts. This recipe is a better version of Guiness and comes from Josiah Bloomquist, formerly of Macleod Ale Brewing Company here in Van Nuys, CA. The title of his beer, which you can still get on cask, CO2, and nitro over there is called "Cut and Dry".
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