Busy start of the year has kept me from brewing but here’s one for hoppy happy days. Probably not fully cleared yet after two days of cold crash, but I couldn’t not take a taster…
I made 18 L of beer wort with Simpsons Maris Otter, Viking Munich Light, some caramel malts. Also prepared 4 L of lemon-ginger-raisins-hops infusion with 250 g dark syrupy sugar. Save for ginger and hops, this is what Finns make for May Day and what goes for ‘mead’ (sima) according to the everyman. The infusion was kept for two days, sterilised at start by boiling the water and adding ingredients.
Combined both into fermenter with 1 L starter of good auld fresh Sahti yeast for fermenting at 14 °C and bringing the temperature up for an extended diacetyl rest.
The ritual yielded brightly coloured, cloudy beverage with the strongest representation yet from the spices. This recipe has now seen a good four revisions :)
Cheers and sunshine to all!