johnny rye ale (with caraway)

We started our next batch of homebrew! Here is the recipe:

Johnny Rye Ale with Caraway
Ingredients for 5 gallons – Extract with Specialty Grains
7 lbs amber malt extract
1/2 lb 60L crystal malt
1/2 lb rye
1/2 lb flaked barley
1/2 oz Northern brewer hops 45min
1/2 oz Northern brewer hops 30min
1/2 oz Summit hops 15 min
1/2 oz Summit hops 5 min
2 T. caraway seeds, crushed and toasted
I used liquid Irish ale yeast, but just about any ale yeast should be fine.
Additional caraway infused in vodka to be added to taste at bottling

Recipe adapted from Hounddog 

Caraway is not a typical brewing ingredient, but I am just so excited about including it in a rye beer. It makes perfect sense.

The nice thing about brewing when there's snow on the ground is you can use it to chill your wort! It's not any faster than the ice and sink method, but it means you don't have to make or buy ice.

sourdough starter

I recently purchase sourdough starter in a silent auction. You can start sourdough on your own just by letting flour and water sit out to absorb whatever wild yeast spores are in the air. We've done that before but we gave up because the flavor wasn't all that impressive. The sourdough starter that I purchased in the silent auction, however, has a delicious smell. It must be pretty resilient too because it is said to be 150 years old!

Today I used it to make a sourdough rye bread. Yum yum yum yummm... Excuse me while I get back to eating the entire loaf.