Box Elder(berry) M.O.

[MPLMPL]

It's a double brew weekend as SWMBO and the children are at the Outlaws for the first few days of half term. A moan-free weekend of brewing. This was today's effort: an elderberry stout/porter. No roasted barley, so I don't suppose I'm allowed to call it a stout?
Picked the elderberries a few weeks ago and froze them. De-stemmed them and boiled for 10-15 mins, giving them a good bash with a spud masher, then strained through the bag that I steeped the grain in. The inky purple liquid that bore a striking resemblence to potassium permanganate solution, was then added to the FV along with the pout/storter.
Went for GraysAlchemy's quantities of elderberries at ~ 1lb per gallon (inspired by his efforts in this area and still no wiser as to the taste of a velvet pussy). This gave me 7-7.5 L of purple blackness at SG 1.062. Yeast pitched (S-04), fingers crossed. Not sure whether it will be drinkable by Christmas (or indeed ever), but thought I'd give it a go.

Box Elder(berry) MO
American Stout

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 7.5
Total Grain (kg): 1.445
Total Hops (g): 42.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.062 (°P): 15.2
Final Gravity (FG): 1.016 (°P): 4.1
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 6.09 %
Colour (SRM): 38.1 (EBC): 75.1
Bitterness (IBU): 55.8 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
1.000 kg Dry Malt Extract - Light (69.2%)
0.150 kg Oat Malt (10.38%)
0.120 kg Chocolate (8.3%)
0.100 kg Crystal 60 (6.92%)
0.075 kg Black Malt (5.19%)

Hop Bill
----------------
12.0 g Northdown Leaf (8.16% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.6 g/L)
15.0 g Northdown Leaf (8.16% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (2 g/L)
15.0 g Willamette Leaf (6.3% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil) (2 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
1/4 Protafloc @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
725.0 g Elderberries @ 0 Days (Primary)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 20°C with Safeale S-04
Recipe Generated with BrewMate

I got bored waiting for it to cool. Thought I'd test the accuracy of my cheapo digital thermometer. This is one minute of the probe being held under my tongue. I'm impressed. Preferred this to the French way...

Elderberries being boiled.

Straining.

Doesn't do the colour justice.

"I've got a lot of good things coming my way
And I'm afraid to say that you're not one of them."

 

[RobWalker]

looks awesome! good luck with it :thumb:

 

[graysalchemy]

Certainly looks interesting. :thumb: . It will depend on how much tannin the elders have to how long it will take to mature. Mine certainly was drinkable within 2 -3 months though 12 months on it is devine and i am sure another year and it will be even better (though mine is 8.5% :whistle: )

That amount of elder should give it a reasonable hint of fruit and with it being boiled I won't be as pronounced as elderberry wine or port would be.

:thumb: :thumb:

 

[stuey]

Looks great!

Is it too late to point out that box elder is a completely different species tree to the common elder you got the berries from?

I'll get my coat... Sorry :)

Nice looking beer though.

 

[MPLMPL]

Looks great!

Is it too late to point out that box elder is a completely different species tree to the common elder you got the berries from?

I'll get my coat... Sorry :)

I know; however, it is a top tune by Pavement, so I thought I'd crowbar it in! I've settled on modified song titles for my beer names.

 

[MPLMPL]

Finally got around to bottling this after 4 weeks in the primary (not intended, just hard finding the time). The trial jar sample tasted pretty decent to me, a nice choclolaty/coffee taste with the fruit noticable but not overbearing. I think it's going to be a winner, it already feels like it's coming together. Primed to 1.9 volumes of CO2 which worked out at 27g sugar for 7L. Final gravity was 1.017 which leaves it at 5.9%. Bottled just over 6.5L in 330 and 275mL bottles. A couple of weeks at room temp then to the cellar, should be drinkable by Christmas.

 

[MPLMPL]

This one's been conditioning for four weeks, so time for a taste. It's still young; however, this is definitely a winner. Cheers to graysalchemy for the inspiration. It would have been a lovely stout without the addition of elderberries, but with them there's that extra something. They don't overpower the taste. It tastes quite dry (in a good way), which may be the tannic effects of the elderberries? There is definitely a subtle winey taste to it, I suppose like a port and guinness as described by graysalchemy. Plenty of chocolate/coffee notes and subtle hop aromas/flavours from the Willamette and Northdown. A nice dark creamy head and perfect carbonation. The colour, other than being obviously very dark brown/black has a purple hue to it, not evident from this photo, but a bit clearer in the trial jar photo from last month.
My big regret is not picking more elderberries, it's the first time I've done anything with them, the tree/bush was full, but most were left unpicked. Until this year they have all been left for the birds. As a result I only brewed about 6L, I'll have to go steady with the ones I've got, I hope to leave a few for the longer haul. I've got quite a few beers in stock now, so I should be able to resist... I'll certainly be repeating this next Autumn on a larger scale.

 

[graysalchemy]

Make sure you Join me for a pint on the winter solstice, elderberries were traditional in pagan times. :thumb: