Brewing on a Cold Day and Yellow Split Pea Soup

I was brewing beer yesterday, which was nice since I hadn’t brewed in the previous three weeks. We had previously brewed a Belgian Golden Ale using a mix of the Duvel yeast and the La Chouffe yeast. We had mashed it low in hopes of getting a very dry beer and if the samples we had during bottling and kegging yesterday are any indication, we hit the mark pretty close. In the past I hadn’t been too fond of the Duvel yeast because it takes a long time to clear out of the beer, but it does a characteristic fruity citrus note to it that is tough to beat. My half is kegged and carbonating now and should be ready in a day or two, but I think it will take a few more weeks for it to round out. Still it’s very approachable now and quite delicious.

We won Best of Show with one of our Lambics at the Fall Classic a few weeks ago and part of our prize was a 55lb bag of Weyerman pilsner malt, so we decided to repitch the yeast and brew another Belgian Golden style beer but this time with a little more alcohol and slightly spiced. (The last one clocked in around 7% and we were looking for something more around 8-8.5% this time). We used about 23 pounds of pilsner malt and 4.5 pounds of sugar to boost the alcohol and lighten the body. We had some odd lots of American hops sitting around so we decided to actually use them in this batch, so we ended up with Amarillo hops for the bittering and a small amount of Summit hops in the finish for aroma. We also added some bitter orange peel and sliced fresh ginger at the end of the boil to add just a hint of spicing. In keeping with the season, I’m calling it a Tripel de Noel. With any luck it will actually be ready by Christmas. Purists may decry the American hops, but Belgian beer is all about experimentation.

It was cold and overcast yesterday and by the time we were done, I was ready for something warming. We had been eating Thanksgiving food the last few days and needed a break from it. I had cured some pork belly for bacon about a week ago and was smoking it yesterday, so I decided to make a pot of yellow split pea soup. As a kid, I hated any kind of split pea soup, but I’ve since grown to love it (at least yellow split pea), but it’s unthinkable to me to make it without some kind of cured pork for flavor. I’m actually very fond of the smoky undertones that bacon gives it. It was pretty standard stuff: onions, carrots, celery, bacon, chicken stock, a few bay leaves and the yellow split peas, but it was the kind of warming, homey dinner that I love on a cold day. It had only been about 40 degrees, but brewing in the garage left me cold and raw feeling and soup is a natural restorative. We had a loaf of Grand Central Ciabatta with it to help soak it up. After the overindulgence on Thanksgiving, it was exactly what I wanted.

I was looking forward to tasting the new Belgian Golden, but it wasn’t carbonated, so I just had a pint of our dry Irish stout. We sample some of it yesterday while we were brewing and were amazed at it. It’s a simple recipe, British two row malt, flaked barley, and roasted barley, but it’s incredibly good. Most commercial Irish stout, like Guinness and Beamish (my favorite), are actually quite low in alcohol and that increases their drinkability. Most of the stouts we had made in the past were too big and rich, and ultimately, too filling. This one is about 4% alcohol, just roasty and bitter enough, with enough body to match with food, but also light enough to not overwhelm what it’s served with.

While I’m writing this, I’ve been sipping on a Cascade Lakes Monkey Face Porter, which is new to me but very nice. It has nice chocolate and roast notes in the aroma, but a rich bittersweet chocolate flavor and a good long finish. It’s definitely something that I’ll look for again.