Sep
21
2009
Brew Day #16 — Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout
I am a child of rock n’ roll. Not like, child of Led Zepplin groupies, but more like child of a dad that played Led Zepplin and other classic rock on the way to and from church Sunday mornings. How many 5-year-olds have a classic rock radio station bumper sticker on their bikes?
Months ago I was driving home from work and heard The Who’s “Boris the Spider” come on and I fell in love. I danced in the car, bouncing around to the music, probably looking like an idiot in traffic. I consider it one of my “happy songs.”
I knew I wanted to use the song as an inspiration point for a brew. Spiders tend to be black … I’d be brewing in the fall … I love oatmeal stouts in the colder months … I was introduced to chai in college by a close friend and the smell of the spiced tea makes me think of chilly autumn days in Western New York … spiders and stouts are black …
So there you have it. A wild stream of consciousness that brought me to this: Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout. I could totally see Pete Townshend drinking this.
20 September 2009
Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout
Extract w/ grains
5 gallons, 60 minute boil, 30 minute steep6.0 lbs Light Liquid Malt Extract (60 min)
1.0 lb Dried Malt Extract (60 min)Specialty Grains:
1.5 lbs Flaked Oats
9.00 oz Crystal 60L
8.00 oz Chocolate Malt
8.00 oz German Carafa II
4.00 oz Roasted Barley1.00 oz Sterling Hops [7.0% AA] (60 min)
2.00 oz UK Kent Golding [4.2% AA] (60 min)
1.00 oz UK Kent Golding [4.2% AA] (5 min)Custom cold-brewed chai tea with traditional spices (recipe to come)
1 tablet Whirlfloc (20 min – clarifier)
White Labs Irish Ale Yeast (WLP004)
4 oz corn sugar (bottling)
—
Create a yeast starter 2-3 days in advance.
Add 3 gallons of water to kettle. Bring to boil.
Steep grains at 155°F for 30 minutes.
Remove grains, turn off heat and add 1.0 lb dried malt extract and 6.0 lbs liquid malt extract. Bring to a boil. Add bittering hops.
At 20 minutes, add Whirlfloc tablet.
At 5 minutes, add remaining hops.
At end of boil, remove all hops. Chill wort to 75°F. Rack to fermenter and dilute to 5 gallons. Decant yeast starter and pitch yeast. Aerate thoroughly. Ferment at 70-75°F.
Rack fermented beer to secondary fermenter. Age for 1 – 2 weeks.
Rack to bottling bucket. Add cold-brewed chai tea strained of spices. Boil corn sugar with 1 c filtered water and add to beer. Mix well.
Bottle. Age for 2 – 3 weeks.
I’m still working on my chai recipe, but I can tell you that I will be mixing it myself. Chai is typically brewed with Indian Assam tea, but I didn’t have the best of luck finding this tea. So instead I picked up Twinings of London’s English Breakfast Tea, which is a blend of Kenyan and Assam. I have a wonderful stash of spices to work with, so I’m excited!
I love it when there’s music involved in a homebrew story. I always select the right album to brew to. For my ESB, Clapton beat out The Who, sorry.
[...] When dreaming up Boris the Spider, our Chai Oatmeal Stout, I decided that homemade chai was the way to go. The concentrate you might buy at the store (Oregon Chai and Tazo) has sugars and other stuff going on, and I wouldn’t want to play around with their powdered offerings. Instead, the best bet was to do some research and figure out the best recipe for us. [...]
What Clapton song? And is this Clapton from Cream, Clapton from Derrick and the Dominoes…how about Clapton from The Yardbirds (yeah, I was raised on classic rock).
I think finding inspiration outside of ones tastebuds is a great thing—if anything the brainstorming really lets you stretch your creative legs.
Cheers!
Ha. It was actually Clapton from all the above! But don’t forget Clapton from John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers and Clapton from supergroup Blind Faith. It wasn’t one song, it was the entire Clapton boxed set. When I brewed our Wit Wedding, I put on the first mixed CDs Half Pint gave me when we were just courting.
[...] menus. *** My newest quest: drink a beer brewed in every state and province. **** See: The superior Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout. ***** Why do I keep buying beer with descriptions like “special bitter” and “extra [...]
[...] flavor integrity. The same goes for brewing with tea, which is what I did when I brewed our Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout. The brewing of the coffee or tea takes a little longer when cold brewed, but it is totally worth [...]
[...] about a month and a half before our wedding, Boris the Spider Chai Oatmeal Stout was to be a thick chai spice monster. However, in my opinion, I’m not thrilled with it. The [...]