Raspberry Habanero
Starting Gravity: 1.120
Final Gravity: 1.012
Yeast: Red Star Cote Des Blanc
Nutrition: SNA
Started: Sept 1
Bottled: Oct 23
This was my first time using Cote Des Blanc. It had been sitting in my refrigerator for a couple of months, waiting for something fruity.
2 lb of frozen and thawed raspberries were used for a 1 gallon batch. 1 lb in primary, 1 lb in secondary. For the habaneros, I rough-chopped 2 and threw the pieces, seeds and all, into a David's Tea teabag once I had transferred off of the second round of raspberries. I left this in for 2 full days.
The taste is very raspberry-forward, then the habanero brings up the rear. It's hot, but not a test of endurance. The extra sweetness seems to help with this.
There's a slight "earthy" undertone to it, which I suspect is from the habanero. I'm undecided whether this adds or takes away from the overall experience. When I make this recipe again (and I will), I might go for more peppers, but for less time.
I think it might need something more to round it out, but I'm not really sure what it is. I dropped an oak spiral into one of the bottles for giggles. We'll see what happens there.
The picture doesn't really do the clarity justice. The label was done by a local artist who gets paid in mead, which works out well.
Posted Oct 25, 2020, 2:02 PM UTC