Well, it’s in the bottles. And it’s pretty damn good. Granted I tasted it flat and somewhat lukewarm, but it’s got a great balance between chocolate sweetness and lavender herbalness. The chocolate plays off the roasted malt, and the lavender off the hops. Carbonation and more time in the fridge should definitely help this become great.
Also, it’s my first time making labels. I figured since it’s a special brew, I should do it up a bit.
For those who don’t recognize the writing on the label, it’s the only love letter Homer ever wrote to Marge (“It’s more of a love postcard from some brewery he visited.”), from “Bart the Lover” in Season 3. Click through to read the text, or find the video on YouTube – Homer’s reading is classic.
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Did you end up “dry hopping” with more lavender?
It turned out there was no need. 1/2 oz of fresh lavender (a sizable double-handful) for 10 minutes at the end of the boil added a really great amount of flavor. “Dry hopping” it probably would have pushed it a bit too far.
Hi,
My roommate and I have been trying to crack the code to this lavender beer business and we have so far been unsuccessful. Mind passing on the recipe and procedure?
The full recipe is at
http://www.jonathanpiper.com/2010/08/lavender-chocolate-stout/
I used a Rogue Chocolate Stout clone recipe as the base. It ended up a bit lighter all around (color and feel) than a “real” stout.
I used lavender that I had cut from my garden. It was cut about a week prior to brewing. It ended up being just about 1/2 ounce, which looks like quite a lot. I added the lavender to the boil at 10 minutes before flame off. That was definitely enough time for this particular recipe – the finished beer has a great balance of herb and chocolate. I haven’t done any experimenting since this brew so I can’t say much about how different timings would affect the result.
What have you been trying? How has it been coming out?