Brew Day: Graff

One gallon of beer boiling

Updates Below

Today I brewed graff - a part beer, part hard cider beverage supposedly inspired by the drink of choice of Roland Deschain (a character in Stephen King's Dark Tower series).  I read the books several years ago but didn't remember the reference to graff.  I discovered the connection by accident after cleaning up my equipment and sitting down to watch a YouTube video.  It was a nice coincidence for me.

Spencer, Wyatt, and I all brewed at Wyatt's place.  The backyard was packed with burners, kettles, mash tuns, and company.  Spencer made a spiced porter mini-mash and Wyatt made a Harp clone.

The recipe I used was Brandon O's recipe on HomeBrewTalk.com (with my selections for yeast and hops as well as some nutrients and energizer added).

• 1 packet of Nottingham Ale Yeast (starter created 24 hours in advance with 2 cups water and a half a cup of brown sugar)
• 0.5 lbs Crystal 120L 
• 1 oz torrified wheat
• 4 gallons of Mott's apple juice
• 1 gallon of water
• 1 lbs light dry malt extract
• 1 lbs amber dry malt extract
• 0.5 oz Hallertau pellet hops
• 1 tsp yeast nutrient
• 1 tsp yeast energizer

Within 4 hours, the airlock was showing signs of life with a bubble every 2 seconds.

Notes:

Style: Cider (with malt)
Fermentation & Aging Time: Appx 4 to 6 weeks
Batch Size: 5 gallons

Update 9/24/12
I woke up this morning and heard water trickling.  I thought the water line was leaking in the kitchen but found that bubbles were running through the airlock so quickly that they gave off a trickling sound.  The whole kitchen smelled like the local Mrs. Baird's bread factory.  I'm hoping that the high apple juice content will keep the krausen to a minimum because I didn't hook up a blow-off tube.

Update 10/14/12
I racked this to the secondary.  It was crystal clear with an unusual, but pleasant, flavor.  I've never had graff before so I didn't know what to expect.  I liked it.  I put it back in the fermentation fridge for another week at 68 deg F before kegging.

Update 11/26/12
It's GOOD!  OK, I started on the keg nearly a month ago, but so much was going on that I forgot to post about it.  It's a little like a tart cider with something extra ... a little more body ... but it's very good.  I think the next one needs to be a bit more like a porter.  Apple Porter ... mmm ... that sounds good.