New Brew: Keanen and Kev's Pomegranate Fantasy

If any of this doesn't make sense, please consult my first post.

So I'd like to introduce you to two of my very good friends:




















Keanen! & Kevin!

Keanen and Kevin will be turing 21 in a little over a month, and I'm brewing this beer on honor of their 21st (I know this seems to be something of a trend). Also, pomegranate is like the most 'in' fruit right now, so it makes sense to make this cool fruity brew, for these cool fruity guys.



Date: 1/19/07
Name of beer: Keanen and Kev's Pomegranate Fantasy
Type of beer: Pomegranate wheat
Quantity: 5 gallons
Homage Beer: Darling Strange Brew: Jenny's Coming-of-Age-Red

Ingredients:
6.6 lbs Wheat Extract
1 oz Freshly ground coriander seeds
5-6oz pomegranate molasses
1 oz Saaz Hops (bittering)
1 oz Northern Brewer Hops (aroma)
Liquid yeast (Wyeast 3056 I think)


Process: I kept it simple with this brew, because I really wanted to bring out the flavor of the pomegranate. I sanitized my equipment, boiled a couple gallons of (filtered) water, and when it was boiling, I threw in the wheat and Saaz hops. 45 Minutes later I added the ground coriander seeds, and a full 4oz container of the pomegranate molasses. 10 minutes later, I added about another ounce or so, and then with 2 minutes left in the boil, I threw in the Northern Brewer hops. I then put around 2 gallons of cold (filtered) water in the fermenter to absorb the heat shock, and added the wort. I filled it up with more water (although unfortunately I was not able to filter enough water to make it all filtered water, but it's about 90% filtered water). I took my measurements, and put it in my room, where the yeast is happily digesting sugars.

Original Gravity: 1.032
Yeast Temperature: 86° Fahrenheit
Preliminary Taste: The flavor profile isn't very distinct, but it is sweet and citric.

I didn't really have a recipe going into this, and I had only read very little about making a pomegranate beer, and none of it made any mention of the pomegranate molasses, but I found it at the Spice House in Evanston, and it had such a strong, tart taste, I thought it would go really well in a beer. I have absolutely no idea if I over- or under-did it, but either way it should be interesting. The coriander offers a spicy flavor that should counteract the tartness of the pomegranate, while contributing an orange taste that should hopefully go well with the overall theme. I'm predicting that this will also be more alcoholic than my previous beers because of the pomegranate molasses. I don't think anybody will be complaining over that.

I'm going to try to brew more this year. It's one of my New Years resolutions that will actually be a joy to keep. I don't really know what to brew next, so feel free to leave comments with requests, ideas, or warnings.