Pumpkin Chai Porter

The next beer in our Unafraid of the Dark series is a Pumpkin Chai Porter.  Typically, I have our team try the beer before I write it up, in order to get their initial thoughts and to get my creative juices flowing.  They usually come out with a few key phrases or at least 2-3 words that help me get going.  So, I just asked Annette to describe this beer for me, and she said, “delicious”, and then walked out of the room.  Thanks for the inspiration, Annette! 🙂

Seriously, though, I think Annette summed it up pretty well.  We think this beer is pretty darn tasty, and we hope you do, too!  Here are some more details…

– 80 lbs of pumpkin went into the mash.  We procured these pumpkins from Barker’s Farm in Stratham, NH and Blueberry Bay Farm – also in Stratham, NH.
– We roasted 25 lbs of pumpkin and put that into the fermenter, along with some delicious chai from White Heron Tea. At the same time, we added 8 lbs of brown sugar.
– We tried to go somewhat easy on the chai.  The chai is very distinct on the nose, and the warming spices are prevalent on the palette. Actually, I think it is a perfect amount – very balanced and very drinkable.
– All the pumpkin used in the beer shows up in two ways.  First, the pumpkin gives the beer a nice, smooth body and mouthfeel.  Second, there is an underlying roastiness to the beer, which I think comes from the pumpkin.
-The beer clocks in at over 6% ABV and 33 IBU

Here are a few more pictures of the pumpkin used in the beer:

Note – We don’t have a lot of this beer, so it will be available to Unafraid of the Dark II customers first, and then other folks in about 2 weeks time.