New Brew: Peruvian Black Reserve

Seeing Xingu sitting all alone on a bottom beer store shelf inspired the latest and possibly last of the really cold weather brews. Luckily, temperatures topped out at a comfy 50°F in the sun. A fine day to make Peruvian Black Reserve a.k.a. Quinoir. We took a bit of a Schwarzbier approach, but used ingredients indigenous to Peru: Cassava, Quinoa and Cacao.

The Cassava and Quinoa were boiled until tender and added to the mash --- and what a mash it was since the imbecile who wrote the recipe also neglected to pick up rice hulls at the LHBS. The result was a gooey, protein-rich mash with plenty of sludge and increasingly difficult sparges.
3 oz. of 70% cacao also went in the very last of the boil.

All in all, she is dark, this one. 60+ on the SRM. Hops employed were some leftover Phoenix and Sterling. We used recycled Chico ale yeast, and all signs point to a nice krauzen after two days. Looking forward to drinking!

OG=1.054 IBU=31 SRM=61