“Hot date” is a Jewish Rye Amber Ale brewed with date sugar – brewed in honor of my girlfriend (a Jewish redhead) . It’s an extract brew and specialty grain brew that I will transition to an all-grain beer soon.
For this brew I steeped cara rye and melanoidin malt then brewed with a munich malt extract and spaltz for the bittering and aroma hops. The date sugar, caraway seed and white pepper entered the boil for the last 15 minutes. OG came in at 1.064 and FG at 1.008 – which by my calculation means a 7.3% brew. Fermentation took almost 16 days – and the beer didn’t taste right till about three weeks after bottling.
The beer pours to a cloudy deep amber with a caramel head. Light to no lace – in general I think I need to adjust some things in my brewing process to improve the head retention. The beer starts with a mild sweetness which I feel has a good balance between a subtle date-flavor and a more intense bready sweetness. The beer comes off as spicy – almost salty – on the pallet then transitions to a solid toasty finish with hints of a strong tea.
The beer has a nice solid carbonation and medium mouthfeel. I definitely wanted something maybe a little chewier – but I’m not unhappy with the result necessarily. The beer is definitely gulpable.
Overall I’m happy – the big thing was the balance of the date, caraway and pepper… which I feel is spot on. Just need to transition this puppy in to a repeatable all-grain recipe.
I have to agree with most of Brian’s description of Hot Date. I had the opportunity to try one sitting on the patio the other night and with the exception of the saltiness, which I didn’t experience, I think it’s a great beer. The combination of date and caraway tastes definitely come through and compliment each other well (without being overpowering). I found the spiciness to be more of a hint than a slap in the face (no doubt a good thing). My overall impression is of a well-bodied beer perfect for the fall, winter or spring (might be too beefy for a hot summer night). I would definitely have more than one.
Drank straight from the bottle due to pure laziness, so I cannot comment on the head or color… Maybe you’ll have to give me another one.
Very sweet, at first it was a bit too much for me but as I continued to sip it was not as overwhelming. It packs a punch, you can definitely taste the alcohol, but I’m getting more of a Belgian feel, I want to say a dubbel. Not noticing the rye, but it could be dates that I’m tasting; unfortunately I don’t think I’ve ever eaten a date so I’m not really qualified to say.
Would definitely drink this again, and I’m almost certain I’d notice something different the next time around.
6.5/10