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I’d say just use regular white sugar, probably the same amount (since honey is mostly sugar).

First sample after a week and it’s down to 1020. I’ve been warming it up a bit at a time and it’s at 27°C now. It’s not as dark as I was expecting, and it’s heavy on the banana flavour. I think it’s tasting a bit like Legge blonde, with a bit of...

Well it's in the FV at 23ºC. I'm just going to let it ride temperature wise, without letting it drop (I've got a heat belt set to 23º, and if I see it's gone above that I'll raise the temperature setting). I added some orange zest for the last five minutes of the boil to give it something...

Doesn't seem any worse than Brewdog, nor a certain supermarket's claims of a hangover free prosecco.

First brew in a while, but I've been toying with this recipe for a few months. Probably will be a better Christmas 2018 beer if I can keep any, if all goes to plan... 12 litres total 2.5kg lager malt 0.5kg munich 0.25kg wheat malt 0.1kg Double Roasted Crystal 0.3kg dark homemade candi...

I made some dark candi syrup and it took ages. i'm going to try this method next, which should be much quicker as the presence of nitrogen speeds up the cooking process (i think?). I'm planning my Christmas brew now; I'm going to do a dark saison.

I do BIAB. After mashing I lift out the bag, put it in a colander on top of a wire rack and balance it back on top of the 20l pot that I mash and boil in. Then I sparge by pouring jugs of water over the bag and it drains into the pot. Then I leave it until it stops dripping, rather than...

I'd recommend something like what I made, though I would say that wouldn't I! I think a fairly hoppy IPA, about 5%, would be good for "everyone". This one is a present for the couple (mostly the groom) rather than to be drunk at the wedding, so perhaps I should have gone for a double IPA (he...

I'd be tempted to bottle a couple before you add the Melange to see how they turn out at this point! I fermented this at 23.5ºC (intended to ferment at 23, but the morning after pitching I found it at 24.5ºC and didn't want to drop the temperature too much. Perhaps I should have just left...

I'll never get how people can get anything from the starter wort, other than horribly sweet bitterness! (Each to their own of course). I always have a tiny sip when I've done the initial gravity reading, more as a ritual thing than anything (as of course I drink samples during and post...

I've just had one sample when doing a gravity reading after a week (admittedly after a few other ales so my memory might not be perfect!) and there's a bit of fruitiness. I wouldn't say it was like a saison (the fruitiness isn't as "bright" if that makes any sense), but there's definitely...

I should have another skim read of that book before I decide exactly what to do. Thanks for the recommendations on quantities of the spices. It took 12 days to ferment that low, it was down to 1004 after a week!

I'll make sure I pick a day when there's cricket on and I'll be fine stirring for a few hours! My last saison with this yeast was mashed slightly too high at 68ºC and ended up at 1002 so I'll probably do the same with this one. I suspect the dark malt (and perhaps the dark candi sugar?)...

Oh, I missed something important, I'll be fermenting it with WLP566 Belgian Saison II yeast, because I've got it in the fridge.

Cheers, it's similar to a dubbel that I made (although I didn't use the DRC malt in that. I'm in two minds about whether to include that, but I'd have to up the candi syrup to 15% to make up for that, which would be fine for a dubbel but might be too much for a saison). I used homemade syrup...

I made a Christmas brew last year that was a bit rubbish due to my lack of experience (it was called Bad Santa from BYO magazine, but I subbed in different hops with a much lower AA rating, but I didn't add more to compensate, so it was just very sweet with nothing to balance it out). I quite...

I've got some WLP072 left over from a biere de garde and I'd heard it's pretty tasty when fermented warm. I've got the starter cold crashing and the wort is boiling right now. Here's the recipe for 12 litres: 2.5kg lager 200g wheat malt 30g saaz for 90 minutes 20g hallertau...

They'd better hope Mr Costello doesn't hear about that.

Urgh came home to find it at 22.5°C. Quickly replenished the wet tshirt and it's dropping down. I'm going to have to keep it at 21° to try and avoid stalling. Not ideal, but never mind. How I wish I had a brewfridge...

Not mine, but I'm making a case of beer for a present for some friends. It's a modified version of something I made previously which has turned out very well. 12 litres total 2.7kg pale malt 400g golden naked oats 10g columbus @ 15 minutes 10g citra @ 15 minutes 15g columbus @ 5 minutes 15g...