Search results

This one seemed to settle at 1.012 after 3 weeks which seems in the right ball park given the higher ABV on an all malt brew. I've bottled now aiming for about 2.8 vols of CO2 and it's back in the fridge at 19C to carbonate. I'll give it about a week and then get it in the cold back room to...

I was in Plymouth on Friday and ended up stopping off at Buckfast Abbey on a whim. They had a really good shop with loads of Abbey and Trappist beers. I'm a big fan of Andechs so grabbed some of those and am sinking them tonight. Got the Vollbier Hell, Spezial Hell and Bergbock Hell. All very...

I'm about to use the same on my next brew. General rule for Kolsch or Alt is that you ferment a bit colder than ale so you're looking at 16-18C and then you want to lager afterwards to get a nice clean taste. That's what I'll go with so will post when I've had a go. Just need to wait until my...

Hahaha that's comforting to know! I'd be quite up for a 7% bohemian pilsner to be fair. Was it good? I've done some strong French beers using Bohemian Pilsner and a Kolsch like yeast and they were really nice. They sometimes use lager yeast at a higher temperature too.

It's at 1.013 now after 13 days. I think I'll leave it another week or so because it's still very cloudy so there must be plenty of yeast in suspension. Maybe it'll get down further. At a guess I reckon the original starts at about 1.054 and ends at around 1.008 to get 6% but mine is ten points...

I know, I'm not sure what the story is with that name! Nice beer though. Took a few goes for me to get into it. It's 11% or so with tons of flavours going on. Only seen it in Belgium and France though.

They keep for ages and make an interesting gift! If all else fails they make a mean beef stew!

If you're using a Grainfather I'd highly recommend step mashing any Belgian beer despite what American brewing books say. It definitely helps you get the right body to it.

The ones I've had miss out the roastiness and I think that's key to it. There's a Swiss beer called Abbaye De Saint Bon Chien (probably spelled wrong!) which is a very dark beer with some sourness. Liefmans Goudenband is quite dark as well.

I agree they can be much of a muchness unless there's something special about the process. Fullers still do partigyle brewing and it's interesting to hear them talk about that. When I did the Bermondsey crawl and got there early I got chatting to one of the brewers at Brew By Numbers and that...

Really sad news. BYOBRA was the first homebrew book I got and really got me started in understanding how it all works even though I never actually brewed that style.

For now it's the Braumeister which allowed me to step mash like a real Belgian monk :D I've got a fermentation fridge now but haven't used it on that many beers so far so too early to say how much difference it has made.

Another vote for Fullers

Pretty impressed with the prices on Beerwulf. Thanks for posting that. Definitely worth a go if I can't get to Belgium to get my fix!

That's interesting. I've got good temp control now so I could keep that down within the range. I think the temperature is probably to blame for the smell, quick fermentation and the alcohol taste though. I've had this a few times with different yeasts, usually European ones where my DIY...

If you still have time and money I'd recommend any of these as good intro beers. If they have them that is: St Bernardus Tripel Gouden Carolus Classic and Tripel La Chouffe / Chouffe Houblon Saison Dupont

I really need to try some of theirs. I have another trip planned in April so I'll try get some then. I've heard good things.

Yes that's possible. Another thing to try if I fancy doing this one again. I replaced the blowoff tube with a normal sized air lock yesterday and have ramped temp up to 21 over a few days. It's still bubbling away so hopefully I'll get it down a few more points. It's only just a week old now so...

It's down to 1.020 after just under a week and after taking the sample it seems to have started bubbling again. There was definitely still a ton of yeast in suspension but it tasted alright from the sample jar. I re-read an article with tips from the brewer. He says they keep it in secondary at...

I hear what you're saying but Xx bitter isn't massively estery. Going to see how far it goes and may add something to dry it out if I need to. I saw another person making the same beer and said theirs ended too sweet. Maybe the big pitch will help it get down but maybe not. The beer isn't far...