Abbey Grand Cru - another slight cockup

Bottled the Abbey Grand Cru, all went well but I forgot that I'd adjusted all ingredients for 60 bottles of 500ml and needed to top up the bottling bucket quantity to 30 litres with cooled boiled water. It was only when I counted the bottles at the end of bottling and found I had 51 bottles and not 60, that I realised the mistake. I did a quick calculation and it means that the ABV% will be closer to 11% and not 9% and the flavours more intense. I suppose there are a lot worse mistakes I could have made. I used champagne yeast in the bottling bucket so it should ferment in the bottles ok, with 7.5 oz sugar. I suppose it will be a bit fizzier that it should be also - hopefully there will be no exploding bottles! Still looking forwards to it.

Christmas Cake Ale - molasses top up

Fermentation now slowed down on the Christmas Cake Ale. Boiled a full kilogramme of molasses sugar for adding to the brew. That should make it the strongest beer I've made to date. I've brewed a lot stronger wines - hedgerow port got to 20%

Christmas Cake Ale - Brew Day

Recipe for 60 pints of Christmas Cake Ale

 - somewhat made up as the day progressed

3kg of Light DME Malt
3kg of Amber DME Malt
9 oz Crystal Malt 60L
18 oz Chocolate Malt
6 oz Special B malt
6 oz Biscuit Malt
10 oz mixed dried fruit
4 1/2 oz Hallertau hops added throughout the boil gradually
1 stick cinnamon
1 teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon cloves
citrus peel
bit of grated nutmeg
Irish Moss
T58 Safbrew Yeast
1 kg molasses sugar, to be added a few days later

The boil was done with 22 litres water initially and then diluted. The hops were added throughout the boil gradually. The dried mixed fruit was mixed with some boiling wort and pureed and then added 10 minutes before the end. The spices and Irish Moss were also added 10 minutes before the end of the boil.The Safbrew T58 has a peppery spicy flavour which I thought would go well with the ingredients; it also will ferment up to 11.5% ABV.

 

 

 

 After recent experience with the previous two brews completely foaming over, I drilled a bung hole in the middle of a large grain bin to provide a greatly increased head room - it worked and didn't foam over. I think the weight of the foaming head squashes the foam structure back down again and stops it getting too big.

 As it was only 2˚C outside, it seemed a good idea to rapidly cool the wort outside with the hose in it.

 

 The yeast starter was done with half malt wort and half water with the T58 yeast. When it was fermenting like mad and the wort was cool, I tipped it in. 

 

Indian Brown - bit of a cock up

Don't know what I was thinking - I set up the bottles to bottle the Abbey Grand Cru, wasn't concentrating, picked up the wrong vessel and got the Indian Brown in the fermentation bucket instead - and bottled it after only 12 days. I've always wanted to try making an ale without bothering with the secondary maturing to see how it turned out. Tastes promising - obviously a bit raw yet, but nice nutty flavour. Here are the labels: