Sorry for the long delay in posting. I have been busy working on things and haven’t had time to update my blog, but I have been able to bottle a few beers.
First of all, I bottled my Christmas ESB on December 12th, 2007. It was bottle conditioned and ready just in time for Christmas day. It ended up having a 4.5% ABV. I am glad I held back on using all the mulling spices, as the spice flavor was just right. It turned out to be a great Christmas Ale. Not bad considering I made the entire recipe from scratch. Next year I will probably try to boost the the original gravity a bit by having more malt balanced with some extra hops. Overall though, I am very pleased with it, and it has gotten even better with age so far.
I also recently just bottled my Belgian Strong Golden Ale. It sat in the secondary primary for 91 day. I unfortunately ran out of priming sugar, so I instead use 1 and 3/4 cups of dry malt extract. I used more than the typically recommended amount, so I could have extra carbonation, which is typical of Belgian Strong Golden Ales. The beer ended up with a 9.7% ABV. It will be my strongest beer to date. I can’t wait to taste it in a few days. I am definitely going to age some for a year though, as the high alcohol content means the beer is capable of aging for several years.
For my next brew, I am finally going to do the big one, Lord Fatbottom.
Finally, Tristan and myself are starting a local beer group called Beer Enthusiasts. The group is for anyone who enjoys a good beer, not just homebrewers. For the future we hope that site will contain beer reviews, beer recipes, food recipes, as well as tools to help the homebrewer in doing calculations to make beer. Please join the site and check back often!
Good luck with all your brewing endeavors. In the world of great beer, homebrewers are where many of the great innovations are discovered. Blessing of your heart, you brew good ale!
The Beer Doctor
Comment by beerdoctor — January 25, 2008 @ 3:41 pm