Blackhouse Christmas Ale

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HebridesRob

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My order of supplies including a second fermenting bucket arrived today so I'm brewing my Christmas Ale tomorrow.

Rob's Blackhouse Christmas Ale
Batch = 15 litres
SG around 1.075

Fermentables:
4.5 Kg Pale Malt
250g dark crystal malt
250g Black treacle
100g Peat smoked malt
100g Low colour chocolate malt
50g Black malt

Misc:
Cloves, Cinnamon, Ginger

Hops:
25g Target cones 60 mins
30g Willamette cones 30 mins
IBU bitterness = 37

Yeast:
Safbrew t-58

My romantic idea is to honour the Blackhouse...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackhouse

...which used to have a peat fire burning virtually 100% of the time.

Will be in the fermenter for four weeks and matured in the bottle for three months.
Phenol, spice, esters, caramel, a little bit of fruit from the hops. Could be a car crash :tongue:
 
Changed the recipe already. I bought some aromatic malt that I decided not to use. Changed my mind back & substituted 500g of pale or 500g of aromatic. Used 150g of peated malt, didn't seem all that smoky when i opened the packet.
 
Hi,

Looks like a nice recipe, I am interested in doing a christmas AG brew so may try someting similar, how much of each spice do you add for a full 23litre brew and when do you add them ?

Thanks
 
Hi,

Looks like a nice recipe, I am interested in doing a christmas AG brew so may try someting similar, how much of each spice do you add for a full 23litre brew and when do you add them ?

Thanks

Been reading up on this and it appears there isn't a definitive answer.

I'm going to use about five cloves, tablespoon of grated ginger and 2 inch piece of cinnamon, which will be added towards the end of the boil. If that isn't enough I'll grind some more and add it after the initial vigorous fermentation (4-6 days).
 
Well, that's about done. Wort cooled down to 27c and I've taken a small glass out to hydrate the yeast with. My hydrometer reads 1.072 at 25c so good enough for me :D

I had some trouble with sparging, I collected about 24 litres of sweet wort before the readings started to get low enough. I thought I was going to be boiling forever but in the end I boiled for an hour then added the hops. Was a 2 hour boil in total to get under 18 litres. After cooling there's about 17 litres in my boiler waiting for the trub to settle so I should have about 16 litres in my fermenter. Not bad.
 
Rob, when I was a kid and went back to Ireland every summer they'd have the turf fire, there's no smell in the world like a turf fire. Good luck with the brew, give us an update when you crack a bottle.
 
Rob, when I was a kid and went back to Ireland every summer they'd have the turf fire, there's no smell in the world like a turf fire. Good luck with the brew, give us an update when you crack a bottle.

Thank You. You're right, the smell is amazing when there's a few houses burning peat.
 
Here it is...

Old ale 25 Aug 15.jpg
 
Rob, where did you get the peat-smoked malt from?

I was up at the Talisker distillery the other day and it got me thinking about smoked malts. Most recipes I've seen use German smoked malt, I guess as its easy to come by.

Geterbrewed, Malt Miller both have it. Peat Smoked malt will give a very harsh phenolic taste. All the advice I've read is to use a minimal amount - such as an ounce. I think it isn't used because people are afraid of it.
 
Well, four weeks in the fermenting vessel and a week secondary in the bottle later I've opened one to see what it's like.
The first impression is a smooth mouth feel and a warming affect from the alcohol. Then the spice and bitterness follow. There's a very slight smoky background but the predominant taste all through is from the treacle. There's a long finish and the final flavour coming through is distinctly banana. There's banana in the nose as well. Weird but very palatable

Will keep it a while longer, see how it all develops.
 

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