Recent content by Dearnley

I’d just started a Cooper’s Irish Porter and given it a chocolate and vanilla spin for approximately two days before we had a power cut leaving us without heat, light etc for five days - thank you Storm Arwen. Living in Cumbria the house was bitterly cold outside the range of the sitting room’s...

Had they started HS2 from the North and drove the line toward the South they would have looked as though they were more serious about improving rail connections in the North - when they start in the South and then political will peters out, so that the promised developments don't happen for the...

Not entirely successful, but not a complete failure. It tasted like alcoholic elderflower infused sparkling water and was completely clear - not my cup of tea, but refreshing. My youngest son declared it to be deceptive in that it didn't taste alcoholic at all, but was around 6% abv.

Rich Creamy Velvet Milk Stout please 🙂

Hi, Saw your thread and wondered which way you went in the end? Was it successful and what will you be changing for this year?

Nice idea - love Moonraker, but will need to invest in a copy of GW's book.

I was wondering how long before Chrismas/Winter would you brew a strong ale in order to give it time to mature in the bottle. Do you have any favourite recipes (or kits) you'd recommend?

Hi, they started in the fridge, but after about a week when I found they weren't getting a good fizz going I moved them to a reasonably warm utility room. It's been primed for 13 days now. Bottles nicely sealed.

It was stable below 1.000 before using finings. I added a generous teaspoon per each 1 litre bottle. Worrying that by clearing it I removed too much yeast and so no matter how much sugar I added I'd be struggling. Could it be that carbonation develops over time?

This year's Champagne is pretty good - lovely colour, crystal clear, nice taste etc. But it doesn't have bubbles! I cleared using wine finings, could this have caused the problem? Is there anything I could do to rectify this problem in the remaining bottles?

The elderflower tempted to do more than just champagne this year. I’m following an early 70s book by CJJ Berry for elderflower ale. using a safele US05 I bought last year. Against my expectations I have to say it is ferenting well, smells wonderful and should finish off at just a smidgeon over...

LA21 8AJ Coniston