The last time my grandson and I brewed was on November 23rd, and I thought some facts and figures for how it went might be of interest. With Christmas in mind I made slightly less than usual to hopefully make it a bit stronger, and used a tad more molasses and choc malt.
‘Festive Ale’. Grist: Golden Promise pale malt 25Kg, Crystal malt 1.5Kg. Wheat malt 1.5Kg. Chocolate malt 250gms. Sugars: 500gms Molasses (Billingtons). Hops: First Gold Bittering, Goldings Aroma. Yeast: 1Lb obtained from my local mini-brewery. Made 31 gallons at an OG of 46.7. Fermented for 4 days @ 18/20 C. then 4 days @ 6/7 C. Racked into casks (4 x 5 gallon, 2 x 3+ gallon pressure ‘barrels’ December 1st. Racking gravity 13.8. Estimated ABV 4.4%.
I kept three of the larger PBs (the rest shared among members of my fan club), and they took me 18, 24, and 20 days to drink, which averages out at about a couple of pints a night. The very last pint was drunk last Wednesday, 71 days after being racked, and the Final Gravity had fallen to 5.2, which meant its ABV had increased from 4.4% to 5.6%. No carbon dioxide was needed to replace the volume of beer drawn off, sufficient being obtained by the natural process of fermentation.
You might have noticed there is no mention of priming sugar, and that is because I only conduct one fermentation, not two (one after the other) as is more usual. The trick is to be able to control the fermentation temperature precisely, and rather than letting it ferment right out, pause the fermentation for 4 days or so at a cooler temperature, then let it carry on as the beer begins to warm up in the ‘barrel’.
‘Festive Ale’. Grist: Golden Promise pale malt 25Kg, Crystal malt 1.5Kg. Wheat malt 1.5Kg. Chocolate malt 250gms. Sugars: 500gms Molasses (Billingtons). Hops: First Gold Bittering, Goldings Aroma. Yeast: 1Lb obtained from my local mini-brewery. Made 31 gallons at an OG of 46.7. Fermented for 4 days @ 18/20 C. then 4 days @ 6/7 C. Racked into casks (4 x 5 gallon, 2 x 3+ gallon pressure ‘barrels’ December 1st. Racking gravity 13.8. Estimated ABV 4.4%.
I kept three of the larger PBs (the rest shared among members of my fan club), and they took me 18, 24, and 20 days to drink, which averages out at about a couple of pints a night. The very last pint was drunk last Wednesday, 71 days after being racked, and the Final Gravity had fallen to 5.2, which meant its ABV had increased from 4.4% to 5.6%. No carbon dioxide was needed to replace the volume of beer drawn off, sufficient being obtained by the natural process of fermentation.
You might have noticed there is no mention of priming sugar, and that is because I only conduct one fermentation, not two (one after the other) as is more usual. The trick is to be able to control the fermentation temperature precisely, and rather than letting it ferment right out, pause the fermentation for 4 days or so at a cooler temperature, then let it carry on as the beer begins to warm up in the ‘barrel’.
