23/11:- Time for a new brew. I wanted to try the Coopers Strawberry Blonde recipe, but wasn't able to find Strawberry Clover honey, so I've made a Honey Blonde using mixed honey instead. Hopefully the honey won't be too strong for the brew. Initaial impression is a light, clear brew. So far the honey is hardly noticable, so it might just be OK, but I guess only time will tell. Trying to keep the fermentation temperature to 22C, but this is proving difficult, even though ambient is only about 20C. Current fermenter temp is closer to 25C. 24/11:- Having the opposite problem from the last brew, I can't keep it cool enough. I guess Melbourne in summer is not idea for even an ale brew. I'me using ice bricks and a water bath to control the temperature. 1/12:- Finished fermenting now. The ice bricks seem to have kept the temperature down, although I'm not sure how stable it was. 2/12:- Bottled today. A nice clear brew. Not much trub or krausen though. Maybe it's the different yeast strain?? Nice clear brew, no lingering taste from the hiney, although I've read that this comes through with time. It's quite warm this week, so there should be no problems with conditioning temperatures. I'm not going to worry about the heater setup, I'll just leave it be. |
