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Oh - I used an oven thermometer. I've been looking at one of those universal thermostats, which is a power switch connected to a thermometer. That way, you can focus on stirring, etc. The recipe includes 2lbs of caster sugar, so they'd have that if nothing else. Still, given how it's been...

All right, after putting together my marvellous brewing machine from a fermentation bucket, a kettle element and some silicone, I set out on my quest to make a Dirty Monk Golden Strong Ale. I learned many things during all of this. The mashing went... so-so. I don't have a thermostat yet, so I...

How much plums do you think I should add for a 5g batch? 7-10lbs or so?

Right now I'm leaning toward basically making a blue chimay clone, with a few alterations to keep the gravity a bit lower, to leave some room for fermenting the plums sugars.

Your presumption is correct. The CO2 will do its job.

A small bottle of Pilsner Urquell. Never quite grows old, and will help me get through the stuff I need to do tonight.

Hi, it's been a while. I'm still in the game, just busy with other stuff. Last year I made a plum wine with plums from my own garden, which is just about now getting drink-ready. It's pretty fantastic (or at least was when I bottled it a week ago) though the clearing process was a hassle. I'm...

Opened the second bottle today - 13 days in room temp from bottling, 4 in fridge, I think. Hmm. I had a bottle bomb, too. This one had much weaker carbonation, and wasn't nearly as heavy as the other one. I also diluted the brew with 2-3l of water (from 13-14l to 16l) as I added the sugar, but...

I was sure all of my bags were Atheist, but then I discovered one of them hunched over the latest copy of The Watchtower the local door knockers threw at me...

Yeah, I used a good amount of extra crystal malt without having a good idea of what it contributes, which wasn't that smart. Still, it's a good brew.

Belhaven's Wee Heavy is 6.5%... I think I'll do that, anyway. Plus, now I won't even have to get myself a crusher yet - I can buy the necessary grains pre-crushed from my supply shop. Eh, I guess I'll just do this one by the book, I can mixture with it next time. Ah - looks like only their...

I do use Beersmith, I even have bought the full version. Denny: Thanks for the recipe. I supposed the peated malt was for putting the "Scotch" in "Scotch beer" or something. The recipe you linked to looks nice, but it's a bit on the heavy side for my taste. I was thinking of perhaps 6.5%-7%.

First bottle opened today, bottled at September 28. Hm. I now understand why it is recommended to use pale malt and darken it with roasted barley and the like. It's not bad at all, but the dark malt taste is... Heavy. Quite heavy. Interested in seeing what it's like in another week...

Though, looking at it, the Wee Heavy recipe is pretty simple as well. It's just got a higher gravity, and some more specialty grains (as well as a hotter mash to make it sweeter). I don't see why I couldn't do that, really.

Hm, well, that looks simple.

I've always preferred "Fortune favours the prepared mind", for that reason...

All right, I adapted this from some recipes I found online. Wee Heavy 3.7 kg 2-row Pale Malt (60.3%) 0.7 kg Munich Malt (11.4%) 0.7 kg Crystal Malt 80L (11.4%) 0.7 kg CaraPils (11.4%) 0.2 kg Roasted Barley (3.6%) 0.1 kg Peat Smoked Malt (2%) 30g Cascade 5.5% @ 60min 15g Goldings 5% @ 30min...

Yep, soon I will have finished the necessary equipment. So, the question comes - what should I make? Initially I thought of making a dark lager, but it doesn't look like it's getting cold enough yet, so I'll have to wait with that. So I'm thinking maybe a nice English ale, something in the...

I chilled for about 24 hours. I'll put a bunch of more bottles in there tomorrow, then, (and try not to drink them up too quickly.)

Opened a third today. Mm! What an improvement. Now it actually tastes malt and hops like I'm used to. It's both hoppy and malty at the same time - before the hops were entirely dominant, and I think I made it a bit stronger than I intended to by not quite adding enough water. Anyway, it's a...