Festive ale - first attempt

[Jamie488]

Hi all,

I am planning to brew a Christmas ale this weekend but as it is my first time at trying a recipe like this I thought I would gather some advice. I know I am a bit late in getting it started but should have it ready for new year. Here is a link to the recipe I have made (sorry cant work out how to get it on here easily)

Would welcome any thoughts? I thought about using the summit hops to bring out a tangerine aroma. Also wanted to use only dwarf hops to went for first gold to compliment the summit.

[URL]http://brewology101.com/AleAbacus/7739/ ... 2-dwarfs//[/URL]

Cheers Jamie

[greenxpaddy]

That looks a bold recipe to me! I would love to taste the result. Can go one of two ways

I think your honey will get lost in there. So no point adding it. You could just use sugar instead. Looks a lot of orange for the brewlength.

Anyhow, get brewing and make sure you enter my competition

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=54428

[Jamie488]

The brew is in the fv and has been bubbling very slowly for about 2.5 weeks. It came out with a higher og than expected so if my calcs are right should come out around 8 percent. Just wondered how long I should expect to leave it in the fv for and when to dry hop with summit?

[seymour]

The most vigorous stage of primary fermentation is complete, so you can add the dry hops any time you like now. If you rack to a secondary fermentor, I would add them afterwards. The length of time in the fermentor is up to you. The continuous bubbling indicates fermentation is still happening, which makes sense given such a high starting gravity and the cooler ambient temps this time of year. You can bottle/keg it as soon as the FG stops and stays where it is for several days in a row. There are clean-up benefits to leaving it on the yeast for a couple weeks, especially this kind of beer which is prone to fusels and other flaws, so I wouldn't rush it.