Brewferm Grand Cru

[Mauri]

bottled my GrandCru today. Started at 1.070, finished at 1.014. Nice golden colour and a nice spicy kind smell.
The only disappointment was that it's very cloudy. Is this normal? will it clear within the next 8 weeks?
Anyway,if the smell is anything to go by, I guess Xmas will be a lot merrier than usual this year!

[Chris The Fish]

The only disappointment was that it's very cloudy. Is this normal?

dont worry about the cloudyness, the majority of beers are cloudy when they are bottled/kegged, and they get clearer the longer you leave them.

A point worth making is that even if they are clear when you stick them in the fridge the protiens in them will make it appear cloudy when you take them out (known as chill haze), again nothing to worry about.

if you can wait 8 weeks the beer gets better from there. (i sampled mine from a week in and only about half made it to the 2 month stage

[PeteH]

On the subject of chill haze... I left my Grand Cru inside for 2 weeks after bottling, then moved to the garage. At this point they were already clear. A week later they are cloudy. Is this chill haze? and if so will it go if I let them warm up a bit before drinking?

[Chris The Fish]

not too sure, i normally notice the chill haze when i take them out of the garage and put them into the fridge, it goes when i pour and have them in the living room for 15 minutes or so.

if its not too early crack one and find out! id be surprised if the sediment got stirred up moving them a short distance.

chris

[Mauri]

On the subject of chill haze... I left my Grand Cru inside for 2 weeks after bottling, then moved to the garage. At this point they were already clear. A week later they are cloudy. Is this chill haze? and if so will it go if I let them warm up a bit before drinking?

Same thing happened to me. they've been out in the shed for 4 days and they are cloudy, while they were nice and clear when they were in the kitchen cupboard.

[PeteH]

On the subject of chill haze... I left my Grand Cru inside for 2 weeks after bottling, then moved to the garage. At this point they were already clear. A week later they are cloudy. Is this chill haze? and if so will it go if I let them warm up a bit before drinking?

Same thing happened to me. they've been out in the shed for 4 days and they are cloudy, while they were nice and clear when they were in the kitchen cupboard.

Don't worry. I tried one last night. Brought it inside to warm up for about 1/2 an hour and it was clear as a bell. Very carbonated though, a 330 ml bottle filled up a pint glass. Maybe it would have been better if it was a bit cooler, could be a bit of a balancing act. Tasted really good though, a bit of risidual sweetness that I expect to lessen as the weeks go on (its only been bottled 3 weeks I think). I'm hoping that more time will help with the chill haze too, so I can drink it a bit colder, don't know if it will though. I'm gonna leave it (pretty much) alone for another month now.

[Mauri]

Funny that you've just posted that. Last night ,in the interest of science, I have carried out the very same experiment while I was bottling my Coopers IPA
And the results of my experiment agree with yours on all accounts!

[Curious Brew]

Mine arrived today from H&G, bit late for Christmas I know but what the hell.

Two kits ready to go on.

Would I get away with kegging this or should I really bottle?

[wetdog]

mine's been in the keg for 3 months now. I think it fermented out to about 6 or 7% and so was a bit sweet. still very drinkable, but a couple of pints puts me on my ar*e

[Curious Brew]

Did mine yesterday before the Motörhead gig.

Pics to follow.

[Curious Brew]

Sanitising

One kilo of sugar, later upped to 1.2 kg in accordance with the instructions. Although they might have been talking about candy sugar...

Warming the cans

Thought it prudent to do a seal test before I fill the FV with wort

Starter starting nicely

Thoroughly aerated

Ready to pitch

Taking the gravity

OG 1.058

In situ next to the never ending Montmellick stout

[RichardG]

I did a Grand Cru for my Christmas beer; 1 kit, normal unprocessed cane sugar, followed normal instructions. OG was 1070 with a FG of 1014 giving me a 'health' ABV of 7.3%. Yippee! So, they've been conditioning untouched now for 8 weeks, so I decided to try one last night to see how things were going; also gives me time to replace / fiddle with if the results weren't good. Well, I needn't have worried, it's excellent! A nice golden colour, full of flavour and spice with a residual sweetness. Absolutely.... oh, superlatives desert me, make up your own!

On the subject of carbonation, I used the recommended 90g as per the instructions. I also bottled in 33cl bottles as opposed to the normal 500ml / pint bottles. My thinking had been that it's pretty strong so discretion would be advisable, also I suspected that it would be pretty lively coming out of the bottles so didn't want to have it overflowing. Well, it's lively alright! Not excessively so, and it definately works for this beer, but if you're bottling I'd recommend it despite it being something of a faff.

[Dill]

I did a Grand Cru for my Christmas beer; 1 kit, normal unprocessed cane sugar, followed normal instructions. OG was 1070 with a FG of 1014 giving me a 'health' ABV of 7.3%. Yippee!

Hi Rich, looks like another kit not reaching its advertised abv then

[RichardG]

True; though having said that, 7.3% as opposed to 8% isn't something I'd quibble too much about. My main gripe has been with kits like my Norfolk Nog which claimed 4.5% and came out with 3.5%. Further, from some of the other posts I've read on here it would seem most of your standard 2 can kits couldn't really get anywhere further than maybe 4% anyway.

[Curious Brew]

Mine's still in the FV, very cloudy and very bubbly sample taken.

Going to take a comparison sample tonight and keg if stable.