IMG_8032I am rapidly getting through my list of things to brew and I will hopefully be done by the New Year. I'm preparing for a competition and I'm entering a beer in every class.

Since I last wrote an article here, I have managed to get a stubborn Barley Wine to carbonate by adding very fresh and active yeast to the bottles. It managed to carbonate the beer before getting killed off by the alcohol (around 13%). I also added champagne yeast to another batch and it has eaten more than one would like and has made the beer harsh. Maybe it will settle down a bit.

My Russian Imperial Stout has carbonated fine and is almost ready to be conditioned in the cold.

I've also made two very nice beers that I'm pleased with - an American IPA and a Northern Brown Ale.

Two failures however. 1. Pilsner Lager - this didn't start to ferment quickly enough and as a result, it has a bubblegum flavour. I'm going to redo this one from scratch. It won't be wasted - a beer judge I know will be using it as an example of an infected beer for examinations.

2. London Bitter - hasn't carbonated in the bottles. I suspect the yeast has dropped out, so I will fix it by adding some fresh yeast in the coming days.

The next steps are to complete the list. Today I brewed a Saison. Tomorrow will be a tedious day of bottling beers. In two weeks I will be brewing some lagers, followed by a Dry Stout, a Mild and a Wheat Beer. Then we will be complete for next year's NAWB competition and no doubt more.