Summer Lightning Update

My first all grain beer has now completely cleared (although the pic doesn't make it look clear) and is tasting lovely!  Unfortunately, it's nearly gone.

Not a problem as AG#2 (another Summer Lightning clone but only 5.2% this time) is priming in bottles as we speak and #3 (my own Blonde ale recipe) is ready to be bottled in a couple of days.

#4 will be brewed mid-week, a Hobgoblin clone.  Pics to follow.....

Earlier in the week, I strained off the banana wine into a demijohn and it now looks like this;

 

 

 

 

Not very appetising at the moment, is it?  Banana wine needs more racking than other wines due to dropping a lot of sediment.  Once it does clear, it will be a lovely golden colour.


My Summer Lightning is also in the keg and priming as we speak.  In a couple of days, it will go into my cool garage to condition for a few weeks.  That's the plan!  It is tasting lovely, even at this early stage, so it might be a problem keeping my hands off it!!

Raspberry Beer

Just tasting the raspberry beer I mentioned here

It's very nice and is quite dry (much like real raspberries).  The only problem is lack of fizz.  I batch primed the 2 gallons, bottled, and left at 20 degrees for a week but still no fizz.  It is not quite flat as there is a bubbly feeling on the tongue.  At first, I thought that pressure may have been leaking from under the caps on the bottles, but the plastic bottles (which did feel firm as though they had some pressure behind them) were the same.   Oh well, back to the drawing board!



Quick Update....

This is what I woke up to this morning.......!

 



 

 

 

The yeast is obviously doing its job well.  Also, the bitter aroma it had yesterday has been replaced by a lovely fruity/spicy aroma.  If it tastes half as good as it smells, I'll be chuffed :-)

 

 

 

Between all the beer-making shenanigans yesterday, I managed to mince the wheat to add to my banana wine.  

It has formed a crust on top of the wine and will need stirring once or twice a day to keep everything moist and get the flavours working.  I'll ferment it 'on the pulp' for about a week before straining into a demijohn.