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I have to do a Westy 12 clone. I’ve got a Rochefort 10 conditioning in keg that I can’t wait to try. It’s still some months away though.

I’ve had all sorts of trouble getting my high alcohol beers carbonated. Even after months of warm conditioning in the bottle most have no carbonation at all. So given I pitched the yeast for this beer over four months ago and it’s over 12% ABV, there’s no way this one is going to carb without...

So today was bottling day. The RIS has been sitting in keg at 10C for three and a half months now, and I decided that it's time to move it along. I prepared a CO2 purged bottling keg. I used 115g of dextrose boiled in 115ml of water, aiming for 2.2 volumes of CO2. Cooled that and poured it into...

Thanks you guys for the excellent replies, I’m learning a lot. I think I’ve figured out enough to get me started. But I can’t help myself and like to know all the minor details as well. It’s a curse. I didn’t want to get too bogged down with the water just yet, but thought a couple of tips to...

Ok, so I’m going to order a Brewzilla this weekend. I’ve got to start figuring out how to use it, so here come the annoying questions. I see lots of people get rid of the top screen and overflow pipe to make stiring the mash easier. But, if you’re recirculating the wort through the grain bed...

You may have had a 30 second cry, but I had a 5 minute laugh. There should be more brew stories on AHB.

WLP099 sounds like a good choice. I have the pack of HA18 Mark gave me to use, which will be good for a big beer, maybe a Barley Wine. But it doesn’t come in small packs unfortunately. My thinking was if you could get something to 12% ABV with standard ale yeast, then using a late sugar...

I’m curious how this works. I’ve got some big commercial beers, like a 16.8% RIS. How do you ferment out a beer that big with ale yeast. Do you let fermentation run it’s course, and then throw in something like champagne yeast to finish it off? I’m thinking much over 12% ABV requires special...

After such a rubbish 2020 I’m looking forward to 2021 and thinking ahead to beer comps. I would like to put a beer or two up for assessment. Do you guys brew with an eye on beer comps? When and where are comps likely to occur in the coming year?

Mark, that was going to be my guess. Cheers

It’s in a temperature controlled conical fermenter, so the beer is not changing more than a fraction of one degree. Plus the airlock is always running out. If it was varying in temp the airlock would run both ways. I only presume it’s finished because the SG hasn’t changed in days. I’m not too...

My Belgian dark strong ale has been in the fermenter for three and a half weeks now and has finished fermenting. I plan to transfer it to a keg for conditioning in the next few days. However, there is still airlock activity, about once per minute. I'm curious where this comes from, and whether...

I really like the history surrounding these Belgian breweries. A lot of things have to change in the world before any plans like lining up at Westvleteren come into fruition.

I’ve not had a Westy before. I have had lots of Abt 12 over many years, and it’s probably my all time favourite beer. Rumour has it that they are clones of each other, so I hope I’m not missing out on too much. I might just line up at the Westy gate one day to say I’ve done it.

What is this crazy thing you speak of? Westvleteren is famous for only being sold at the front gate.

This is dear to my heart. As an aside, almost everyone drinks white wine too cold and red wine too hot. I put my decanter in the fridge to cool before decanting and drinking my big reds. But yes don’t drink your big Belgium’s at fridge temperature. It puts the aroma’s to sleep and a lot of what...

I thought I would post an update. Mainly because it frustrates me to read so many threads like these on the internet that never have a conclusion, so you don’t know how it turned out, or learn from what worked and what didn’t. Anyway, the SG did seem to get stuck at 1.024 for three days before...

I hope you post about your RIS brew. I’m always keen to hear other people’s big beer stories.

I just want to jump to Mark’s defence a bit, because I’m surprised by how hard he was attacked. Not what I expected from such a nice forum full of great people. I’ve talked to Mark a couple of times, and he knows I’ve got a good job and could get the BM normally, so it was a fair suggestion. I’m...

I understand the suggestion, but my other hobby takes most of the budget. From what I understand though, the beer is going to taste the same what ever system I use, but the user experience is going to vary. At this stage, all I care about is the beer.