Update 4/21 - SG~1.045, racked back into a larger carboy, added two pounds corn sugar to thin it out a bit. It's active but slow now, I'll probably rack to keg in a few months.
Update 2/28 - SG~1.046, even after the WLP001 addition. Racked to secondary...might add champagne yeast, but it might just be done.
Update 1/31 - SG~1.051. Damn. This is too slow. Maybe some yeast nutrient is in order?
Update 1/24 - SG~1.052, a little estery, still VERY sweet, obviously.
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I bought a sack of Scottish Golden Promise. Twenty-five kilograms of awesome. So I brewed a strong scotch ale to kick it off. I meant to use a pound of flaked barley, but the shop was out, so I planned to use oats, but then I forgot to put them in the mash. Oh well. A slightly finer crush and a little bit of water chemistry pushed my efficiency up to about 68-70%, which I think is pretty good for such a big beer. I used a little extract because my mash tun is not big enough for 25lbs of grain. Shooting for just the faintest touch of smoke - beechwood instead of peat. I can't stand peat smoke.
Additionally, at the suggestion of the folks at the club, I vented the barleywine and resealed to let some of the CO2 out.
Batch #30
--15lbs Scot. Golden Promise
--4lbs Light Dry Malt Extract
--1.375lbs Am. Crystal 60L
--12oz Ger. Melanoidin
--12oz Ger. CaraRed
--4oz Ger. Rauchmalt
--2lbs corn sugar (secondary fermentation)
--2oz Willamette 4.3%AA, whole (60min)
--1oz Willamette 4.3%AA, whole (20min)
--1/4 tsp supermoss (10 min)
--WLP028 Edinburgh Ale yeast, 2 vials in 1.7L starter
OG: 1.115 (effectively 1.132)
FG: 1.039
ABV: 12.2%
IBU: 30ish, according to BeerSmith
Mash-in at 156F in 6.25gal water. Added ~1.5gal hot water for mash-out (didn't quite hit 168F...). Fly sparged with 1.25gal water. Collected 7.25 gallons wort. Boiled down to 6.25 gallons before adding extract, let hot break clear, then add first hop addition (for a slightly longer than 2 hour boil). Really, really, shake it up to aerate. My lag time was about three hours.
