Black Death - Made a beer from all my stock and got this...

[Mitchamitri]

Heres the beer I made from New Years Day. The weather was very cold and very sunny and I wanted to get outside – which turned out to be dangerous as everything froze and went slippery. Anyway, we should be moving house soon and I had less than 2kg MO left and a few bags of odds and sods that would be simpler if I used them ALL of them up before moving (any excuse) and I may have been drinking……

Strictly speaking I believe it’s a Russian Imperial Stout (comes in at 8.4%), but a Wheat RIS, so have I invented a new style? Wont be ready until autumn at the earliest…….and may be disgusting.

Stonemog Imperial wheat stout aka Black Death

(grams)
Maris Otter Pale Malt 1650
Amber Malt 550
Chocolate Light 400
Wheat Malt 3000
Torified Wheat 200
Crystal Malt Pale 500
Flaked Barley 450
Choc Dark 130
Plus 500g household caster sugar
Plus 447g sugar derived from 2 jars of raspberry jam (ran out of sugar at home)
Jam dissolved in water, sieved to get seeds out, then added to boiler
Jam sugar calculation based on nutrition information
Plus 454g black treacle

Hop schedule
Northdown 40g 90mins
EKG 46g 90 mins
Challenger 26g 90 mins
Bramling Cross 13g 15 mins
Protafloc
S04 Yeast

After day one fermentation it was doing its best to escape…….

[garwatts]

Sounds a bit unique Mitch. Good luck with it. Let us know how it turns out?
Where are you moving to?

[Mitchamitri]

over our back fence - the orchard I get my cider apples from will finally be mine!!!!

[garwatts]

Nice one. Does that mean the apples will cease to be?

[Mitchamitri]

Right, since brew day have added a full packet of cocoa powder, a cup of extremely strong black coffee, dry hopped with a handfull of hops (bobek i think) and even more treacle. Think its going to be over 10% so I pitched some wine yeast in and it was loving every minute of it. Fermentation has really slowed so I think i will bottle mid feb.
Taste of it so far indictaes its not going to be disgusting, or as disgusting as i thought.

[mshergold]

Is there a cider apple orchard in Westbury? I didn't know that! Whereabouts in Westbury (don't feel you have to be too specific)?

[garwatts]

Is there a cider apple orchard in Westbury? I didn't know that! Whereabouts in Westbury (don't feel you have to be too specific)?

I've a funny feeling that there's a White Horse at Uffington as well

[Mitchamitri]

My apples come from generous people’s back gardens round town – although I believe there is a community orchard project in Bratton. In the new old place there are a couple of apple trees (cooker, and eater, and a little crab), but I plan to dig up a big holly bush and take down a huge evergreen and plant 3 more trees – a spartan (good for eating and cider), a morgan sweet or similar, and a.n.other.
Dad lives between near Wells and does a lot of walking – he’s found me allsorts including a load of cider apples I used for the 2009 pressing. Got to be said though, the quality of the non-cider apples last year was generally pretty dire – I lost about half of the season’s yield to vinegar. Still, it’s all a learning process.