#38 and #39: Kegged and bottled

It took the Citrus Grisette 20 days to reach its final gravity. Actually it went a little past to 1.008 (1.011 estimated), so the beer should hold around 4.8% abv. The WLP400 yeast has been slow every time I have used it. The foam in the fermentation tank came rushing out on the first day, but the fermentation soon slowed down. I therefore moved the fermentation tank to the bathroom at day four, so for the last 16 days it fermented at 24C. The high temperature didn't seem to affect the flavour in any way.

I always drink the sample that I take for the hydrometer jar. The beer seemed light and quite clean with a hint of coriander and citrus. It is always a bit hard to tell exactly how it will end up as there is still some yeast floating around and next to no carbonation in the sample.

The Scottish Export 80/- had an FG of 1.012 (1.011 estimated), so it was pretty much spot on. That should result in 4.2% abv. The yeast, WLP028, is an extremely fast fermenter as the entire beer fermented out completely in about three days. I didn't bother checking the gravity, but that's when the fermentation lock activity stopped. Lazy as I am, I waited for the Grisette to finish, so that I could keg them both at the same time. I've never had any noticeable side effects from leaving the beer on the yeast cake a few more days. I'll definitely use the Edinburgh yeast again.

The flavour is slightly biscuity from the amber malt. Quite nice actually. I was a bit curious about the effects of the amber malts, and 7% of the malt bill (400 grams) seems not to be too much. I'll probably use more of it in the next beer.