Ok so it’s been a while since I updated. Brew #5 was bottled (priming sugar, bottling bucket, syphon etc.) about 2 weeks ago. I’ve let it sit since then and decided to try one last night.
On opening the first impression is that I seem to have solved my low carbonation problems! There is a good hiss of escaping gas and then reasonable head formation in the glass. As with Brew #4 the beer is a dark brown colour. There is a hint of sweetness on the first taste followed by a very dark, almost coffee-like taste. Mouth-feel is excellent (even though I do say so myself!). Not sure of the ABV of this one as I couldn’t find my hydrometer at the appropriate time! Feels similar to the previous batch.
I am pleased with this effort overall 
Cheers!
I got home last night and checked on the fermentor. It’s kept in a closet and when I opened the door there was a heavenly smell of beer, all toffee and biscuit flavours. The fermentation is still going, but there is now only one bubble from the airlock every 10 seconds or so.
I’ll probably let this finish and then sit until the weekend. Bottling will probably be on Sunday.
I took a short video of the airlock when the fermentation was most active. I’ll post it later.
Brewing was done yesterday following the same recipe as Brew #4. The yeast was pitched at about 2:30pm yesterday afternoon and activity was noticed by around 6pm.
Later in the evening I had moved the fermentor into a cupboard to be out of the way. I went to check on it (as you do) and discovered that there was krausen (foam) coming out of the airlock! I quickly removed, cleaned and replaced it. There was a tremendous amount of activity in the fermentor and the airlock was “violated” several more times through the evening and night.
This morning the fermentation has settled a little so I cleaned and replaced the airlock and it seems to be OK now. There is still plenty of activity (1 bubble every 3 seconds or so), it’s just not crazy anymore.
I’ll post later when I get home on how we are doing.
Cheers!
