Abbey Ale

The Abbey Ale is great. It's strong, no bones about it, but I must say, it has all of the character of a good ale.

Note- I still have yet to master the carbonation of the keg. What has worked for me in the past that is kind of working this time is that I charge the keg (about 30 PSI), bleed out the O2 and I shake it for about 5 min or so. After this, I lower to what I want it to come out at and I connect the CO2 to the keg and then to the tap. I let everything sit for a few days and then start to drink.

Thus far it has produced two results, first it either starts out with a weak carbonation and eventually works it's way to being alright and second, it starts out really foamy and weakens out to a nice carb later.

This is an imperfect science for me, but once I master it I will be sure to make note of exactly what I did.

WOW

Just a note, 9.17% ABV for my "First Tuesday after the first Monday" Abbey Ale, it's going to be great!

"The First Tuesday After The First Monday" Abbey Ale

I went out looking for an Octoberfest brew that I could make with extract. There were a lot of them out there, but the one thing I noticed is that there was no consistancy in the ingredients so I was not sure what made one different from the others. So here I am. I found this Abbey Ale recipie on the internet and made some adjustments to make it my own. Ommegang has a GREAT Abby Ale so if you are interested to get a good taste, thats a great place to start.

Malt Extract: 6.6 lbs Muttons Malt Extract
3 lbs Muttons dry malt

Specialty Grain: 1 lb De Wolf-Cosyns Belgian pale malt
.5lbs Briess Victory Malt

Bitter Hops: 1 oz Czek Saaz (55 min)
Flavor Hops: 1 oz Czek Saaz (5 min)
Kicking it up: 1 oz Czek Saaz (2 min)

Yeast: Wyeast 1214 Belgian Abbey

Special: 1 lb dark Belgian candy- when you add the candy, add it 1/4 of the bag at a time and stir it in. This allows the candy to dissolve)

OG: 1.080
FG: 1.010

ABV: 9.17%