Mai Bock - version 2

WCG

Just started my latest brew.
A 20(ish) Liter batch of 3 cans of Black Rock Mai Bock & 500g of Billington's Molasses Sugar.
The 'Best before' date on the cans was 13 April, but that shouldn't be an issue.
Using a mixture the supplied yeast & Danstar Nottingham
Starting SG was 1.084, compared to the 1.054 that my last batch ( 1 can & 500g spraymalt for 11L )
The finishing SG is supposed to be around 1.014, which would be around 9.2% ABV
( My last batch finished at 1.012 after I added Danstar Nottingham yeast, which would be around 9.5% ABV if this one does the same )


Only a couple of hours in & it's already frothing well.....using one of my 30L buckets ( with the lid resting loosely on top ) so hopefully it won't froth over.

BUDFORCE

Wow, that certainly sounds different.

Is it any good? I might give it a go at some point down the line although I really struggle with the 7.5% one I brew sometimes, this seems like a gauranteed headache the next day!

WCG

The last one I did - which was 'only' about 5.5% - is very tasty in my opinion.
It was tangy & malty, but having been bottled for about 3 months it's mellowed somewhat.
Still malty, though, although that's posibly down to my adding the 500g of dark spraymalt.

Bog-standard 22L brew with 2 cans is supposed to be about 3.7-4.5% , 3 cans is supposed to be about 6.5-7.2% ( according to Black Rock )

I did have a problem getting the SG down below 1.02, but added Danstar Nottingham yeast which got it down to 1.012

WCG

3 days in and I've just checked the SG....it's down to 1.03 , which should be around 7% ABV

Not much froth ( although there hasn't been since I started it ) and I've given it a good stir.

Also tasted it, tangy but not too malty.

WCG

2 days on ( 5 in total ) and the SG is 1.028 ( around 7.3% ABV )
Very little activity, so I've given it yet another good stir.
I'll give it a few days to see what happens, before deciding whether it's worth chucking some more yeast & some nutrient in.

WCG

I was going to start bottling it today.
Then I checked the SG and found it has dropped to 1.02 ( about 8.4% )
The bottling has now been put on hold for another week or two

HBO_Staff

Probably worth giving it a bit more time as it may well drop lower, let us know how it turns out!

WCG

After another couple of weeks, I've finally gotten around to start bottling the Mai Bock.
Checking the SG before I did so, it was down to 1.016, which is just short of 9% ABV. Can't complain about that!

As a change from the brewing sugar/DME I normally use for priming, I've decided to give carbonation drops a try....recommendation is for 2 per 500ml bottle, but I'm only using one.

WCG

After a bottling session spread over 2 days ( much of the time taken up filtering out floaters ) the final tally comes to 39 bottles - about 19.5L / 41 pints.

WCG

As you can see from the image, it's turned out very dark for a Mai Bock....don't know if that's down to me using 3 cans instead of 2, the molasses sugar I used, or a combination of the two.

Less than a month after bottling & it's got a very malty taste - more so than my previous batch - and quite tangy.
Despite being a higher ABV than my previous batch ( 9% as opposed to about 5.5% ) it's got a lot smoother taste.
Definitely another one I'd recommend.

HBO_Staff

It sounds like it has quite a good strong flavour and high alcohol content, the Black Rocks make some decent brews

WCG

I've still got 2 cans each of their 'Witbier', 'Oatmeal Stout' & 'Wakatu Pils' to use, so I may give one of them a try over the next couple of weeks before my grapes ripen enough to start this year's batch(es) of wine