Did you know that Theakston’s Old Peculier beer isn’t using a peculiar spelling of, well, peculiar? In fact it refers to the fact that Masham, where the company is based, is in an area not under the ecclesiastical control of the diocesan bishop – see Theakston’s page on the beer. My latest homebrew is based on Graham Wheeler’s recipe for the beer and I hope it will have more in common with Old Peculier than some of my more peculiar results, like the ones which formed pellicles. You can see how I’ve ended up christening this one Pe’haps.

It is now in the fermentor and the temperature, at about 20°C is slightly higher than I want. However, the high ambient temperature of the last few days is due to drop tonight and so the temperature of the brew should drop too until the Inkbird-controlled brewbelt catches it from falling below 17°C. The starting gravity of this one is quite high, at 1.052, although a little below the target of 1.058. I suspect that lower than average efficiency is due to the high proportion of malt in the mash making it harder for the sugars to circulate out. More stirring might have helped although I think this should still end up as a sweet, full-bodied drink.

Oh, and the previous brew, 3Bird, seemed to come out well. I got that bottled last weekend and I just need to come up with a label design to go on the bottles.