Kit brew: Bad Cat Imperial Red

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TiddlyWin

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Hi guys.

So a quick tl:dr. I built a fermentation fridge recently with an STC 1000 Build went well, and its working like a charm.

Anyway, I got given a Beer kit for my birthday. The kit is called Bad Cat Imperial Red (The artwork on the front is fantastic, if you haven't seen it it's a mummified cat HAHA).

The Starting Grav was stupidly high I managed to get it up to 1.070 so I'm expected it to drop to at least 1.014 to get close to the abv it states at 7.5%

Its been in the brew fridge for 3 days now and I'm recording 2 temperatures.

One temp is submerged in the blow off bottle (I was a little concerned about a standard airlock due to the amount of sugar in the wort), this one is on a little temp sensor which I plan on extending soon to a Raspberry Pi that will run a Python script to save the temp to a database so I can read it from a web server.

The 2nd sensor is blue tacked to the side of the FV which reads the temp. This one is attached to the STC. As the bluetack is acting as a barrier to the ambient temp of the fridge it reads the same as the one that's submerged.

There's at least another few days of fermentation before I add the finishing hop additions that came with the Kit and then from there, Bottle a few and barrel the rest.

Will update in a few days.
 
With an OG of 1.070 it should return just under 8% by the time it has fermented out to 1.010 or less.

I would hold off on the bottling/kegging for at least a week after adding the aroma hops from the kit because with such a high OG it may take quite a time to ferment completely.

Also, with an FG at 1.014, it will only have finished fermenting if there is a lot of non-fermentable sugars in the wort. As this is the first time you have brewed this beer I advise waiting the extra time and checking the FG over two to three days to ensure that fermentation is complete before bottling.

Enjoy! :thumb:
 
With an OG of 1.070 it should return just under 8% by the time it has fermented out to 1.010 or less.

I would hold off on the bottling/kegging for at least a week after adding the aroma hops from the kit because with such a high OG it may take quite a time to ferment completely.

Also, with an FG at 1.014, it will only have finished fermenting if there is a lot of non-fermentable sugars in the wort. As this is the first time you have brewed this beer I advise waiting the extra time and checking the FG over two to three days to ensure that fermentation is complete before bottling.

Enjoy! :thumb:

Oh, I completely agree, As I have no reservations about temperature anymore I will leave it for as long as it needs and as it is in the garage there is no temptation to mess around with it. If I can get it to 1010 that I would be very happy with that.

I wonder if anyone else has done this Kit before XD
 
Update #1 - Brew is doing really well and the ferm fridge is working out amazingly. Its currently sitting around 1.010 which is fantastic. I have a feeling its not about to stop anytime soon its got at least another 4 days or so until the 14day mark. Ideally, I want it in the bottle by then, but you can't rush these things XD so I will wait as long as I need to.
 
I made one of these in September, went into a pressure barrel middle of last month. FG was 1.004 (7.96% ABV) and it's matured into a lovely smooth pint so hopefully you'll enjoy yours. :thumb: Watch it though, it's sneaky.:whistle: I did however replace the dry hops with ones I knew would be fresher (read not sat on a shelf somewhere in the warm for months on end), read a few accounts of folks ending up with drain cleaner after adding the dry hop.
 
I have had mine in bottles now for a good month, the finished beer isn't at all sweet( the eveil dog IPA was and I don't think I would brew again) and I think mine finished about 1.010. the first bottle was definitely rough, but was only juts carbed for 10 days. the one over the weekend was nice, the alcohol mellowed out even for over 7% this early. you can still tell its strong and will only get better as it ages.

this is now under the house until Christmas, might sneak a few just for research purposes but time will be this beers friend.

Steve
 
Update: Well the fermentation finished at around 8% and the brew is currently conditioning in a pressure barrel as we speak. My 1st brew done in a fermentation fridge with an STC 1000 controlling the temp and Wowzers what a result. Poured a small glass to taste, wasn't disappointed, it's going to be a very cheap Xmas for me on the drink side of things hahaha.
 
8% is a night night beer, 2 of them and I'm suddenly having a pint with the sandman. Sounds like gorgeous beer, that's Xmas sorted.
 
I bought my mum one of these, she made the evil dog about 6 weeks ago and is keeping it for xmas so thought Id get her a bad cat to replace all the empties! hopefully its a good one.
 
I bought my mum one of these, she made the evil dog about 6 weeks ago and is keeping it for xmas so thought Id get her a bad cat to replace all the empties! hopefully its a good one.

The hop additions make this kit, they give it so much flavour. I think I added my hops 10 days into fermentation, the later the better ofc.

All in all, fantastic kit imo.

I also bottled some as well to give to friends, I checked one bottle :whistle: and it produced such a lovely head, caramel in colour very creamy looking too.
 
The hop additions make this kit, they give it so much flavour. I think I added my hops 10 days into fermentation, the later the better ofc.

All in all, fantastic kit imo.

I also bottled some as well to give to friends, I checked one bottle :whistle: and it produced such a lovely head, caramel in colour very creamy looking too.

If I were to ever make it again, I'd triple the quantity to be honest. It's so flippin strong it needs way more hops.... :lol:
 

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