Bulldog raja's reward IPA

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Hmmmmm. Been in the bottle for 3 weeks and it tastes very 'homebrew' to me. :-(


Did I leave it on the trub too long? Or should it be left longer in the bottle? The Razorback came out lovely but this seems to be a little less polished.
 
Mine was 14 days in primary, 5 days in secondary, been in the bottle since Friday and it looks clear as a bell with minimal sediment... Sooo tempting to have me a sample......
 
This...has gotten considerably better in the past week. Still not as tangy as the Razorback IPA but quite mellow and satisfying in it's own way. Hopefully it will improve even more as time goes by.
 
Had my sample, week in the bottle warm conditioning, overnighted in the fridge,

Result is a pleasantly tangy ale that's more gold than pale and being a newcomer to ales would say it's not unlike golden speckled hen.

Have hidden the remaining bottles in the garage to see how things develop
 
This kit has been my best brew yet, it is a really pleasant beer.

Been in the barrel just over 2 months and is really tasty, and quite hoppy.

I am over half way down the barrel and haven't needed to top up the CO2 which is a first for me.

:drink:
 
I'm just tucking into a bottle of Raja's Reward that's been two weeks in warm and two weeks in my beer fridge.

Only deviation from instructions were the addition of 250g of light spraymalt and 250g of dextrose to try and get the genuine IPA strength!!! OG = 1052 :twisted:

Nice steady ferment over 10 days with FG = 1011 giving a final ABV of around 5.5% accounting for priming sugar. Crappy hop tea bag boiled and added on day 8 (but hasn't made it particularly hoppy to be honest). Bottled after 14 days with 1 x Coopers carbonation drop.

Nice amber IPA colour. No homebrew 'twang' with mine. Good carbonation, body, white head with ok head retention and lacing.

I like it!:clap: I haven't done any other IPA kits yet but I'd do this again - maybe with fresh hop pellets though to give it some more oooooomph! Definitely worth paying the extra for the 3.4kg of malt extract - it really does make a difference to the final quality of the beer. The plastic bag it comes in too is really easy to get the screw cap off and squeeze out and rinse the last bit out too - easier than cans!:thumb:

Might try the Youngs American Craft IPA next for comparison as their APA was a humdinger hops wise. :hmm:
 
Hi All,

So, the Raja's Reward is my first kit and has gone into the F.V. this afternoon and although I don't have anything to compare it to, my brewing room (i.e. out of the way of SHMBO in the dining room) smells damn good!

Have to say that the bag system was extremely easy to use, again though not tried using cans so hard to compare.

O.G dead on as expected at 1044.

Will keep you posted with progress!
 
cjd85 said:
Hi All,

So, the Raja's Reward is my first kit and has gone into the F.V. this afternoon and although I don't have anything to compare it to, my brewing room (i.e. out of the way of SHMBO in the dining room) smells damn good!

Have to say that the bag system was extremely easy to use, again though not tried using cans so hard to compare.

O.G dead on as expected at 1044.

Will keep you posted with progress!
Click to expand...

Sounds good,keep us posted :thumb:
 
Evening all,

So my Raja's Reward is bubbling along nicely and has been in the F.V since Saturday afternoon, at a pretty steady 18-20 degrees.

My question is this - I've set my F.V up without a valve, instead I've just not fully closed/sealed my lid, it's about 80% sealed. I've read elsewhere about people fully sealing the lid at around the halfway point, and so wanted to check to see whether anyone would recommend this? My thinking is that with a proper seal around the lid it would reduce any chance of the beer being contaminated, but equally I want any excess CO2 to be able to escape properly.

Advice welcome!

:cheers:
 
I *can* put a bubbler in the lid, i have the valve/bung and could cut myself a hole - but avoided that thus far for fear of buggering up my lid. It's my first brew so want to minimise the chance of cocking it up!

Therefore I'm keen to avoid it and so can carry on with the lid slightly unsealed for now, before perhaps trying it for my next kit.
 
Thanks for the advice - have left it as is for now.

Quick update, I took a measurement this afternoon at the 7-day mark and SG is sitting at just 1030, which to me seems high, I was expecting it to have dropped further by now... Any thoughts? Main concern is that I have a hard deadline for bottling which means I can only afford to give it another 10 days (going on holiday)...
 
Another 10 days? Think mine was in the FV for about 3 weeks and then bottled for about 8-12 weeks before it turned into a beer my friend asked where I got it from as it was that good....
 
Started Raja's Reward this weekend, pitched the yeast at 23C and the SG was around 1051 as I made it up to 22 litres. Not much action in the FV yet, by all accounts this one is going to take a while.

FV - Raja's Reward
Conditioning - Wherry (using demerara and less water for around 4.8%)
Conditioning - Toffee Apple Cider
Bottled - Standard Wherry
Keg - Sundew
 
I posted a separate post on the main forum about this (since I'm not really reviewing the kit any more!) but wondering what you guys would prefer to do - bottle 'early' if I haven't hit the 1008 ideal FG, or wait until I get back from holiday by which time it will have had 4 weeks in the FV?

Do you see negative effects if the beer stays in the FV past the 'ideal' FG?
 
I've left mine in the bucket well passed it's 'ideal' point as the advice is it helps it clear faster as more stuff drops out of suspension....
 
Would deffo leave mine in the FV whilst on holiday. I will be looking at 20 days plus before the keg.
 
No worries, leave it in the bottle as long as you can, first I thought it was more flower than anything and then all of a sudden wow.... And then it was all gone :(
 

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