Woodfordes Headcracker

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Russ146

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Woodfordes Headcracker

I fancied trying this for a sometime and finally bought a kit and made it.

The tasting notes on the box describe exactly how my finished brew has ended up so i'm please with the result so far, i'm planning to leave it now for at least 8 weeks to condition and improve. At about 7% it should be a lovely warming winter fireside pint. i cant wait.

As i expected this is an awesome beer, deep plum and damson flavours with a sweet malt along with a strong warming alcohol taste and a long dry finish

superb!

although two pints is enough for me to lose the power of speech
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Just started brewing this. Accidentally made it up to 16L rather than 13 (wasn't thinking straight after a bottle of my own Old Suffolk). Should still be about 6 ish % as I added extra sugar even though it said not to. I'm such a rebel.

Gorgeous plummy nose on this one. I'm going to be inundated with Winter ales when the nights start drawing in.

Anyone else found this beer took some time to get going in the FV? It's had 12 hours and though there's krausen my airlock stays very much un-bubbling.
 
This has now been racked after 7 days in the primary and a sample taster had a warming finish to it.

Not sure if I should bottle these into 330ml bottles or 500ml; it's a strong ale and might be best consumed in small quantities. What do people suggest?
 
This has now been racked after 7 days in the primary and a sample taster had a warming finish to it.

Not sure if I should bottle these into 330ml bottles or 500ml; it's a strong ale and might be best consumed in small quantities. What do people suggest?


I am planning to brew one of these one day, I am collecting small Budweiser bottles, as a couple of pints at 7 % is enough to put you on your back, not really a session beer, more something to warm you in winter whilst sat beside the log burner........ that's my take on it anyway.
 
Bottled this after a week in the secondary. Had a cheeky taste and this might be one of the better beers I've brewed! Very tasty and can see myself sat by the fire at Christmas like Paul Whitehouse's character from The Fast Show slurring away.
 
Put this on last night. I wasn't thinking straight, took a sample and forgot to write it down. :( I'm sure I got 1060.....

Anywho, it'll be two weeks in FV before getting bottled.
 
Put this on last night. I wasn't thinking straight, took a sample and forgot to write it down. :( I'm sure I got 1060.....

Anywho, it'll be two weeks in FV before getting bottled.

Edit 14/07: that's it bottled. 23 pints. Works out about 92p a pint.

FG was 1013, so 6.4%abv. Had a wee taster and, although flat and warm, it had a nice taste to it, whilst the afterburn was definitely noticeable, though not in anyway unpleasant. :whistle:

92p for a good, strong tasting, winter warming pint of beer will do for me. :D

Taste test booked in for second week of October. :drink:
 
Several years ago I did one of these, with a few additions (spraymalt, syrup etc.).
The ABV ended up over 9% :drunk: so I re-labelled it as "Old Floordenter":D
I like getting value for money so I had stretched this to 48 pints (hence the spraymalt, syrup etc.). Any Woodfordes kit I have tried has such good body that "stretching" seems to have a minimal effect on how they taste!
I prefer to have 3 pints and fall over rather than drink 20 pints of 1% p*ss.
:drink:
 
Got a Headcracker in the Fv, when it's worked out would it be best to siphon into a second Fv for a while then bottle or would you put straight into bottle. Any help would be appreciated, Thanks
 
Did this brew the other week. After 20 days in the FV, I bottled it. Just put them in the shed today (2 weeks after bottling) apart from the 3 pints I had to put in a Greenalls take home jug. Why a jug? I ran out of bottle tops!! I am thinking of trying this tonight while i watch the Aussies and the All Blacks run into each other at speed.
 
I like to leave my headcracker 3 to 4 months before drinking it. It does get a lot nicer with age.
 
Was thinking about trying this as an alternative to cider (not a lager fan).

Is this more of a heavy/ale than anything else? What would you compare it to?
 
Made one of these up as my first ever beer brew. I used all bottled water.

OG was 1.062 after thorough stirring.

As for many other people, mine stalled at 1.020 SG, and stirring etc (temps were at 21 degrees C so plenty warm enough) to no avail I finally pitched a sachet of Crossmyloof Real Ale yeast, which got it going nicely once again.

Finished and wouldn't go any further at 1.016, so bottled (batch primed with light spray malt at 85g total) on 16/09/2017.

Cracked a bottle on 27/09/2017. Still a little yeasty, but quite delicious. Very very malty and sweet to begin with, hints of fruitiness, with a tiny tiny hint of liquorice (which is quite nice) arriving at the same time as the bitterness from the hopping will be even better once it's had more time to clear and condition. A delicious winter warmer that I'd certainly make again, I wouldn't bother with the kit yeast again though, easier to just use a better yeast from the off.

IMG_20170927_191044.jpg
 
A quick update, as now drinking this properly.

When chilled it's a really lovely pint, delicious and fruity almost. Warm however and it's just too much. :lol:
 
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