Muntons Connoisseurs Bock Review

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Fancied a bit of a change, so thought I'd give this 1-can kit a go, as I used to enjoy the dark German beers when I travelled there years ago.

Brewed a little bit short with Enhancer, left it in the FV a bit long as I was ill (18 days) but it still didn't ferment right out, FG 1014. Bottled the lot and just had the first sample. It's still very young and has a bit of a twang, but is promising and if I was blindfolded I'd swear it was a stout. Mind you, another dark beer I tried (Norfolk Nog) was the same but matured into a beautiful dark ale after a month or two, so we'll see how this turns out. Pity I haven't been to Germany for so long, as I can't tell if it's like the real thing or not. Got a good feeling about this one but we'll see nearer Xmas, will report back :D

bock_small.jpg
 
Quick update: had a Bonfire Party last night with 7 of my ales on offer, including several Extract brews, and everyone loved the Bock. One of the guys (another homebrewer) said "this is the best ale you've made". I wouldn't go that far, but it was certainly very, very nice and worked well as a dark session ale - not too strong and not as heavy as the usual dark beers. Well impressed with this 1-can kit. :D
 
Hi, just wondering how this beer worked out? I am in the middle of brewing the same one after a trip to Munich earlier this year gave me a taste for it. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. i bottled half of it after 5 days and on advice here have left the rest in the FV to bottle later. Im planning to do it at the start of October when I get back from holidays. Mike
 
Mike1892 said:
Hi, just wondering how this beer worked out?

It was great, definately on the "to-do-again" list. Better than some 2-can kits I've tried and one of the best 1-can kits, hard to say how authentic it is 'cos I haven't had a dark German beer for a long time, but felt close to what I remembered. And they all went really quickly, which is my measure of success. :D
 
good stuff. looking forward to giving it a try. like the look of your sam adams lager - will need to keep an eye out for that kit.
 
Brewed this as per instructions, used table sugar as my home brew shop was out of brewing sugar. As I'm a newbie, I didn't keep accurate records so I don't know the FG or strength of the beer. I also under primed my bottles giving it not much fizz.

It didn't last long drinking wise. It was pretty dark in colour and tasted like a mild stout as the O/P suggested. I was pretty pleased so I put the same brew on again.

Done things differently this time and kept records.

Used beer enhancer instead of sugar FG was 1.006 brewed for 8 days. Strength is around 3.9%. Done things differently, after 2 days I transferred some into a demijohn to see if it would clear the beer better. When brew was ready for bottling, I bottled 10 of the demijohn beer in 500ml clear bottles, 10 brown bottles from the bucket and the rest into a keg. I primed the bottles properly (hopefully) but didn't prime the keg. Instead I'm hoping to carbonate by CO2 cartridges. If things don't go right I can always prime in future.

I've to give it a week before trying the keg but I'm off for a break for a few days so won't report back until 2 weeks time.
 
While the weather is still cold I'm getting all the lagers done that I can.

I've just started this brew over the weekend, have used 1kg Dark Dried Malt Extract instead of sugar.

I also have used some yeast from my last brew (the yeast cake from a vienna lager) which was california lager yeast instead of the muntons provided one (which I think is an ale yeast).

Will update.
 
What ya mean by trying to clear?

I would imagine it's the same as any other beer (unless you're trying to get rid of the black?).
 
I've just bottled this and I'm very surprised at how it's turned out. 5.2%ABV, after drinking a glass it is very very mild.


I used leftover yeast from my previous brew (a Festivals Vienna lager, super buttered buttery butter) with a Californian lager yeast, underpitched. This is the cleanest tasting beer I have ever made, it's got a tiny, little bit of diacetyl but apart from that it's all there. This is probably also the mildest flavoured beer I've made.


Will the malty flavour increase with time in the bottle?
 
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