Right, got this in the fv a few hours ago. Sg of 1050, says on the box it should 1055, so the yeasty beasties have got a lot of work to do to get near the 6%abv claimed for this kit. Smells ever so malty with very definite chocolate wafts while making it up. It really held its foam too, when I was up to about 15 litres I had to stop and wait for the 7 or 8 inches of foam to subside before adding more water! I'll keep everything crossed that I don't get stuck at the Hambleton 1020 gravity, and probably go with adding the hop tea when I get to 1016 or lower, unless anyone recommends otherwise...
bulldog easter brew
- Thread starter mr maestro
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Less than 24hrs since pitching the yeast and the krausen is bulging the lid already! The other great thing I forgot to mention before is the bag the malt comes in - sooooo much easier than cans or the tear top pouches. They have a screw cap so you can rinse out the malt with hot water really easily, every last drop...
Spacedhopper
Junior Member
Yes mine started so well loads of krusen then faded and died out had it in FV for a month trying different things to get it started again it finished way off target emailed muntons and they said "The Easter Brew should come down to at least 1015, however if it has definitely stopped at 1019 then it will be ok to bottle. Some people have suggested that it would benefit from being a bit sweeter anyway and you have already produced at least 5% ABV. So only losing about 0.5% alcohol.
Some of the darker malts we use in this kit are a little unpredictable in fermentation and that could why it stopped short".
He also said water quality but no other kits other than muntons have stuck so I'm blaming poor yeast!! Good luck with it!!
Some of the darker malts we use in this kit are a little unpredictable in fermentation and that could why it stopped short".
He also said water quality but no other kits other than muntons have stuck so I'm blaming poor yeast!! Good luck with it!!
Cheers for the reply. Well water quality shouldn't be an issue, have used cheap Tesco spring water. My start gravity was only 1050 too, not the 1055 stated on the box. I had some trouble with a stuck brew a while ago, can't remember if it was Woodford Nog or a st Peter's red, but on emailing them I was passed on to muntons who apparently make the kits and was told pretty much the same as you were.
I think the instructions say to add 150g priming sugar, seems a lot to me especially for a stout, I'd normally go with 75g in a barrel. What did you use, and was it ok?
I think the instructions say to add 150g priming sugar, seems a lot to me especially for a stout, I'd normally go with 75g in a barrel. What did you use, and was it ok?
Noah
Amateur Beer Taster
Mine turned out to be a drain pour. Horrible, musty taste that was there right from the start. Before fermentation it tasted like cheap supermarket cooking chocolate and didn't improve.
Of the 456 pints I brewed last year, the 3 Bulldog brews were the most disappointing.
Racinsnake
Regular.
Hi Sloth,
Ref Muntons priming instructions, I noticed the same after I had problems with Rajas reward. I took a sample (of the IPA lol) to my friendly LHBS and they agreed it looked and tasted nothing like an IPA, and on checking the instructions in boxes of a variety of Bulldog brews on the shelf they all recommended 150g prime!!
Rob.
Ref Muntons priming instructions, I noticed the same after I had problems with Rajas reward. I took a sample (of the IPA lol) to my friendly LHBS and they agreed it looked and tasted nothing like an IPA, and on checking the instructions in boxes of a variety of Bulldog brews on the shelf they all recommended 150g prime!!
Rob.
Update: yesterday, 8 days after starting, I was at 1014 (og 1050) so added the hops. I went for a hop tea with freshly boiled water with a teaspoon of sugar just in case it was thinking of getting stuck at this gravity. Took a good deal more than ten minutes before it had cooled enough for me to be happy putting it in the fv. I'll give another 3 or 4 days before checking progress again.
Trial jar before adding the hops was funky, very chocolatey and malty and not as bitter as I think I want it. Just a waiting game now, at least my razorback will have had a week or two conditioning by the time I move this into a barrel
Trial jar before adding the hops was funky, very chocolatey and malty and not as bitter as I think I want it. Just a waiting game now, at least my razorback will have had a week or two conditioning by the time I move this into a barrel
As of a few hours ago the gravity had dropped further to 1012, here's hoping for a little more over the next few days. Temps been a steady 18-20â. Trial jar tasted much better than before- bit less malty and more bitter, still quite strong in chocolate flavours though, however they are better with the increase in bitterness. The hop tea has increased the hop flavour, not much but definitely noticeable and a definite improvement. Will update again soon...
Reddishflint
Active Member
Hi. Just bought this Easter Brew Chocolate Stout. According to the box it should have 4 ingredients, the malt, hops, yeast and chocolate flavouring. No chocolate flavouring in the box. I'm just wondering if the chocolate flavouring had already been added to the malt in the bag?
The chocolate flavouring is in the malt extract. Mines just about carbonated, and due to go in the cool to condition. A little taste yesterday suggests it'll be drinkable, but likely my least favourite brew to date. It has a very strong, sickly sweet 'artificial chocolate flavour' taste - but behind that flavour is a nice stout, probably would have been better with about half or more of the chocolate flavours left out!
Reddishflint
Active Member
Thanks Sloth. Had everything ready yesterday, bin sterilised, etc and opened the box and couldn't find the chocolate flavouring lol. Phoned my hbs today and he opened some boxes to check it out for me. So the flavouring is in the wort. Hopefully knock the brew up tomorrow but have lost two days. Drinking a Bad Cat has I type. Won't have no grammar or be able to spell correctly in about 10 minutes :-)
That bad cat looks good, hope this one's alright for you. Now I've just finished off razorback and have a free barrel, my next brew's a toss up between Nelson's Revenge or pilgrim's hope. Decisions, decisions...
mompessons
New Member
I've got this one to do also. I was hoping for a really nice chocolate stout, but after reading this thread, I'm now thinking I was being a little optimistic then?
Someone said out of the beers they brewed last year (on this thread) the 3 bulldog kits were their least favourite. Re bulldog kits in general though, I also bought a bulldog mixed berry cider kit which has had excellent reviews, again on this forum.
Any tips or suggestions for when I come to do this chocolate stout?
Someone said out of the beers they brewed last year (on this thread) the 3 bulldog kits were their least favourite. Re bulldog kits in general though, I also bought a bulldog mixed berry cider kit which has had excellent reviews, again on this forum.
Any tips or suggestions for when I come to do this chocolate stout?
I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd add my experience of the Bulldog Easter Stout for anyone thinking of brewing this.
Like others, I didn't get near the predicted OG of 1055.
Mine had an OG of 1050. It had got to 1014 when I added the hops on day 10, and it was at 1012 when I bottled it on day 18. With the 150g of carbonating sugar that should make an abv of about 5.5%, so not too far off the predicted 6%, and plenty strong enough for me. I just feel I should have the extra 0.5% alcohol that I was promised. :-)
Instructions said 150g of priming sugar for carbonation, so that is what I blindly added. But thinking about it, 150g is what I would use for a lager, so maybe these will turn out too fizzy for a stout.
The taste at bottling was quite nice, but quite strong chocolate. We'll see how it turns out, but this could be one of those brews that is nice to have a couple of pints of at Christmas, but the novelty of chocolate might be wearing thin by I have got through 40 bottles of the stuff.
Like others, I didn't get near the predicted OG of 1055.
Mine had an OG of 1050. It had got to 1014 when I added the hops on day 10, and it was at 1012 when I bottled it on day 18. With the 150g of carbonating sugar that should make an abv of about 5.5%, so not too far off the predicted 6%, and plenty strong enough for me. I just feel I should have the extra 0.5% alcohol that I was promised. :-)
Instructions said 150g of priming sugar for carbonation, so that is what I blindly added. But thinking about it, 150g is what I would use for a lager, so maybe these will turn out too fizzy for a stout.
The taste at bottling was quite nice, but quite strong chocolate. We'll see how it turns out, but this could be one of those brews that is nice to have a couple of pints of at Christmas, but the novelty of chocolate might be wearing thin by I have got through 40 bottles of the stuff.
Reddishflint
Active Member
In 35 years of brewing this is the only brew I've ever tipped out. I managed to drink...... 2 pints out of the kit over a year. My butty who's also brewed for donkeys years wouldn't even taken off my hands. 37 pint bottles all tipped down the drain. A waste of ã25. Yuck!!
i started off the Bull dog Easter chocolate stout with an extra 500g of Dark spray malt on the 2nd Nov and its still bating along nicely no sign of stopping over 14 days, yet the instructions say 7 days , the extra spay malt cant of made that much difference ??
