Bulldog Four finger Jack American Pale ale.

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I'll get my thoughts on this one up later today - got the nativity this after noon *joy*

It seems to have been a very active ferment - and Im going to check gravity this afternoon - and of the yeast has worked anywhere near as hard as the Mexican lager Im expecting its nearly time for the hop tea for this one too!!!! - full post later
 
Hi Markdon,

Looks to be a good Kit - still very active now on day 8 - so I think this will go the full 14 days!!
 
Ive got the Hammer of Thor kit on at the minute, should be bottling it at the weekend or at least racking it off to clear a bit, so will get one of these on friday and start it once my fv is free. Seem very well put together kits.
 
They are great Kits.

My findings so Far.

As per the Bulldog Cortez gold Mexican Cerveza the Malt is in a plastic Pouch that has a easy to pour screw top - which I love - I hope this catches on with other manufacturers as it really is a godsend.

Started this kit the same night as the Bulldog Cortez gold Mexican Cerveza - its been a more vigorous kit with a lot more visible sign of active fermentation - krausen and bubbles in the Air Lock.

SG was Bang on what the side of the box indicates 1046

I've kept temperature regulated - easy in the winter with the heating being used more - and the fermentation has been working through the Wort well - as reading today is 1008 - so I've prepared the Hop tea and plan to bottle Friday / Saturday depending on readings.

Anyone thinking about going with this kit - DO!!! relly well put together kits and if the results are just as good I will be happy
 
Bottled this Friday - was quite lively getting it into the bottles - foamed quite a bit - probably could have done with a bit longer in the FV - but christmas is coming ;-)

Has been warm conditioning all week and curiosity got the better of me last night so i popped one in the fridge for a bit.

Op opening - its well carbonated - nice head and no home brew twang - going to put in the shed tonight to cold condition in preparation for the big day.

In short - have brewed two of the bulldog kits now - and they have both turned out well - recomended.
 
Have just set this one off, made to instructions but brewed slightly short at 21 litres as i hate a thin beer. S.G. of 1.050. This is the first Bulldog kit I've tried and the plastic pouch is fantastic - very easy to rinse out and get all the extract into the FV without scalding your hands with a tin can full of boiling water. The kit also has one hell of a big pack of yeast, must be about 25g of it! No activity yet but only done a couple of hours - sitting happily at 20 degrees. Intend to add hop tea a few days before bottling. Will update in a few weeks.
 
My first ever home brew (coopers lager that came with kit) is almost finished in the FV and I have acquired this kit to fire up next. From the package ingredients and description sounds right up my street!

Anyone completed/sampled this kit yet? Ive learned a lot from my first experience with temp control, mixing the wort thoroughly and being patient with the yeast... Had it in an airing cupboard at 24°c but was freaking out about it after reading about fusel alcohols on here!

Going to invest in the electrim immersion heater and brew this in a colder room at 18-19°c hopefully!

Anymore pics or advice would be much appreciated, don't want to botch this one!
 
So left this in the primary for 11 days over the crimbo and the racked off to a clean secondary with the addition of a hop tea and the 'tea-bags' for another 9 days. Was amazed at the amount of yeast which dropped out - more than any other kit by a country mile. FG was 1.005. Batch primed with 128g sugar in 20 litres of brew and bottled. They are sitting in the warmth of the hot-press for the next few weeks. Took a taste when bottling and it had great hop aroma
 
Hi all

My first post about my third brew kit!

I got this kit going on Thursday 30th Jan. Og was 1.050, exactly what the kit said it should be.

It was very active for the first week, for the last couple of days it seems to have calmed down, but had developed a thick yeasty foam on top, similar to the stuff you are left with at the bottom of the FV after bottling the brew.

Today I took a gravity reading and it showed as 1.001, I cant believe such a low reading so soon!!
In this case I decided to skim off the thick yeasty foam from the top and add both hop teabags.

Its been around 8 hours since and a thinner foam is beginning to form again. I'm guessing its still fermenting but it seems odd as I have such a low reading.

I took a taste from the test jar and it tastes ok for the stage it is at.

Has anyone else had similar results? Maybe I jumped the gun and should have left the foam to sink...

Looking forward to getting it in to a pressure barrel in a coupe of days :-)
 
This took 3 weeks for ferment fully out, and the Krausen only died down properly after about day 18, just in time to add the hops. Got it down to 1004 though.

It's now been in the bottle 4 weeks, and hasn't yet cleared or fully carbed up - most odd. I have given the bottles a rouse to try and kick start them, but it must be an incredibly slow working yeast is all i can think. I have tried a couple of bottles, and it tastes fantastic, but i think patience is the key with this one....
 
This one is sounding really good, which is a bonus as it's just arrived in the post.

Might even try and get this one on later tonight

:thumb:
 
This is my second ever kit, started it on the 02/02/2014. After realising that I failed to properly stir/mix/aerate my first kit, I went through this one like a man possessed.

SG was 1051, which is a bit higher than the stated SG of 1046... I wonder if it was down to the thorough mixing as it had a good layer of foam time I was done and my hydrometer is spot on with the wort or good old water.

http://www.hambletonbard.com/products/b ... pared.html.

It's been 8 days in the primary FV now and it still has a good inch and a half of foam/krausen on it... been pretty damn active and if it has dropped by the weekend I will rack it to secondary and then add the hop tea a couple of days before batch priming.

Has anyone here added the hop tea, the instructions say to aerate the wort when adding it by splashing/stirring vigorously for two minutes... is this a good idea when it will be near FG and the yeast pretty much done their first fermentation?

It has smelled amazing and thats without the hops, have really high hopes for this kit and if it ferments to the low number some people have reached then I will have a 6% plus beer time it gets in the bottle compared to this 4.7% on the box!

Will update with photos once my beer is in the bottle :cheers:
 
I set this one going on Monday night (10th) and was really impressed with how easy it went together, certainly easier than my previous brews.

I also managed to get a sensible pitching temp straight away rather than having to wait for the wort to cool. Pitched the yeast at 21oC and its been sat floating around 21-23 ever since. OG was around 10.48.

I'm a little concerned, i had about an 1" of Krausen over the first 48 hours which has all but subsided now to a small head rather than some of the more vigourous fermentations i have had previously.

I'll leave it and see how it goes, it looks a lovely pale colour through the FV. I'll take a reading on Sunday and see how far it has gone. I'm not sure whether to leave it in the FV for another week or transfer it to my pressure barrel to clear for the second week, which ever i do i'll add the hops on the 21st and probably bottle on the 23rd.

Really impressed with this kit so far
 
After a week in the keg ive drawn off a pint to taste. Its OK, not a lot of hoppy flavour but it is quite better.

Mine has a high alchohol percentage of a about 6.4%. Im more of a session ale drinker myself so its a bit strong, maybe thats why its not to my taste.

No idea why the FG went so low tho as I did everything as per the instructions and how I do all my other kits.....

Have higher hopes for my Wherry + Citra that I'll be kegging tomorrow!
 
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First hydrometer after 17 days in the FV and the krausen only fully dropped out yesterday.

OG was 1051 and its now down to 1005, thats some slow, long, effective working yeast! It was fermented at a constant 21C in a water bath... time this is bottled I will be looking at a 6.7% APA!

A wee taste out of the trial jar and it does kick a punch just now, I imagine once I transfer it to secondary and then add the hops and bottles to condition that will calm down... it is however very smooth and has a crisp, fruity aftertaste... can't wait to see the finished article!
 
Markdon said:
That hydrometer looks good, better than mine with 2 steps instead of 1 like that.

That is hydrometer that came with the coopers starter kit, served me well so far.

The trial jar however that came with the kit warped into plastic spaghetti in warm water when I cleaned it first time round so had to replace it with a more sturdy option!
 

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