Barons - Premium Dutch Lager

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Aleman

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Expensive top of the range kit from Canada. As it is only concentrated to 7.5 Litres this adds considerably to the shipping costs which goes some way to explain the high price.

These kits are traditionally brewed (i.e Mashed and Boiled) then concentrated, so compared to kits that are blended from concentrated extracts and hopped with isomerised extract there should be a significant step up in quality.

(Pics to follow)

The kit consists of a cardboard box containing the bag of hopped wort, and a ziplock bag with the instructions, a 7g sachet of dried yeast, 15g of bentonite, and a packet of T-90 Saaz Pellets.

The kit instructions are actually reasonably good and are well written, as with practically all kits this is intended to be fermented at ale temperatures so I can only assume that an ale yeast is provided. The other assumption in the kits is that you will be using a carboy for 'secondary' fermentation. At least the time-scales are realistic and actually tell you it will be 6-8 Weeks before you can enjoy you beer.

Making the kit is simplicity itself

Sanitise all equipment, prepare 17L of brewing water (ie dechlorinate if required)

1) mix the bentonite with a couple of litres of warm/hot water to form a slurry in the FV

2) Carefully prise the lid off the bag of extract and pour onto the bentonite slurry (If you can do this without spraying some over the floor you are better than me)

3) Top up to 23L with cold water . . . doing this from a height generates lots of foam.

4) add the bag of Saaz pellets and stir

5) Add yeast allow to ferment to 1.020

6) syphon into your secondary fermenter minimising splashing, and allow to finish fermenting

7) Bottle (adding Priming Sugar) and leave in warm for 2 weeks

8) move to cold for 2 weeks . . . then start to enjoy . . . They do say it will taste better after a month or more.

Following my usual practice that Instructions are for wimps, and 'best practice' I did things a little differently.

I had found a Wyeast Propagator Pack of Dutch lager yeast at the back of the fridge from 2008, so decided to use that if it took off, which to my surprise it did, and fermented out very well in a 5L starter, which sat in the fridge for a couple of weeks before I decided to brew it. As I'm using a liquid yeast I am going to reuse it, so I ditched the bentonite as I'll fine later in the process.

Couple of things I found disappointing, firstly was than when I prised the lid of the bag I found a thin film of mould on the outside of the spout (Not an issue as I had sanitised the bag with a 70% alcohol wash), the worse thing was after opening the 'sticky' bag of Saaz hops . . . one good sniff told me to bin them as they were very 'cheesy' . . . . so I made a hop tea up using 15g of Saaz from the freezer

Further Progress to Follow.
 
Looking hereat 'Barons Secrets for Making Your Best Beer Ever' it says that if you brew it to 11.5L you get barley wine :hmm: :hmm:

Quite a good PDF as it tells you how to add more hops, speciality malts and about using liquid yeasts. However If I had just spent £29 on a kit I don't think I would be expecting to have to make 'improvements'

Interested to see how it goes Aleman :thumb:
 
Here is the first update,

The beer was fermented for 14 days at 12C, it never really developed much of a head, but just ticked along nicely, at day 12 I turned it up to 18C for a diacetyl rest for 24 hours (and an attempt to ensure it attenuated properly).

Following the diacetyl rest, I then cooled it to 5C and promptly forgot about it :oops:

So 5 weeks later I racked it into a pressure barrel, and added 1 tablespoon of Polylclar Plus 730, which is to sort out any chill haze, it's also gone in the fridge at 0C for a few days, Isinglass will be added in a couple of days, and then I will rack it to a cornii, as well as bottling some.

It's a bit darker than I would have expected, but not excessively so, and even direct from the FV is pretty clear. Taste wise it's quite nice, crisp and clean, and malty with a good 'beery' aroma, despite the 1.010 finishing gravity (from 1.052), it is very representative of style, nice soft bitterness which is not pronounced in any way.

Good kit though, with no evidence of THT at all and hitting 5.4%abv
 
While it appears pretty clear, there is just a hint of haze, so decided to fine with Murphys AllKleer C . . . . Wait a couple of days and then it's bottling time.

Taste so far is pretty good, Malty, slightly sweet and some nice bitterness coming through, Crisp and clean with a good body . . . . So far this beats my last lager kit (Coopers European Lager with 1kg of DME) into a bloody pulp.

I'd have been proud to have brewed this All Grain . . . It really is that good. :thumb:
 
Aleman said:
2) Carefully prise the lid off the bag of extract and pour onto the bentonite slurry (If you can do this without spraying some over the floor you are better than me)

Missed the floor but covered the kitchen worktop, table and cupboard. :lol:

Very easy kit to make though and smelled, looked and tasted (after primary) better than any extract kit I've made so far. Can't wait to drink it. :drink:
 
Made this up today but swapped out the hop pellets for 20g Vac pack Saaz hop tea and used Wyeast bohemian lager yeast. (yeah yeah I know :nah:)
Started at 20 degrees now slowly dropping down to 10 degrees. :thumb:

Now to do some woodwork with gloves on darn weather!
:hat:
 
I pitched one of these kits (Amber Ale) two days ago and it's only just started showing bubbles in the air lock this morning, so a bit of a slow starter.

What's with the instructions saying let it ferment to 1020 then rack off into another FV? I usually leave my brews in the same FV to ferment all the way, then rack off before bottling. Why is this kit different and would it be a problem if I ignored the instructions and fermented all the way without racking off?

The reason I ask is I'd rather not keep opening the lid to take a hydrometer reading. It's unlikely I'd be lucky enough to just take one reading and find it's spot on 1020.
 
hoofy said:
What's with the instructions saying let it ferment to 1020 then rack off into another FV?
That tends to be the US way of brewing, getting the 'beer' away from the sediment and any break proteins helps to produce a 'cleaner' beer, plus means that the period you can leave it in the second fermenter is much longer as you are away from the bulk of the yeast and break proteins . . . of course it does introduce the possibility of staling through oxidation plus the possibility of infection.

hoofy said:
I usually leave my brews in the same FV to ferment all the way, then rack off before bottling. Why is this kit different and would it be a problem if I ignored the instructions and fermented all the way without racking off?
I look at it this way, if the yeast head is brown and grungy when fermentation starts, then I skim it off, or transfer to a winemakers fermenter (most times). I have the ability to flood the receiving vessel with CO2 and I run CO2 into the Receiving vessel during the transfer.If you want to see if this could help try tasting some of the brown grungy matter and ask if you want that in your beer.

Both methods work, both methods have their plus and minus points, and I only do this with 5 gallon brews . . . my bigger brews go in the conical, so I just remove the break before pitching, and then the bulk of the yeast during fermentation, which really is the best of both worlds.
 
Archtronics said:
Probably a little early but have you had a bottle of this yet?
Ok well I've had a few bottles of this now . . . If I'd made this myself from all grain I'd be proud to tell everyone I had. It really is that good . . Ok its an amber in colour rather than the pale yellow most expect a lager to be, but clean no sign of THT, Aroma wise, its beer with a floral spicy note. Taste slightly sweet with a good body, and a bitterness that comes through on the finish.

For me, I would prefer slightly more bitterness, but otherwise a damn good result
 
Sounds very encouraging :thumb: just stuck mine at 16 degrees for diacetyl rest before I rack to my secondary and lager.
 

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