2nd brew- Whoodforde's Wherry

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Thumper

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So I was hoping for a St. Peter's Ruby Red, but due to time constraints and a need for some Campden tablets I went to Wilkos. They didn't have Campden tablets, or Ruby Red.

They did have Wherry, which I've heard many good things about. So I got that, and stocked up on bottled water at the supermarket.

On getting home it became apparent that someone had dropped this kit at some point. Both tins were dented, and the rim of one had cut into the yeast packet, leaving it open to the air. Some googling suggested this wasn't a problem, since you can keep opened dried yeast packets for ages. So I carried on, but couldn't get the water to cool (it is very hot today). Bunged one bottle in the freezer and added that when it was cold, which meant that the wort was sat with no yeast in it for longer than I would have liked (I did put the lid on). The freezer-cooled bottle only succeeded in getting the wort down to 24/25c. And I forgot to sterilise the spoon properly, meaning it got a thorough wipe with a steriliser-soaked cloth, but no actual soak in the steriliser.

So long story short, I'm a bit nervous about this one. On the bright side, I rehydrated the yeast first with some brown sugar and it was foaming away merrily by pitching time, so fingers crossed!

OG was 1039.
 
Don't fret! :thumb:

The Woodfordes Wherry Kit is my "go to" kit if I need a quick reliable beer that will clear beautifully and taste great.

If the brew starts to ferment then the yeast is (as you suspect) okay and doing its job.

I ALWAYS keep a couple of packets of Wilco Ale Yeast in the cupboard "just in case", so it will probably be a good idea to get a couple of packets and keep them for the future; including this brew.

If this brew isn't showing any signs of life by Thursday morning, you can chuck in a packet of Wilco Ale Yeast. :thumb:

The ONLY thing to worry about after the yeast kicks in is that the Wherry is notorious for "sticking" at 1.020 SG so give it the FULL TWO WEEKS before even checking the SG.

If, after two weeks, the SG is higher than 1.010 then get back to us. :thumb:

In the meantime, relax and enjoy! :thumb: :thumb:
 
So I was hoping for a St. Peter's Ruby Red, but due to time constraints and a need for some Campden tablets I went to Wilkos. They didn't have Campden tablets, or Ruby Red.

They did have Wherry, which I've heard many good things about. So I got that, and stocked up on bottled water at the supermarket.

On getting home it became apparent that someone had dropped this kit at some point. Both tins were dented, and the rim of one had cut into the yeast packet, leaving it open to the air. Some googling suggested this wasn't a problem, since you can keep opened dried yeast packets for ages. So I carried on, but couldn't get the water to cool (it is very hot today). Bunged one bottle in the freezer and added that when it was cold, which meant that the wort was sat with no yeast in it for longer than I would have liked (I did put the lid on). The freezer-cooled bottle only succeeded in getting the wort down to 24/25c. And I forgot to sterilise the spoon properly, meaning it got a thorough wipe with a steriliser-soaked cloth, but no actual soak in the steriliser.

So long story short, I'm a bit nervous about this one. On the bright side, I rehydrated the yeast first with some brown sugar and it was foaming away merrily by pitching time, so fingers crossed!

OG was 1039.
Interested to know why you used bottled water. Is your tap water undrinkable?
Watch out for a stuck fermentation at about SG 1.020.
 
Thanks Dutto, I'll keep an eye out for a stuck fermentation. There's no activity as of yet, but I only pitched about 2.5 hours ago.

I'm really looking forward to trying the Wherry, I've heard a lot of good things about it. I only wanted the Ruby because it strikes me as a good autumn beer, Wherry was next on the list anyway.



Terrym, perfectly drinkable, just full of chloramines. Hence the Campden tablets. But without access to those, I went with bottled. I don't want beer that tastes like TCP.

It's only 20p a bottle in Sainsbury's, hardly adds anything to the cost of the brew.
 
I did a Wherry as my second kit, I didn't have a hydrometer at the time and transferred to the pressure barrel too early (I probably believed the kit's instructions rather than waiting a full two weeks). Every time I tried a glass it was noticeably sweet (again probably believed the recommended conditioning time in the instructions). However after about 3 weeks in the barrel it was excellent. So be patient and you should end up with a great brew.
 
I bowed to the prevailing wisdom and did 2+2+2 for my first brew (bar a couple of cheeky pints before the cold conditioning phase was quite finished). Worked a treat, so I'll be doing that again.
 
Foaming away like a good'un today, from what I can see through the lid. Much more foam than my first brew (Coopers IPA).
 
Bottled! FG 1004, ABV 4.59%. I didn't have time last week so it's been in the FV 3 weeks, but I can't see that being a problem.

Tasted pretty good, it's got a bit more to it than the Coopers IPA I did for my first brew. Excited to try this one in a month or so.

This one actually got a proper krausen, unlike my first brew, which means I now understand what the krausen collar on Coopers FVs is for. That brown stuff it leaves behind is a right bugger to clean off. I'll be removing and cleaning the collar as soon as the krausen dies down in future, before the residue gets a chance to dry.
 
Don't do that. Leave the fv alone until it's had a full 2 weeks all sealed up in the fv. If not you may end up introducing nasties to your brew.
If the scummy ring is well dried on once you do finally bottle it, simple pour some boiling water on it 5 mins before cleaning and it'll come off easily enough
 
Don't do that. Leave the fv alone until it's had a full 2 weeks all sealed up in the fv. If not you may end up introducing nasties to your brew.
If the scummy ring is well dried on once you do finally bottle it, simple pour some boiling water on it 5 mins before cleaning and it'll come off easily enough

+1 For that, once you pitch the yeast leave the lid on and leave it alone for 2 weeks unless you're going to dry hop. Even then lift the lid for the smallest amount possible and as short a time as possible. If I'm not dry hopping then from the point of pitching the yeast I lift the lid just before I bottle to check the smell of the beer apart from that I leave it alone. You can see the krausen when it forms, you can see the airlock activity and you can take hydrometer readings to confirm that it is fermenting you don't actually have to lift the lid to check any of these things. I also keep a pack of Wilko Gervin yeast in the fridge just in case something doesn't kick off as I know I can rely on that to work for me.
 
That was what I did with my first one, ignoring Coopers' instructions to remove and clean the krausen collar. Now I understand why those instructions are there, but I agree it's probably worth a bit of extra elbow grease to maximise the chances of a decent brew.
 
Had a couple of bottles of this, a few days before I ought to have. Not sure if it just needs a bit longer or if it was the high pitch temp, but it tastes very slightly funky to me. Perfectly drinkable, though, so we'll call it a success!
 
Give it time. I waited 4 weeks before I cracked my first one and I was unsure.
However the last 6 bottles at the 3 month mark were fantastic! Wish I'd kept my fingers off them now and saved the lot to age properly
 
Bugger, I've run out of bought beer as well. I guess I'll have to buy some more and try to keep my mitts off the Wherry!
 
You have just found one of homebrewers problems...getting enough stock to give our beer time. Best get brewing mate. I did a kit every 2 weeks till I had over 100 bottles conditioning. Now I keep stocks at nearly 200 pint, yes that high and I am sure there will be many with much more. It's worth it to give your beer time to get to its best.
 
Estimate what you drink in a four month period. That should be the minimum amount of beer in the FV, carbing up, maturing and in storage at all times so you don't run out.
So, for example if you and yours drink 4 litres a week that works out at about 70 litres total.
 
I spent most of last Saturday's visit to the pub trying to explain to MrsK that I needed to build up a stock of homebrew... I still don't think she's convinced. She did ask for some wine though :)
 
Good advice, but my problem at the moment is space. Me and the Mrs share a ground floor maisonette in London, and while it's big enough for us there's not a huge amount of spare room. Certainly not enough for 100 bottles.

My plan is to build a storage box that will sit in the back garden and double as a table. The temp won't be constant so it's not ideal, but probably no worse than the cardboard box in the shed that I'm using now!
 

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