HBC AG English Pale Ale kit

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ManseMasher

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Ordered one of these yesterday, delivered by DPD this morning, so there is the first plus point. Started about 20 minutes ago, and I am going to follow the instructions to the letter. Kit comes with nicely crushed grain, 3 bags of hops (labelled 60 mins, 10 and 0) a whirlfloc tablet (the instructions don't say when to add it, but it's going in at 15, so there's the first negative). The yeast is Safale S-05, which I'm a bit surprised by, for an English Ale, but that's what I'll use. Total liquor required - 33.5 litres. Wouldn't be surprised if this ends up short of 23l in the fv, but let's see.
I'll keep you posted....
 
But why not S-04? Wouldn't that have made more sense for an English ale? Anyway, hotbreak done, 26l went into boiler. 1 hour boil, 10% loss, should actually be very close!
 
If you like S04 then fine, I'm not keen. Some British ale yeasts are very neutral, not unlike US05, which probably originated from Britain itself.
 
clibit said:
If you like S04 then fine, I'm not keen. Some British ale yeasts are very neutral, not unlike US05, which probably originated from Britain itself.
Click to expand...
Not fussed about either really, but as I said, following instructions to the letter! (It's about feedback after all). 60 min boil finished, additions as specified. What the instructions don't say is how long to leave 0 minute hops before transferring to fv. I usually wait 30 minutes, so that's what I will do. Have to say, smelled fantastic during the boil but pretty convinced now it's going to be short. Probably 21l.
 
Flowing through my cfc as I type - very clear. I'll give an SG as I get it (according to instructions should be 1057).
 
1060, 21.5 litres. 5 hours from start to finish. Next update (hopefully!) Krausen time! CFC worked as good as ever, constant 20°c into fv. Yeast pitched after 5l in, wort dropping from height so plenty of aeration. In the fermentation chamber now, 20°c also. Happy days!
 
I think all of the HBC AG kits were us05.. the only one I think may have been different (which nobody picked ) was the Saison and possibly the witbier.
 
These are my thoughts - if you want to move up to all grain brewing, what a fantastic way to start. Yes, the instructions may be a bit scant, but I guess there's a presumption of knowledge in terms of the basics (Campden tablets, when to add whirlfloc, sanitation/sterilisation etc). After all, these kits are advertised for those who want to 'move up' from basic brewing kits.

Would I buy another one (a bit vague because I haven't tasted the final product yet), but so far - yes.
Would I recommend these to anyone else - yes.
Would I change anything - yes. All additions should be labelled (but that's a really minor point).

Go on, do one!!
 
And it's off like a rocket! Thick krausen and bubbling away merrily. Oh I love this 'hobby'.
 
Ok one week in. SG 1062 (instructions reckoned 1047, but following the instructions to the letter, ended up 3l short in the fv, so possibly that's why the higher reading). FG supposed to be 1012 - I got 1010 tonight and airlock still bubbling (albeit very slowly). That makes it 6.9% as opposed to the 4.7% the instructions state. The guy I've brewed it for stated he wanted a session ale. I'm not going to tell him until he's had three!!
 
I got this kit along with a peco boiler when HBC where doing a promotion last year, only got round to brewing it last month, all grain and BIAB are all new to me but despite a few mishaps or things not thought thru I've ended up with a pretty decent beer and a good bit of knowledge gained regarding the processes and tasks thru out the cycle. I'm sitting sampling a bottle atm, the beer hasn't been cold crashed yet so still has a slight haze to it but is i would say ready for it now, carbonation is good and flavour is very good, distinct hoppy taste to it from the 3 packets provided, i would certainly do this again.

One thing i would add if you are doing this as BIAB is to disregard the instructions that come with it and use the ones on the HBC site for BIAB.
 
This kit was my first AG brew! The 4.7% on the instructions is a typo, I think - it looks like a much bigger grain bill than that. I got 23 litres out of it at around 7.2%, terrifyingly, and it was by far my best brew so far. Got the same kit conditioning again at the moment, and this time for some reason it's a more sensible 6.2%. No idea why there's such a big difference - probably down to me having to improvise a bit with the batch sparging because my mash tun's too small to do it as per the instructions.

The HBC Blonde Ale is another good one, and always seems to be on special offer.
 
Didn't weigh it, but the English Pale Ale instructions say the OG should be 1.057, which is roughly what I got both times, as did ManseMasher, but that doesn't tally with HBC's suggested ABV of 4.7% (which would need an OG of more like 1.045), so I think their ABV target must be wrong.

In fact, I just checked my notes and the first time I got 23l at an OG of 1.060 and an FG of 1.006, giving 7.1%, and the second batch gave me 23l at 1.056 and an FG of 1.014, or a mere 5.5%. I'm clearly getting worse at this!
 
I'd an ABV of 5.5%, i did brew it short and no sparging as this was my first crack at it, lol hoping for some improvement:)
 

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