Since January i got back into brewing after a long absence since accidentally coming across a muntons Belgian hand craft ale kit for just ã15! Although after reading about it after purchase i saw a lot of negative reviews. this got my interest back into it and i brewed this alongside a wilko cerveza. The Belgian kit took a long time to ferment. I left it for 3 weeks in the primary. I bottled this with 1.5 Cooper's carb drops. Unfortunately this wasn't really enough. Should have used two as it's not as lively as i would have liked for a Belgian style beer but it is still enjoyable. Going to leave it as long as possible though.
The cerveza was brewed with 1kg brewing sugar and a half kg of light spray malt. This has certainly improved with time. Initially it had a strange metallic taste which has now faded about 5 weeks on. It's now a very enjoyable lager, shame that i only have a handful of bottles left! So i bought another kit to brew it the same. I used 2x wilko carb drops per bottle.
Next kit to go on was a smuggler hand craft. This one I struggled with as it stalled at 1020. I persisted and warmed it up to 23c and kept agitating the yeast at the bottom. Eventually it fell to around 1015 so it's now in the keg. I had problems with sealing the keg. Had an air leak from the cap. Today i removed the seal and put it into hot water and refitted. Seems to have done the job but i really hope it conditions ok. Any tips?
I then also saw that there was a directors by muntons so i started that kit off alongside a wilkol newkie brown. The newkie brown was made with 1kg brew sugar and half kg of medium spray malt. Bottled this last week and i batch primed it as i bought a bottling wand ( how hand are they!) It seems to be a lot darker than the real Newcastle brown, possibly due to my addition of spray malt? I did try a bottle tonight. I know it's too soon, but this also had that metallic taste. Could it be my sanitiser?
The directors also went into the bottles a day later and I'm really hoping for good things.
So next to put on are a festival steam beer. I'm impressed by this kit with all that comes in the kit! Has anyone tried it? Any tips
And of course i need to get the second cerveza kit on the go. Although at the moment i have a wine kit on the go. Kenridge vieux chateaux or something. Doing these to keep the missus on side. I also did a Young's cellar 7 sauvignon blanc, which is surprisingly really good. So that's her sorted hopefully i can continue with the beers without too much headache.
Any ideas where to go next with the kits as I'm nowhere near ready for all grain.
Sorry for the waffle, but I'll keep this post as a brew diary and notes :) but any tips gratefully received.
The cerveza was brewed with 1kg brewing sugar and a half kg of light spray malt. This has certainly improved with time. Initially it had a strange metallic taste which has now faded about 5 weeks on. It's now a very enjoyable lager, shame that i only have a handful of bottles left! So i bought another kit to brew it the same. I used 2x wilko carb drops per bottle.
Next kit to go on was a smuggler hand craft. This one I struggled with as it stalled at 1020. I persisted and warmed it up to 23c and kept agitating the yeast at the bottom. Eventually it fell to around 1015 so it's now in the keg. I had problems with sealing the keg. Had an air leak from the cap. Today i removed the seal and put it into hot water and refitted. Seems to have done the job but i really hope it conditions ok. Any tips?
I then also saw that there was a directors by muntons so i started that kit off alongside a wilkol newkie brown. The newkie brown was made with 1kg brew sugar and half kg of medium spray malt. Bottled this last week and i batch primed it as i bought a bottling wand ( how hand are they!) It seems to be a lot darker than the real Newcastle brown, possibly due to my addition of spray malt? I did try a bottle tonight. I know it's too soon, but this also had that metallic taste. Could it be my sanitiser?
The directors also went into the bottles a day later and I'm really hoping for good things.
So next to put on are a festival steam beer. I'm impressed by this kit with all that comes in the kit! Has anyone tried it? Any tips
And of course i need to get the second cerveza kit on the go. Although at the moment i have a wine kit on the go. Kenridge vieux chateaux or something. Doing these to keep the missus on side. I also did a Young's cellar 7 sauvignon blanc, which is surprisingly really good. So that's her sorted hopefully i can continue with the beers without too much headache.
Any ideas where to go next with the kits as I'm nowhere near ready for all grain.
Sorry for the waffle, but I'll keep this post as a brew diary and notes :) but any tips gratefully received.
