woodfordes wherry beer kit approx abv 4.5%

ok every thing sanitised and put new vaseline on all my seals... :thumb:

my last reading is the same its 1.012...
i thought it would go lower but no ...
it has stayed at this for more than a week . :thumb: .

i used 80g of white sugar diluted in a half pint of boiling water ...
and put that in to the king keg...
then i syphoned the brew on top of that giving a gentle stir...
i tryed to inject some co2 but my contaner was empty ... :wha: .

well that was a suprise as i only bought it a month or so ago ...and only tryed it out with 2 short bursts ...

so i rang the shop and they said come over we will replace it ...
which they did fair play to them ...

so i have now given the keg a short blast of co2 and left it 20mins ..
and now opened the top a tad to let most of it out ...

i think this is the thing to do as it drives out the oxygen ...

did i do right ... :pray:

so job done me thinks .. .

unless you no i need to do something more .. :nono: .

heres some pics...

i hope you liked the pics ...

ps just used the forum calculattor...
and this brew came out at 4.2%...
im happy with that... :thumb:


regards mick... :hat: .

 

[morethanworts]

Hi again Mick.

About 10 days in the warm and then colder storage, if you have it.

It's worth dipping the gas bottle valve in warm water for a couple of seconds after each burst to avoid it freezing open, which does happen sometimes. I do it routinely, even if I can't hear any gas coming out. Maybe you had a leak.

I give mine a blast of CO2 with the cap loose too, though I have one set of kit instructions that tell you not too... "can affect the priming sugars fermenting" or words to that effect. Needs an expert for comment on that, I think.

 

Hi again Mick.

About 10 days in the warm and then colder storage, if you have it.

It's worth dipping the gas bottle valve in warm water for a couple of seconds after each burst to avoid it freezing open, which does happen sometimes. I do it routinely, even if I can't hear any gas coming out. Maybe you had a leak.

I give mine a blast of CO2 with the cap loose too, though I have one set of kit instructions that tell you not too... "can affect the priming sugars fermenting" or words to that effect. Needs an expert for comment on that, I think.

ok thanks bud ..ill keep it here for 10 days then its up to the shed ...

as for the co2 ill do what you say ill dip it in hot water every time ... :thumb: .

and we will see if any one comes up with any more on the co2 topping up bit ...

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[orlando]

You've done everything right Mick and don't worry about the CO2 thing, everything will be fine. Interestingly I have found that even with KK's you can force carbonate, so if you don't want over fizzy beer only top up when you notice the beer slowing down when it comes out the tap. Be particularly careful if you top up when there is still quite a lot of beer in the keg, it is very easy to add too much.

 

..

You've done everything right Mick and don't worry about the CO2 thing, everything will be fine. Interestingly I have found that even with KK's you can force carbonate, so if you don't want over fizzy beer only top up when you notice the beer slowing down when it comes out the tap. Be particularly careful if you top up when there is still quite a lot of beer in the keg, it is very easy to add too much.

thanks orlando ... : .
after messing it about so much ...

its nice to no i got it right in the end ... .

and yes ill keep a very close eye on how much co2 i put in ...
thanks again bud... :thumb:

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[Maffa]

Just bottled and kegg'd mine yesterday, got a pretty decent reading of 1008, which combined with the terrible reading at the start (1035) means I'll be getting a abv of about 3.7% which is better than I thought I would get. It must have been the re-hydrating of the dry yeast which took off like a rocket that ended up with a good finish.

Now its all sitting in the airing cupboard for a 2 weeks. I must say the initial taste test was pretty special :drink:

 

Just bottled and kegg'd mine yesterday, got a pretty decent reading of 1008, which combined with the terrible reading at the start (1035) means I'll be getting a abv of about 3.7% which is better than I thought I would get. It must have been the re-hydrating of the dry yeast which took off like a rocket that ended up with a good finish.

Now its all sitting in the airing cupboard for a 2 weeks. I must say the initial taste test was pretty special :drink:

that is good news .. :thumb: .

as long as i get a nice tasting brew im not to bothered about the %... : .

regards mick... :hat: .

 

ok so i moved it to the shed today for conditioning ...
3 days over due but i dont think that will go against me ...

i put some clear tape over the valve so no dust gets in there..
i put the tape on inside out so it dont stick to the valve then put it the right way around on top so nothing sticks to it at all ... .

heres some pics ...

just wait now for a month or so ... :thumb:

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[Maffa]

2 weeks in the warm, and 2 weeks in the relative cold (dont have a garage :sulk: ) and tried a pint yesterday. Not that impressed by all accounts. A good head, but still slightly cloudy, and the taste was not great, can't put my finger on it but slightly milky in texture and twangy.

I guess another few weeks in the relative cold is needed.

 

[Brewbob]

Patience!! I found it really is the key for Wherry, I think after about 6wks it will be a nice brew. Of the two Wherry's I've done they both took what seemed an age to mature, but week-week you can taste a very definite difference, stick it at the back of the cupboard and wait!

 

[morethanworts]

I've recently bottled my second batch (both were dry hopped) and, from the first batch, the ones that I bottled were WAY better than the beer in the keg. Now that may well be down to my barrel, or me accidentally pouring in a bit of water from an unsanitised pan (don't ask!), or any number of things. But I think it does show how our methods (even late in the process) will affect the taste so significantly as to make comparisons very difficult!

My second batch is ALL in bottles, which I much prefer. You know where you are with a bottle and, once the beers in it, you're pretty much home and dry. It tasted great when it went in, so I expect it to taste great (and carbonated) in a few weeks time!

 

[orlando]

Patience!! I found it really is the key for Wherry, I think after about 6wks it will be a nice brew. Of the two Wherry's I've done they both took what seemed an age to mature, but week-week you can taste a very definite difference, stick it at the back of the cupboard and wait!

Not just kits, AG beers too. It depends a little on style but certainly there is a trend as a beer gets darker or higher in gravity then aging develops the flavour much more.

 

i have got me a fridge for my shed now so the woodfords is in there and some of my bottles .... .

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[Maffa]

Well, I think I have well and truly mucked this batch up. Its been pretty much 6 weeks since I bottled & kegged this and I had a few pints (from keg and bottle) and it is not nice at all. A strong twang with a heavy burnt aftertaste. I struggled to keep the temp down below 23C for the majority of the ferment and I think it shows.

In my previous brews during the winter I wrapped it up to keep the temp above 18C and I did the same with this one, but I think I kept it too high.

A lesson learnt for me, now I have approx 35 pints of bleedin awful brew. Apart from leaving it longer peeps, Any ideas ?

 

[morethanworts]

Bad luck Maffa. I know that burnt after taste, I think, though I'm not sure what it is. Trouble with this lark can be that you think it's one thing (ie 23C) and then sort that, then get a different off-taste on the next batch.

Temp control is one thing we can sort out though, whether through a brew fridge, or just weather-appropriate brewing with a controlled heater. I wish I'd invested earlier in that set up (STC 1000 box and trug with aquarium heaters) because it's one variable you can rule out. Another main one is no-rinse sanitiser (Star San, for me), which I do actually still rinse (!) which also rules out poorly rinsed sanitiser issues. And I only buy kits with a minimum of a year left on the BB Date, just to be sure it's nothing with that.

 

[orlando]

Another main one is no-rinse sanitiser (Star San, for me), which I do actually still rinse (!) which also rules out poorly rinsed sanitiser issues.

Actually no, the point of no-rinse sanitisers is that they do not leave behind a residue that requires removing, by doing so you run the risk of reintroducing bacteria.

 

[morethanworts]

... Depends what you rinse with! I don't do a full boil. Not many people do with kits, so if I can't trust my tap water, the brew is spoilt already.

 

[orlando]

... Depends what you rinse with! I don't do a full boil. Not many people do with kits, so if I can't trust my tap water, the brew is spoilt already.

Agh, point taken, but there is still no reason to do it.

 

[morethanworts]

... Depends what you rinse with! I don't do a full boil. Not many people do with kits, so if I can't trust my tap water, the brew is spoilt already.

Agh, point taken, but there is still no reason to do it.

Perhaps too long off topic now, on Mick's Wherry thread, so I would divert us to a recent thread where I learnt lots about Star San. Basically, I choose to add a little extra to negate any inaccuracy in my pH strips (it's got to be under 3.5) and rinse, which still gives me the benefit of reuse, great economy and no chlorine.

I just got another Wherry kit in the Wilko sale. Wasn't planning to, just yet, but going to try it without dry hopping. I still want to swap out the 6g kit yeast though. Probably US-04, which I have yet to use.

 

[orlando]

Perhaps too long off topic now, on Mick's Wherry thread, so I would divert us to a recent thread where I learnt lots about Star San. Basically, I choose to add a little extra to negate any inaccuracy in my pH strips (it's got to be under 3.5) and rinse, which still gives me the benefit of reuse, great economy and no chlorine.

In which you should have learned that it does not contain chlorine, the active ingredient is phosphoric acid and the pH needs to be below 3, and it still doesn't need rinsing, actually the opposite, it is made to cling to surfaces via its foam, which helps continue the sanitising effect