woodfordes wherry beer kit approx abv 4.5%

[Bluezephyr]

As I've got the malt extract in there it would be nice to try some and some to see what the final taste is like, I may do 50/50 there's always another kit to do after this one : .
So hop tea is the way to go instead of chucking them in the fv ?

 

[morethanworts]

If it's anything like mine, 40g EKG pellets chucked in dry to a second FV for around 5 days should clear down naturally and give a terrific result. :thumb:

 

[Mick May]

ok well heres one of my other woodfordes wherry brews i did back in june ...
i think it came out ok...

it looks good and it taste lush.. :drink:


im very happy with this kit...

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[gitsurfer]

Looks good! I put one of these on yesterday as my first ever beer kit. Brewed largely as per instructions except only to 21 litres. I did also treat the water with campden powder first. There was a good tide mark visible from the krausen this morning and it is gurgling away like a happy infant.

Not sure if I'll rack to a secondary FV next weekend or not. In any case, I'm planning on bottling after two weeks, assuming fermentation is over. Really looking forward to supping the results in about 8 weeks :drink:

 

[Sidrat]

Hi,

I started this kit as my first brew last night and after panicking a bit that the wort was still not at the right temp as the strip thermometer didn't seem to be giving an accurate reading I took the bull by the horns and pitched the yeast!!

Woke this morning to a happy bubbling airlock and rapidly growing yeast foam!!!

Just wanted to ask as I have a feeling that the temp may be above the 18-20oc that it mentions in the instructions. Is this going to be an issue or will it just mean that the fermentation will finish earlier than planned?

 

[Maffa]

Just wanted to ask as I have a feeling that the temp may be above the 18-20oc that it mentions in the instructions. Is this going to be an issue or will it just mean that the fermentation will finish earlier than planned?

It depends what the temp is. You do really want to keep it under 22, anything over that and it will affect the taste. My wherry was at 26 for quite a few dasys before I realised and it really did ruin the whole batch, a kind of burnt toast aftertaste was not very good. If you're unsure, use a sticky temp gauge to the side of the fv, if its too high, drape a wet towel over the fv until it cools, thats really the easiest way of getting the temp down. Failing that stand it a bigger tub of cooler water.

Hope it all goes well for you :thumb:

 

[Bluezephyr]

Just tasted a bottle of my slightly weaker Wherry bottled on 28/8 and have to say it passes as a beer, nice fizz and decent head, it tastes ok, I've had commercial beers taste worse hopefully it will improve with age.
Now I know I have made something drinkable I will leave it alone till Christmas time. :

 

[Mick May]

Looks good! I put one of these on yesterday as my first ever beer kit. Brewed largely as per instructions except only to 21 litres. I did also treat the water with campden powder first. There was a good tide mark visible from the krausen this morning and it is gurgling away like a happy infant.

Not sure if I'll rack to a secondary FV next weekend or not. In any case, I'm planning on bottling after two weeks, assuming fermentation is over. Really looking forward to supping the results in about 8 weeks :drink:

it should be a cracking pint in 8 weeks ... :


regards mick... :drink: .

 

[Mick May]

Just tasted a bottle of my slightly weaker Wherry bottled on 28/8 and have to say it passes as a beer, nice fizz and decent head, it tastes ok, I've had commercial beers taste worse hopefully it will improve with age.
Now I know I have made something drinkable I will leave it alone till Christmas time. :

blimmy by christmas it will be lush ...
i can say i havent brewed a bad one of these yet...
and the longer in the bottle/keg the better it is ...

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[CycoSymz]

I put my first kit on two weeks ago and I'm gonna bottle it today and save it for Christmas :)

 

[Mick May]

I put my first kit on two weeks ago and I'm gonna bottle it today and save it for Christmas :)

just a thought have you checked your hydrometer readings for the last 3 days....

if not you could end up with bottle bombs...
as not all kits ferment out fully at the same times...
some take longer than others ,always go by your hydrometer ...

and you cant go wrong....

if there the same its ok to bottle ...
i usually keg mine and batch prime mine with 80g of sugar if i brew all 23ltres ...

but this time im brewing mine short to 20ltres...
so ill drop down to 75 g....


i would use the same amount to bottlei hope this helps ....



regards mick :hat: .

 

[Bluezephyr]

Just tasted a bottle of my slightly weaker Wherry bottled on 28/8 and have to say it passes as a beer, nice fizz and decent head, it tastes ok, I've had commercial beers taste worse hopefully it will improve with age.
Now I know I have made something drinkable I will leave it alone till Christmas time. :

blimmy by christmas it will be lush ...
i can say i havent brewed a bad one of these yet...
and the longer in the bottle/keg the better it is ...

regards mick... :hat: .

There are a few more bottles of the weak brew, I put malt extract in the rest and dry hopped 3 demijohns with various amounts of EKG.
Usually go to the pub on Christmas Day, this year is a stay a home sample fest :drunk:

 

[CycoSymz]

I put my first kit on two weeks ago and I'm gonna bottle it today and save it for Christmas :)

just a thought have you checked your hydrometer readings for the last 3 days....

if not you could end up with bottle bombs...
as not all kits ferment out fully at the same times...
some take longer than others ,always go by your hydrometer ...

and you cant go wrong....

if there the same its ok to bottle ...
i usually keg mine and batch prime mine with 80g of sugar if i brew all 23ltres ...

but this time im brewing mine short to 20ltres...
so ill drop down to 75 g....


i would use the same amount to bottlei hope this helps ....



regards mick :hat: .

Hydrometer readings stable at 1.010 for 3 days so I bottled with half a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle. I've now got 37 bottles I'm going to put away till Christmas.

Had a quick taster of the last half pint in the bottling bucket and it's rather nice already :)

 

[Mick May]

I put my first kit on two weeks ago and I'm gonna bottle it today and save it for Christmas :)

just a thought have you checked your hydrometer readings for the last 3 days....

if not you could end up with bottle bombs...
as not all kits ferment out fully at the same times...
some take longer than others ,always go by your hydrometer ...

and you cant go wrong....

if there the same its ok to bottle ...
i usually keg mine and batch prime mine with 80g of sugar if i brew all 23ltres ...

but this time im brewing mine short to 20ltres...
so ill drop down to 75 g....


i would use the same amount to bottlei hope this helps ....



regards mick :hat: .

Hydrometer readings stable at 1.010 for 3 days so I bottled with half a teaspoon of sugar in each bottle. I've now got 37 bottles I'm going to put away till Christmas.

Had a quick taster of the last half pint in the bottling bucket and it's rather nice already :)

excellent .. :thumb: .
if you like it now ...
christmas your going to love it ... :clap: .


regards mick... :drink: .

 

[gitsurfer]

Had this in FV for 10 days now and the airlock had stopped so took a hydrometer reading. Now at 1.014 (started at 1.042) so it's going well.

Airlock has started up again so it looks like I'll get a drop more alcohol yet. The temperature had dropped to 16 degrees while we were away for the weekend but the heating is now on. I also moved the FV to a better syphoning height so probably nudged the yeast back into action.

Had a taste of the sample and was very pleased with it. Very promising. Will take another hydrometer reading when activity has appeared to stop again and see if I get three consecutive daily readings the same. Hope to bottle at the weekend but am willing to be patient!

 

[Bluezephyr]

An uncle visited on Sunday night, an ex kit brewer with spare barrels and kit winging its way to me very shortly :party:, couldn't resist opening up a bottle for him to try,I said it would be a bit thin and needs more time based on the last test bottle. Amazing what a little bit more time actually does make as it had body and was very drinkable. He looks forward to visiting on Christmas Day : This one was with extra ME and 5grammes of EKG in demijohn for a week.

 

[gitsurfer]

Mine has now been in the FV for 17 days and the airlock is still going at 2-3 blips per minute. It may have had up to 3 days of no activity (after the first week) while I was away and activity ceased due to a temperature drop, though. Started at 1.042 and had reached 1.011 when I last checked a few days ago. Hoping I might be safe to bottle this weekend if Mr Hydrometer gives me permission.

 

[operon]

I put on my 3rd on of these, short brewed to 21l as always, going to add some spices to it in the fermenter with a week to go. Had everything cleaned and was spraying liberally with the starsan, forgot I had the airlock on the fermenter, til I tipped the cans in on top of it. Nearly as bad as bottling my last brew where the little bottler started leaking then gushing.

 

[neddy]

morethanworts you mention about 40g ekg? Do u add this after fermentation complete when u transfer to 2nd fv for clearing for a week? Also do you boil them then let it cool and pour into the wort or do u put the pellets in a bag with the wort. Sorry about the questions but never touched pellets/hops before but would like to try and do some to improve the kits.
Cheers

 

[gitsurfer]

Stable now at 1.011 so bottling at the weekend. Started at 1.042 so 4.1% ABV prior to bottle conditioning.