Best Beer Kits you have brewed

[Fore]

Not far behind :-D. I have Grand Cru on tap, Youngs APA in the fermenter and Golden Stag waiting in the wings. Grand Cru suffers from the volume of sugar added, although it's 2 months kegged now and slowly slowly improving. Youngs APA has been on the go for 16 days, a slow working yeast, SG still moving, now at 1.009, giving 5.5% (5.6% target); not added the hops yet. Sample just taken tastes great, not malty, light, bitter. Can't wait for the finished article.

Recently just tried Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel. Whoa, well and truly hop hooked.

 

[pms67]

The hops that come with the Young's American kits take the beer to a new level,hard to beat IMO.
Cheers

 

[curzie]

1. Young's American Pale Ale
2. Burton Bridge Summer Ale (Dry Hopped, late)
3. Brewferm Trippel
4. St Peter's Ruby Red ale
5. John Bull Best Bitter

 

[pms67]

1. Young's American Pale Ale
2. Burton Bridge Summer Ale (Dry Hopped, late)
3. Brewferm Trippel
4. St Peter's Ruby Red ale
5. John Bull Best Bitter

The Trippel is on my list !
If I had more patience (and money)I would brew a lot more Brewferm kits.

 

[pms67]

1. Young's American Pale Ale
2. Burton Bridge Summer Ale (Dry Hopped, late)
3. Brewferm Trippel
4. St Peter's Ruby Red ale
5. John Bull Best Bitter

The Trippel is on my list of brews to do !
If I had more patience (and money)I would brew a lot more Brewferm kits.

 

[curzie]

The Trippel was the first Brewferm kit I tried. I have a Diablo and a Grand Cru bottle maturing at the moment. I can't wait to try the American Amber Ale!

 

[pms67]

Not far behind :-D. I have Grand Cru on tap, Youngs APA in the fermenter and Golden Stag waiting in the wings. Grand Cru suffers from the volume of sugar added, although it's 2 months kegged now and slowly slowly improving. Youngs APA has been on the go for 16 days, a slow working yeast, SG still moving, now at 1.009, giving 5.5% (5.6% target); not added the hops yet. Sample just taken tastes great, not malty, light, bitter. Can't wait for the finished article.

Recently just tried Houblon Chouffe Dobbelen IPA Tripel. Whoa, well and truly hop hooked.

Pardon my ignorance and laziness for not typing it in but what is this hop tripel you speak of that has my mouth watering by name alone !!!!:rofl:

 

[curzie]

Just had first bottle of Brewferm Grand Cru last night. This after a few bottles of Peroni at a local Italian restaurant washing down a pizza. After no time at all I was conversing in fluent bollox and had an impressive hung-over feeling this morning. But I think it now makes my top 5! :-)

 

[pms67]

Just had first bottle of Brewferm Grand Cru last night. This after a few bottles of Peroni at a local Italian restaurant washing down a pizza. After no time at all I was conversing in fluent bollox and had an impressive hung-over feeling this morning. But I think it now makes my top 5! :-)

Grand Cru is good if you let it condition properly.
I am brewing my first ever Wherry tomorrow,wonder if it will be top 5 material.
Don't know why it's taken me over 1 year to pick up this kit but I've got high hopes.
Cheers

 

[Fore]

Pardon my ignorance and laziness for not typing it in but what is this hop tripel you speak of that has my mouth watering by name alone !!!!:rofl:

It's a strange 9% half way house between a Belgian Triple and hoppy Pale Ale. Has that fruity yeasty alcoholic undertone of a Triple (Belgium brewed), with just loads of hops thrown in for good measure. Have become interested in more hoppy and less malty recently, but do still like a Belgian, so this seemed interesting. Drank with my dad; he thought it was way too hoppy, then started being a bit daft. That would be the 9% :drunk:. One thing's for sure, I now know what going overboard with the hops tastes like. Very very nice, but for 2 pints tops.

 

[pms67]

Wherry has stuck at 1020, as per forewarned :nono:
Stirred and is now bubbling again,why does this happen ? All my other kits don't do this,lazy yeast perhaps ?
Anyway,have a Brewferm Triple and a Festival Pilgrims Hope to brew :

 

[Slid]

Wherry has stuck at 1020, as per forewarned :nono:
Stirred and is now bubbling again,why does this happen ? All my other kits don't do this,lazy yeast perhaps ?
Anyway,have a Brewferm Triple and a Festival Pilgrims Hope to brew :

Never had an actual stuck Wherry, but they always seem to be a bit slow on everything. So I am interested in this question. I think that part of the problem is that the Wherry kit comes with only 6g of yeast. The yeast supplied is, I think, Nottingham and this is sold in 11g packs at Wilko (Gervin).

Unless the wort is well agitated to introduce enough oxygen for cell reproduction early in the fermentation cycle, this could lead to problems later. I pour the water into the FV from about 1 metre or more above the wort level and pitch at nearer 25C than 20C usually, due to adding boiling water to the cans and to dissolve extra table sugar.

Perhaps the best solution therefore, is to make yeast starter with some DME and the kit yeast the day before? There is some advice on this on the forum.

Or here

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html

 

[pms67]

Never had an actual stuck Wherry, but they always seem to be a bit slow on everything. So I am interested in this question. I think that part of the problem is that the Wherry kit comes with only 6g of yeast. The yeast supplied is, I think, Nottingham and this is sold in 11g packs at Wilko (Gervin).

Unless the wort is well agitated to introduce enough oxygen for cell reproduction early in the fermentation cycle, this could lead to problems later. I pour the water into the FV from about 1 metre or more above the wort level and pitch at nearer 25C than 20C usually, due to adding boiling water to the cans and to dissolve extra table sugar.

Perhaps the best solution therefore, is to make yeast starter with some DME and the kit yeast the day before? There is some advice on this on the forum.

Or here

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter6-5.html

Thanks
I stirred like a maniac when brewing and pitched at 24 degrees :wha:
It's my first ever stuck ferment in about 60 kits !
I also think the yeast supplied is a little on the small side but the 6g packet that came with the Real Ale munched the fermentables no problem and I also emailed Coopers once regarding their 7g packet and their brewing guy replied saying 7g should ferment an average batch easily ?
I have stirred again tonight but Muntons should be looking at this as it is so common.
I foolishly thought I would escape this problem being the "master brewer" that I am:rofl:
I am sticking to the tried and tested kits from now on,Youngs American range,Festival,Brewferm and some Coopers ! First and last Wherry !!!
Cheers

 

[pms67]

I have emailed Muntons and their tech guy said it's the first stuck ferment they have had reported this year :rofl::rofl:::rofl:
If you believe that :wha:
Anyway he said yeast nutrient might be the answer but I'm a bit brassed off needing to travel 15 miles to Falkirk to buy some.
I have asked him for any further advice he can give and am waiting on a reply,hopefully he is feeling charitable and sorts something out.
Don't want to bottle a sweet,weak beer that might blow up :electric:

 

[Fore]

Or just rehydrate the yeast. Can't remember the exact numbers, but something like half the potential cells die if you pitch directly, while many many more survive if you rehydrate in water at 30-35 degree. It's about water getting easier through the cell membrane, doesn't work as well with a sucrose solution (wort). It's easy to do, so quickly became a standard for me.

Obviously everything has to be clean and sterile, I think ideal temp is 38, but 40 is too high, so many prefer lower temp, I aim for about 33. Leave 15 mins, stir, leave 5 mins more then slowly bring within 5 degree of wort before pitching ( I normally place the glass in some cooler water).

 

[pms67]

Or just rehydrate the yeast. Can't remember the exact numbers, but something like half the potential cells die if you pitch directly, while many many more survive if you rehydrate in water at 30-35 degree. It's about water getting easier through the cell membrane, doesn't work as well with a sucrose solution (wort). It's easy to do, so quickly became a standard for me.

Obviously everything has to be clean and sterile, I think ideal temp is 38, but 40 is too high, so many prefer lower temp, I aim for about 33. Leave 15 mins, stir, leave 5 mins more then slowly bring within 5 degree of wort before pitching ( I normally place the glass in some cooler water).

Ok,I will try that next time,but what do I do now ??? :pray:
Oh,and sounds like you have three tasty cornies there.
Never done the Head cracker but the Brewferm and Youngs are hard to beat.
Cheers

 

[Fore]

Stir it; sounds like it works for you. There is quite a section in Wheelers book about stirring yeast, even about some commercial brewery contraption that is designed specifically to circulate the yeast, and it seems it is "normal". I used to worry about it, but as long as you don't introduce oxygen by stirring too vigorously, and if you let the yeast settle when it's finally finished the job, then no need to worry, and should just stir the yeast into suspension daily.

 

[Maggie]

wow,all the others are so professional about brewing ,I really want to provide a piece of advice.

 

[Joeyriles]

I would say that the best kits have been:


Festival Razorback IPA-beautiful hop profile, clears quickly and weighed in at 5.5% (I like them strong.)

Woodforde's Headcracker-Bloody strong, tasty and warming. Worth making it with extra DME to keep that strong body.

Festival Ales Suffolk Strong-Needs time in the bottle. The Boudicea hops start out feeling very aggressive but as they mellow, they give way to a very tasty and malty dark-ruby ale.

Festival Ales Pride of London Porter- Again, the festival kits are just so complete that I can't keep away from them. This gave a gorgeously smooth and full-bodied porter. This was my first proper brew and I made the mistake of drinking it too early; the last few bottles had started to mature and they tasted markedly better.

Brewferm Grand Cru-Had to try this. Did this with extra golden syrup and it has turned out sweet and knock-your-********-off strong. I've left mine in bottles for nearly 7 months now and it gets better and better everytime I have it.


Bulldog Raja's Reward- I found this kit the only dud of the pile. I'm not sure what happened but it went into the bottles and, when opened, had a slightly sour tang that never fully cleared up. It could have been slightly infected, or something just went wrong. Either way, I was saddened by this one mainly because everyone else gave such positive reviews!


I've since gone onto BIAB and made a Citra IPA and a Hampshire Best Bitter, both of which have turned out lovely. These kits have made some lovely beer but I prefer the satisfaction of drinking stuff that I've made myself. :-):drink:

 

[FatCol]

I made a Wherry a few months back and tried a tiny tweak to see if it made any difference. I brewed short to 20L, used the kit supplied yeast and gave 2 weeks in primary.

It was kegged, primed with 75g Dextrose and 50g of Rowse Australian Honey and left for 4 months. it's by far the best Wherry I have ever made. - beautiful! :drink:

I've a feeling that I'll be watching Sky Sports through the bottom of a pint glass this weekend!

FatCol