Festival Kits & Yeast

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Afternoon folks,
The other half treated me to a couple of kits as an advanced birthday present today from my LHBS. I decided to go with Festival as I'd read good things (and they don't stock the Youngs American range I was after), the Razor Back IPA and the Pilgrims Hope.
Got home and had a look and the Pilgrims Hope doesn't have any yeast in it! Being as the shop is some 20 miles away, it's not worth going back, so for the sake of a few quid I may as well buy some more. Would Safale S-04 be suitable?
Also, any feedback of experience of these two particular kits is appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[clibit]

You could use S04 or US05 I reckon, though I've not made the kit. It sounds like an American hoppy affair, focused on Summit hops, so 05 may well fit the bill.

You could use the yeast from the Razor back if you do that first. Either make up the Pilgrims Hope the day you bottle it and use the yeast sediment direct from the FV, or make up the second beer in the same FV, or transfer some yeast sediment to a sterilized container with a sterilized spoon and store it in the fridge.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Thanks clibit, think i'll take the easy option and buy some! I'm going to have to invest in some more bottles so I can get these on the go, I'm making them quicker than I can drink them!

 

[pintofmild]

so 05=== A bit sloppy sediment wise though, gv12, good solid base.

regards

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

so 05=== A bit sloppy sediment wise though, gv12, good solid base.

regards

So not the s-04 then?

 

[Redsnapper]

I would get in touch with Ritchies by e-mail.I had a no brewing sugar in my Pilgrims hope which should have had either 200g or 500g I forget which it was now.They sent me some by return post toute suite!! Cheaper that way too.So get the Razorback on and I bet your yeast will arrive before you need it.

I have done both these kits and got great results,they are very comprehensive kits.The syphon muslin bags are keepers!! They do seem to need a couple of months conditoning but then are great.
Cheers:wink:

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

I would get in touch with Ritchies by e-mail.I had a no brewing sugar in my Pilgrims hope which should have had either 200g or 500g I forget which it was now.They sent me some by return post toute suite!! Cheaper that way too.So get the Razorback on and I bet your yeast will arrive before you need it.

I have done both these kits and got great results,they are very comprehensive kits.The syphon muslin bags are keepers!! They do seem to need a couple of months conditoning but then are great.
Cheers:wink:

I suppose it's better in my pocket than theirs! And can't hurt to ask. I'm looking forward to these too, so thanks for the feedback on yours.

I see you've bottled the Youngs Oaked Rum Ale. Have you tried it yet? I've got their IPA the go at the moment and I think I've got the APA coming my way (thank you Mother-in-law), but all of their American range sound quite appealing.

 

[Ale]

Or you could phone the shop and ask them to put some yeast in the post to replace it.

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Or you could phone the shop and ask them to put some yeast in the post to replace it.

That did occur to me, but didn't want to end up with just what ever was cheapest and not necessarily the right stuff (and I wasn't sure what to ask for).

 

[Redsnapper]

Youngs American Oaked Rum Ale mmm................errr.........all gone!! Must update my profile here!!Quite a strong rum flavour with a great aroma from the oak chips.I like quite dark malty ales,this is more like an amber ale with the above flavours.The only kit in my opinion to come near a Festival.Come to think of it I need to try some of their other kits.
My absolute favourite so far though is Festivals Old Suffolk Strong Ale.A great pint,didn't last long at all.I would heartily recommend it.As soon as my F.V. is empty next week one of these is going on.
I don't think you will go far wrong between these two brands of kits............why not just Ahem.....work through them???? :whistle:

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Youngs American Oaked Rum Ale mmm................errr.........all gone!! Must update my profile here!!Quite a strong rum flavour with a great aroma from the oak chips.I like quite dark malty ales,this is more like an amber ale with the above flavours.The only kit in my opinion to come near a Festival.Come to think of it I need to try some of their other kits.
My absolute favourite so far though is Festivals Old Suffolk Strong Ale.A great pint,didn't last long at all.I would heartily recommend it.As soon as my F.V. is empty next week one of these is going on.
I don't think you will go far wrong between these two brands of kits............why not just Ahem.....work through them???? :whistle:

Sounds like a good enough plan to me! It was a toss up between the Pilgrims Hope and Golden Stag, so that will be one of the next ones, but the Suffolk Ale sounds good too.

Emailed Ritchies yesterday and got a response today saying they'd send some out in the post, so thanks for the advice.

Now just have to decide which one to do first when the FV becomes free!

 

[sevorg]

You will love the Festival kits. [FONT=&quot]I've had some great success with them over the last six months:
Summer Gold limited edition (2 batches bottled) - excellent, especially chilled with curry.
Razor back IPA (draught) v. good, a powerful flavour not for the feint hearted. Have just run off a second batch in bottles that is now conditioning.
Strong Suffolk (bottled) - excellent, so much so everyone wants to drink it in preference to the other brews and I'm rapidly running low!
London Porter (bottled) - excellent, and still evolving into a very complex drink.
Father Hooks (draught) - v. good, a nice, well flavored 4% glugger.
Landlord's Finest (draught) - good but not as good as I was hoping for, tasted slightly "home brewed". In fairness, this was made in the summer before I built the brew fridge and it probably fermented at a higher temperature than ideal. I must try this again for a summer glugger as I've read so many good reviews.

I've also had a bash at St Peter's Cream Stout (bottled) and this is truly great! (Also makes a damn fine steak and ale pie.)

It's always a matter of personal taste, but all my beer loving pals are fans of the Strong Suffolk and I'd highly recommend it. Might even be worth a try without the additional sugar as a lighter brew for the summer...


[/FONT]

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

Yes, they do look good. I was thinking of starting extract soon, but there's still a fair few kits that I want to try and as they all seem to be decent quality, I think I'll put it off for a while.

 

[sevorg]

I know exactly what you mean... I was planning on moving on to AG but the premium kits are so good now and save so much time compared with many hours for an AG brew. I still want to go AG as the results can be so good and give a lot of scope to experiment. Just need a bit more free time!

 

[Hops_and_Dreams]

I expect there will be a few I want to try again too.
Don't think I'll have the space to store kit for AG unfortunately, i'm running out of space for what I've got now (keeping it indoors is frowned upon!).