Festival Landlords Best Bitter Review

[buzzharvey22]

just bottled my father hooks best bitter. looked great and tasted very nice too. nice caramel taste upfront and then a refreshing bitterness afterwards. should be nice for christmas

 

[Mreddster]

Not sure if this is correct post to be actually talking about the brewing as it was meant to be a Review post (Sorry to OP) BUT

Started this 6 days ago. It started fermenting within 24hrs, not a vigorous ferment but the Lid of my plastic bin swelled up and the familiar signs of a foam mark round the top was there. No bubbles in the air lock at all.
Then about 4 days after this seemed to stop! I can now see a fine layer on the bottom (Trud?) about 1cm deep. The lid is now not pressurised and it seems to have completely stopped fermenting! I added the Hops today and there wasn't much sign of bubbles on the surface.

Has this brew finished!? Has it stopped? Is this normal? In the instructions it says about 10 days fermenting.

It's been at a constant 22deg from the start.

I did a Gravity test and it shows 1012 so that seems to be in the right direction I guess.

Sorry again to be asking this, but I@m just concerned. Thanks in advance

 

[Mickeywheelspin]

Has this brew finished!? Has it stopped? Is this normal? In the instructions it says about 10 days fermenting.

It's been at a constant 22deg from the start.

I did a Gravity test and it shows 1012 so that seems to be in the right direction I guess.

It may well be done - but leaving it a few days longer wont hurt. Wait and see if anything has changed after a couple of days, if not it should be fine. What was your OG?

 

[Mreddster]

Cheers for reply.

OG was 1.042 and just checked it again and it's showing 1.010

 

[Mickeywheelspin]

I fancied doing this one as whilst it's a little bit "brewing by numbers" with everything coming in weighed out packets, it looked like a good introduction to dry hopping as it comes with hops and a filter bag. Slightly more expensive, but hopefully worth it for the extra kit.

The brew went in the fermenter without a hitch and after 12 hours was bubbling away happily, which lasted for a good few days. Last night I added the hops that come with the kit, from reading various reviews I'll admit to being a little worried it may be too hoppy and considered not putting them all in, but what the hell. I enjoy hoppy beers and I like to follow the instructions the first time I make a kit. That said, I always condition for 2 weeks rather than the 10 days in the instructions so added the hops at day 9 rather than 5 to make sure they're only in for 5 days.

OG was surprisingly low - got it written down somewhere but 1.038 from memory. I don't mind so long as the final beer tastes ok. I'm conditioning a Brewferm Grand Cru if I want something with a bit more clout

Anyway, I took a small QC sample last night to measure the gravity before adding the hops (1.011 but it has been fairly cool) and it was blumin lovely!! I usually try a small sip out of the sample jar before tipping it down the sink for being too young and yeasty (as you'd expect after 9 days!) But this was Lovely - didn't waste a drop :drink:

I've got high hopes for this one, it already looks as though It'll more than justify the higher price tag!

Now just to let it finish, get it in the barrel, wait and prey!! :pray: please be good... please be good....

 

[Mreddster]

One tip I would offer after brewing a couple of Festival kits, and now starting the Landlord, would be to secondary ferment it. With the added hops there are quite a lot of floaters when its ready. Pop it in a secondary vessel in the cold for a week and most of them will sink, then keg/bottle as you would normally, its worked great for me every time.

Just for info, I did as suggested above. However when I bottled the beer yesterday I discovered there was virtually nothing left in the bucket and no "floaters"
Not a problem I know but thought I would say the little muslin bag provided in this Festival kit worked a treat and there was no need for this added step

 

[Mreddster]

Ok it's been almost 3 weeks since bottling and I had to try one. Chilled it down a bit to help it clear but was still pretty clody but getting there.
Tasted ok, not Too hoppy as I expected from all the earlier comments but there was a definate Yeasty smell (I think)
Lets hope it goes after another few weeks as It has promise I think

 

[bootneck]

I followed the instructions to the letter three weeks ago put my brew into a pv to condition.
Lol I have about 6-8 pints left.
Fantastic taste and it's now clear. I will be trying this kit again in next two weeks but this time will leave it 14 days or so after hops are added and at least a month before I try it this time.
Put Suffolk strong ale into the FV two days ago and I will also leave this for 14 days before legging it.

 

[BREWERS DROOP]

Just bottled this after being in the bucket for 17 days @18 degrees
gravity reading start 1.040 ended at 1.010
2 days of good fermentation. stuck to the lid. no bubbling after that
Added hops as stated after 5 days
put outside in cold for 24 hrs
tasted a sample and its got a very strong hop taste(little grassy taste)
Dissolved dextrose in 100ml of hot water
syphoned into secondary with dissolved dextrose
then bottled
its now a matter of wait and see:thumb::thumb:

 

[Alpiniste]

Hi, I brewed this Festival Landlord's Finest as my first venture into homebrewing. It was in the FV for 12 days at a very steady 21 degrees. Starting OG was approx 1040 and final was 1010. Added all the hop pellets after 7 days in the FV and syphoned into keg on day 12, when fermentation had stopped. Then conditioned in the keg for 2 weeks at same 21 degrees and transferred to cooler (16 degrees) dark cellar 5 weeks ago.

The brew is clear as a bell now, and has a lovely 'Landlord'-like aroma, but is still very very (too!) bitter. Question is, will it continue to improve, and if so, at what stage should I give up hope? If it turns out to be too bitter for me, would it work out better in future if I only added half the hops, or, if I left them out all together would it likely taste too sweet or lack body?

Any advice gratefully received. :smile:

 

[dbg400]

It's been very interesting reading through all the comments on Landlord's Finest. I've been working my way through the Festival range, and this was the last one to try (done alongside the limited edition Endeavours). Although all the same procedures were followed (I use a garden trug as a waterbath, along with an aquarium heater & pump to keep the temperature stable) as on all the kits I've done this one turned out to be nothing like a bitter - but just very bitter No real noticeable hop flavours, and no malt either. Looks wise it was fine, nice and clear with a decent head, and my work colleagues have been happy to drink it to get me my bottles back (they agreed it wasn't like a bitter, but liked it well enough) - but I couldn't finish a whole bottle. I kept trying every few weeks to see if it would change, but after four months I gave up on it

Any ideas on what might have gone wrong? I've done over 30 kits in the last three years, and none of them has failed or been tainted, so I'm at a loss to know why this didn't match up to the description.

 

[davecullen86]

I started this brew on 21/09/2014 and was wanting this to be the xmas beer i was gonna crack out and impress every 1 on xmas day. I barrelled on 11/10/2014 and I left for 2 weeks inside in the warm ish 20 degrees we were having. Since I have left in my brew fridge at around 8C for 2 weeks and it does not taste that gr8.. It has an overpowering bitter taste.. Has any 2 tasted this?? Im willing to leave for another month but, I often drink my beers without problems after 2 weeks and they are gr8... So far I cant let my family drink this lol! Any advice welcome :)

 

[stupot]

Just to clarify I should use the muslin bag to put the hops in right? It doesnt say this in the instructions!

 

[Spapro]

Just to clarify I should use the muslin bag to put the hops in right? It doesnt say this in the instructions!

I've got this to brew next so looking forward to it.

Interesting discussion about using the hops/bag in the festival kits here:
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50192

2 schools of thought:

1. use the bag as a hop bag - ie. putting the hops in the bag
2. throw the pellets directly into the wort then use the bag over the end of your syphon cane as a filter so the pellet particles stay in the fermentation vessel and are not transferred out in the syphoned beer.

 

[davecullen86]

Personally I chuck them in then use the bag on the end of the siphon. Works every time!

 

[tippseyTony]

Yep throw them in . use the bag on the end works really well. when I did Suffolk strong .

 

[davereal]

just done the farther hooks best. prob the same process, yep bung em in and use the bag on the end of the syphon..didn't see too many bits in the syphon and left it slightly shy of a load of gunk at the bottom of the.F.V. 7 weeks in just had a half to see what it's like .not fully clear slight mist . good head and tastes like a really good bitter.hops coming threw. a good session ale, i think.coming in at about 4.7%. added a few days on all the recipe times. 1st brew . and not knowing what to expect.really pleased with this kit.gonna leave for another month before i have a good go. all good.:smile::thumb:

 

[MartinHaworth]

TT Landlord has to be my fave beer to drink out, so I set off the Festival Landlord kit a couple of nights ago. Really surprised how fast it started off! I'm planning for 14 days in FV, so was wondering about adding the hops after 8 days. Does it make a difference HOW LONG the hops are in for?

Cheers

 

[MartinHaworth]

2 weeks conditioned, couldn't resist.

Clear, but not yet bright, carbonated, good head retention.

Lovely pint, and should only get better.

I love brewing beer.

 

[Spapro]

2 weeks conditioned, couldn't resist.

Clear, but not yet bright, carbonated, good head retention.

Lovely pint, and should only get better.

I love brewing beer.

Hi Martin,

mines still in the FV, going to add the hops tonight and bottle in 4 days I think - great to hear yours is tasting good.

Is it similar to TT landlord in style then ?

Thanks