Mangrove Jacks Pink Grapefruit IPA Beer Kit + Free Enhancer

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needmorstuf

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I brewed this a few weeks ago, the thing that sold it to me were the free enhancer and the fact that it said it was in the style of "Brew Dog Elvis Juice"

It was my first beer kit, I normally do WOW rose and red wine kits.

The first thing that got my attention was the smell and taste of the extract in the bag - very pungent and I could definitely taste the grapefruit.

I followed the kit to the letter and had high hopes due to the aromas coming my FV. The Fv was placed in a 42l tough tub ni my garage, temp held with an aquarium heater, its temp set to 22c - I set it to 22c as I guessed there would be some loss and wanted a brew temp of 20c.

It took about 10 days to ferment out fully. I then took it out of the water bath and left it for 2 days to clear some before secondary fermentation. After 2 days there was still some gunk bobbling about in the brew so I took the decision to rack it and left it for another 24 hours.

Then as opposed to bottling straight away I racked it carefully so at not to induce oxygen or dispel carbonation into another FV. I did this as on top of 130gm of table sugar that had been boiled in 150ml of water. I did this to save the mess of having to spoon sugar in or use the expensive carbonation drops and to hopefully provide a clearer brew.

The gamble here is that its been left too long and the secondary fermentation wouldnt take place... I have done a similar thing when making prosecco from apple juice and grape juice and know that if you leave it to clear too much it wont carbonate.

Anyway, I then bottles into coopers pets and left in my study that a constant 25c for 10 days... the bottles had firmed up nicely and were quite solid so I knew the secondary fermentation had taken place.

It's supposed to get another week now in the cold to clear but I couldn't wait.. I put two bottles in the fridge on Friday and poured on Saturday.

Verdict! wow! I can't believe how nice it turned out, a rich light chocolaty colour, loads of body and depth of flavour - the hop flavour really comes through and there is a mid level of bitterness provided by the grapefruit. I do like the brewdog beers, with Punk IPA being my favourite but I have enjoyed Elvis juice in the past - tbh I dont buy it much as I balk at the price for 4 tiny cans.

I now have 37 x 500ml bottles for the princely sum of £20, it would have been more but the enhancer is given free at certain online stores at the moment.

Really impressed by this and am going to try others in the range.

I am going to score it 8 out of 10. Only 8 as I am a newb and don't have anything to base it on other than my taste buds.
 
it's good today - I would say jump on it before they stop givign you the free enhancer. I am going to get the american IPA before they do..

be warned - the one I got with the enhancer is a strong brew! it comes in at 5.7 without the enhancer so i reckon its knocking on 5.8%... the ipa is 4.4% so I may brew it a bit short at 21l to get it near 5%.
 
Very pleased to hear this so thanks :cheers1:

Big fan of Elvis juice so picked this up with free enhancer after Young's AIPA changed my opinion on kits a few weeks back. However as I'm a deviant I also picked up an additional 100 g of hops as I was worried the 20g supplied was a little low. Would you say this is unnecessary, a good idea or madness?
 
ooh I put on the youngs last night.

m8 - totally depends on you. If you like a tonne of hopps then go for it. You've bought it now. How many FV's you got? what about do half as the manufacturer intended and half with 50g extra hops?

I wouldn't say it's massively hoppy, more citrusy - it's superb as it is but nothing wrong with experimenting.
 
Has anybody who’s done this kit had any trouble with the yeast? Pitched my yeast 3 days ago and no activity at all in the airlock...
 
I heard that west coast yeast are not very quick to start. I just did Juicy IPA with those and it took more than 24h to see any yeast activity - pitched at 23 degrees
 
be warned - the one I got with the enhancer is a strong brew! it comes in at 5.7 without the enhancer so i reckon its knocking on 5.8%
It comes in at 5.7% if you use a kilo of sugar. With the enhancer it's about 4.9%

Has anybody who’s done this kit had any trouble with the yeast?
It's the slowest starting yeast I've used but it did kick in after 2 or 3 days. M44 is known for it.

Still doing reviews but the last bottle got an 8/10 from three of us, a 3/5 from a guy that's mad on Brewdog beers and a good from a guy that just says good or bad.

Temperature really changes it. It's a lot richer as it warms up to the point you don't want it to get too warm.
 
Best kit i've ever done this. Added 50g of Amarillo Hops as a dry hop and it's one of the best beers I've ever had.
Strong too.
 
Has anybody who’s done this kit had any trouble with the yeast? Pitched my yeast 3 days ago and no activity at all in the airlock...
I brewed this a few months ago, albeit without the enhancer. It took a good 3 days before the yeast did anything of note. Turned out really nice though.
 
I've got a MJ Brew Day Rye pack on the way - really looking forward to getting it going. Its the same yeast, so I'll keep the slow start in mind!
 
Done the MJ Pink Grapefruit IPA a number of times before, and could have sworn the packet normally recommends additional pack of enhancer, however the last one made no mention of this on the packet (also have the MJ American IPA which clearly mentions the additions on the packet). Brewed as per instructions (without additional enhancer or dextrose) so assuming I have added these previously, expecting it not to be as strong, but really like the grapefruit hit and the hoppyness of this kit (anyone know if the kit has changed or I'm losing my marbles...).. I've also done the MJ Simco IPA which was similar to the Grapefruit, and will do this again.
 
Done the MJ Pink Grapefruit IPA a number of times before, and could have sworn the packet normally recommends additional pack of enhancer, however the last one made no mention of this on the packet (also have the MJ American IPA which clearly mentions the additions on the packet). Brewed as per instructions (without additional enhancer or dextrose) so assuming I have added these previously, expecting it not to be as strong, but really like the grapefruit hit and the hoppyness of this kit (anyone know if the kit has changed or I'm losing my marbles...).. I've also done the MJ Simco IPA which was similar to the Grapefruit, and will do this again.
Just do as you're told.
 

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