Milestone Donner & Blitzed Review

[norm]

This is definitely going to be my Christmas brew this year!

Which one is the better kit out the two?

cheers

Haven't done the donner & blitzed but done dasher the flasher twice and it's my joint favourite along with dark galleon.

 

[DaveJnr69]

I started this brew around the end of October last year. As far as I can tell everything went well and it was bottled and left ready for Christmas.
I'm still battling through the last few bottles as I can't bear to let it go to waste, but sadly I have not enjoyed it. Once poured it has a lovely dark oak colour with an off white head. It has a lovely smell, but then comes the taste. I shall chalk that one up to experience but I won't be doing it again.

 

[devexwarrior]

Fermented down to 6.5%, left for three weeks in the barrel and bottled today. Split between small bottles (ideal as Christmas gifts) and swing-tops. Smells good and tastes great. Will be perfect in 7 weeks time.

 

[Simon_C]

This was the second kit brew I did, as a Christmas keg for the family. The brewing went well, with no problems, resulting in a round 4.0% abv, which suited me just fine. I have to say, I was not a fan of the final product... It was just too sweet and syrupy for my palate. About half the barrel went down the drain, although I have hopes that the bottles (I always tend to brew half and half) continuing to condition may improve things somewhat.

All in all, not a great experience, and I will look carefully in future at brewing gimmicky seasonal beers as a consequence.

 

[Simon_C]

Bit of an update, as I have had a bottle just last night, to see if it improves with age... And YES, it was a much better pint all round, having lost some of the gimmicky sweetness. It still smells like a Christmas pudding (I guess as a Yule beer it has to), but it was a much more pleasant pint after four months of conditioning.

I still wouldn't say it is my favourite brew, and I'm not sure I would make it again, but it has encouraged me to make another Milestone beer this year (Black Pearl), but I thought it only fair to say that this beer definitely improves with a bit of aging.