Muntons Connoisseurs Export Stout Review

[simon04]

I saw this kit on the shelf of my local homebrew shop, and decided to give it a go. This is the first beer kit I have done, although I have done the odd wine previously....

Along with the kit, I purchased 1kG of brewing sugar as advised... I found the kit very easy to follow, and had no trouble getting it into the fermenter and working. I bottled part of the batch to keep, and put the remainder in the barrel.

I decided to give it a try after the conditioning time stated. I noticed a distinct homebrew flavour at the start, followed by a surprising, but pleasant hoppy flavour - much more than I was expecting. This was followed by a good rounded bitter-sweet dark malty flavour. Sadly, I haven't managed to get any positive comments from others as yet - but that's fine, it leaves more beer for me :lol:

Joking aside - I am happy with the outcome, and would like to think the flavour would improve with some conditioning time... I was amazed by the hoppiness! I would brew this one again, but of course, there are many other kits to try too. If and when I do brew this again, I would like to try it with dark spraymalt rather than sugar, and would follow the secondary fermentation instructions too.


If you want a hoppy stout, then I would suggest this as an option.

 

[simon04]

Update;

After a little longer conditioning, I took a sample bottle of this to my local real ale pub for testing.... Both landlord and wife were pleased with the hoppiness and malt to follow. The sample was passed round the bar, and was well received. General consensus was that it was very drinkable, with slight criticism that the texture seemed a little thin - more like a porter. Fair enough - I can agree with that, and more incentive to try the brew again using dark spray-malt instead.