Muntons Gold - Old English Bitter

[tibbs1972]

I just made a batch of Old English Bitter 4.5%.
This is my third batch to date.
It's a no thrills simple recipe, just add water and stir.


The batch should be ready for bottles in about 8-9 days.
I'm going to try PET bottles this time to see if there's a difference.


I've seen on Youtube that with PET bottles, it's possible to use a sediment catcher if you store the bottles upside down.


Regards
Tibbs

 

[Slid]

I just made a batch of Old English Bitter 4.5%.
This is my third batch to date.
It's a no thrills simple recipe, just add water and stir.


The batch should be ready for bottles in about 8-9 days.
I'm going to try PET bottles this time to see if there's a difference.


I've seen on Youtube that with PET bottles, it's possible to use a sediment catcher if you store the bottles upside down.


Regards
Tibbs

Hi Tibbs

I did a similar kit a couple of times and I would heartily recommend leaving the beer for at least 14 days before bottling.

I also saw the thing with the sediment trap and thought it looked like a load of effort for not much return. Would not advise against it, of course, and would be interested in how it turns out.

If you want clearer beer, then racking to a second FV for a week or so is an option. I do this and add 50g sugar to push any air out through the airlock.

 

[tibbs1972]

Hi Tibbs

I did a similar kit a couple of times and I would heartily recommend leaving the beer for at least 14 days before bottling.

I also saw the thing with the sediment trap and thought it looked like a load of effort for not much return. Would not advise against it, of course, and would be interested in how it turns out.

If you want clearer beer, then racking to a second FV for a week or so is an option. I do this and add 50g sugar to push any air out through the airlock.

Thanks for your comments.

I'm in no hurry as I've got Coopers Irish Stout in bottles conditioning and some MakeYourOwnBeer IPA in a king keg waiting for a taste test.
Both should be ready for Christmas.
As you say, I'll try to leave the Muntons Bitter for 14 days.
Thanks for the advice

Regards
Tibbs

 

[Cwrw666]

I did a Muntons Gold Conkerwood recently and it stuck at 1020 but eventually got down to 1014 at which point I bottled it. All in all it took a whole month in the FV but turned out ok in the end. A bit of a funny taste to it but I think that was intentional to the style of beer rather than a problem. By the last of the 40 bottles I was even getting a taste for it ! :lol:
Some people on this forum say the Muntons kits all need yeast nutrient added to get a decent fermentation.

 

[MyQul]

Can't comment on the kit but regarding sediment catchers I find racking to a bottling bucket eliminates most of the sediment in the bottom of the bottles and if you also use a high floccuating yeast instead of the kit yeast it all packs down tight and doesn't come out of the bottle when you pour anyway

 

[Robeer]

Hi tibbs 1972,
Just wondering if you have ever conditioned a my muntons gold old English bitter in a barrel. I have just barrelled a m.g.o.e.b. It is my first ever home brew. I can help with the bottling options you wondered about but was wondering how the taste of them goes had developed with time. Would you recommend leaving it conditioning for a while longer than on the instructions ?

I tok some advice for a home brew shop and used some finnings in the barrel. Have you used these? If so have you noticed them helping?

Also did you use spraymalt or sugar when conditioning ? Interested in learning what the difference is.

 

[tibbs1972]

Hi tibbs 1972,
Just wondering if you have ever conditioned a my muntons gold old English bitter in a barrel. I have just barrelled a m.g.o.e.b. It is my first ever home brew. I can help with the bottling options you wondered about but was wondering how the taste of them goes had developed with time. Would you recommend leaving it conditioning for a while longer than on the instructions ?

I tok some advice for a home brew shop and used some finnings in the barrel. Have you used these? If so have you noticed them helping?

Also did you use spraymalt or sugar when conditioning ? Interested in learning what the difference is.

Hi Robeer,

I havn't used a barrel for Bitter, only IPA.

Never used finnings in beer, it's not necesaary. In me experience you just need patience, which is difficult.

I've only used finnings to clear wine.

For the IPA, I conditioned for two weeks at 20 degrees celcius, then moved to cold storage for 2 weeks.

At first when I tasted the brew, it was really bitter and had a nasty bite to it.
After the time in the barrel, it became a smooth pint with a good head and had lost most of the harsh birrer taste, so nowadays, I wait at least a month before drinking. To ensure I don't run out I keep at least one batch brewing all the time.

With regards to sugar, I tend to avoid brewing sugar in the fermenting bins. In my experience, it tends to make the brew more watery. I use muntons dark spray malt extract instead, as this seems to add to the body of the brew.

For the priming sugar, for bottles I use 110g of sugar. I used 160g once in my priming bucket and got bottle fountains out of the bottles, unless chilled in a fridge, so I keep the amount to 110g. This gives me plenty of CO2 in the bottles after two weeks conditioning. For me, 110g also keeps the amount of sediment down to a minimum.

In the barrel I only used 80g of sugar. This was enough for about 8psi in the barrel. I only had to use a bulb to re-gas the barrel once.

Hope this info is useful, as I am still a newby compared to others here.

Brewed so far.

Thomas Coopers Irish Stout
Brewmakers Shamrock Velvet Stout
The Range Make Your Own IPA
Muntons English Bitter
St Peters Golden Ale
Festival Golden Stag Summer Ale (Ready in two weeks).

Brewing
Muntons Gold Imperial Stout.

About to Start
Milestone Black Pearl Stout

 

[tibbs1972]

By the way, I have found no difference in the quality with PET bottles.
In fact I now prefer PET bottles, as they are easier to bottle and much cheaper than glass.

You can also tell the priming sugar is working with PET bottles as initially you can squeeze them quite a lot, but as the pressure builds you can squeeze them less and less.

I've used the same PET bottles on three batches so far without an issue.

 

[Robeer]

Nice one - thanks for the advice And info Tibbs.
I plan to experiment with a few things over the next few months i.e. bottles, spraymalt, longer fermentation. Balancing all this with being patient is the hardest thing though! I just want to get drinking.