York Brewery - Yorkshire Terrier

[bbslaw]

So, this being one of my favourite brews in my home city, I was keen to recreate it via kit-form. Not sure you see the kit that often nowadays, but I got mine off the internet.
Unusually (in my experience), it was a one-can kit with a bag of spray malt. I discussed this with the owner of my LHBS and he said he'd stopped stocking them because they don't represent good value for money. I guess this is probably the case - maybe you're paying for the name.
The kit also came with a bag of hop pellets which you had to steep for 15 minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. Made up to 22l and the OG was 1.042.
Fermentation was very vigorous at first, with the krausen invading the airlock overnight; it calmed down once I'd cleaned it up.
I didn't follow the kit's advice to aerate the wort daily by stirring - I asked around on here and it wasn't viewed as good advice - still not sure why they recommend it.
After 12 days, the gravity was 1.012 and I took it off the trub into a secondary FV. Left it there for 4 days, before taking into a final FV with tap for batch priming and bottling. FG was 1.006, which I calculate as 4.7% - quite a bit stronger than the expected 4.2%!
So it's all bottled now and sitting in my warm office. Will probably crack one after 2 weeks, provided it clears. Samples tasted good - quite hoppy, and it's a lovely golden colour.
Will report back when I've tasted the final product.
Has anyone else tried Terrier or Stonewall kits?

 

[beaco]

I'm trying Terrier, for very similar reasons by the sounds of it.. I got the kit from the homebrew store off the Boroughbridge Road, the guy in the shop had brewed it and advised me to use half the hops in the kit so I'll see how the flavour turns out. It's only my second brew, the first was a Youngs bitter, straightforward and came out well but it I'm hoping the Terrier will have a bit more body to it.

Reassuring that I got very similar readings to you but I don't have a secondary FV so after 10 days it went straight into the bottles, it's been in about a week now. Fingers crossed in another few weeks I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[bbslaw]

Great - let me know how it goes. I think I got my kit via mail order from them. I'll let you know if mine tastes 'too' hoppy, as I used all of the hops. TBH, I'm not expecting it to taste much like the Terrier you get in pubs; just hoping for a nice balanced Yorkshire bitter. Am planning to try one this weekend, probably a bit early, but need to test the progress of the maturation Will let you know how it is

 

[bbslaw]

Tried this a couple of times this weekend. Tastes pretty good for a 2 week-old beer. It's a lovely golden brown colour and has cleared really well with a tight sediment. It tastes quite strongly hoppy at the moment and doesn't have too much depth of flavour, but I'm hoping the hoppiness will mellow over time. Good level of carbonation. Quite pleased all in all; this will keep me going through the autumn.

 

[bbslaw]

After a month and a half in bottles, it's drinking pretty well now. The flinty hoppiness has mellowed and it's a nice pint. I had a pint of the real stuff in town on Friday and the hop profile is surprisingly close. I think the real one is a bit more golden and less brown though. Pleased with how this has turned out

 

[beaco]

Well it's taken a while but I'm really enjoying my brew now as well! The flavour of the hops is very mellow, unlike when I tried the first bottle after 5 weeks in the garage. This is only my second brew, my first was a Youngs bitter that came with the starter kit.

The Terrier has a much fuller flavour, the Youngs was best described as very simple bitter. Making the Terrier with the hops feels like a new step in brewing and it's nice to taste the effect they have on the finished drink. It took longer to develop a the taste, I'd say it was about 8 weeks after bottling (the 3rd bottle I tried) before I would say it was really enjoyable.

Definitely worth the money. I'll try a new brew next but I'll gladly come back to this kit another time and look forward to it.