Young American Oaked Rum Ale

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Horners

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Can't see a review for this one.

My brother in law ( who has no interest in brewing but does like his real ale) was gifted it 18 months ago. Per the box it goes out of date in August. Had a quick squizz at it and seems to be hopped liquid malt extract, dextrose and some oak chips and an unspecified top fermenting yeast. With nothing fermenting currently I'm twitchy to get something on but temperature control is at a premium in this hot weather so not sure if I can be arsed.

Anyone done this kit - worth bunging it together or any recommended tweaks? Can't say it's one I would necessarily choose me self.
 
Brew as is though if it's approaching its sell by I'd get new sachet of yeast for it. I'd use an American Ale yeast for it.

Beautiful beer, possibly one of my favourite kits, so much so I have one sat at home to make which will be bottled for winter consumption.
 
I brewed it a little while ago. Can't say I'm getting on too well with the finished beer and it's not going down well with friends either. It's been conditioning for perhaps 3 months now.

Whilst the beer itself seems to have good body and richness with a subtle bitterness, it's finished a bit too sweet for my liking. The oak is very strong in the final beer too so the final flavour is just a bit much - it just becomes a bit cloying towards the end of the first pint.

It will be worth the cost of some fresh yeast, don't get me wrong, and it's "fun" to have in the fridge as something different. If I were to make it again, I would go a little lighter on the oak (can't remember what the instructions say but halve either the quantity of time) and would carb it a little higher than I have (I think a bit more fizz would provide a distraction to the intense flavour). Or could try and add more hop bitterness to balance things out slightly more.
 
Thanks both - mixed feedback. If I can convince the brother in law that he needs to wash 40 bottles then ill get it on for him and let him take half home.
 
Hey, that's beer!

Would be interested to hear a bit more from @Graz about how he got on with the final beer.

Interesting that yours came out a bit sweet. I'd say the one I brewed was at the dryer end of the spectrum but as we know these things can vary a lot. As ever with these things it's all down to personal taste but I do like the oak flavour, my favourite wines are heavily oaked Riojas. That said I probably would drink it in quantity, one or two bottles over an evening with other beers & that's why I bottled this one last time around. It was pretty good from around 6 weeks in the bottle but only got better with age. The few I saved for Christmas last year were very good. I'd say it was comparable to the Innis and Gunn rum barrel aged beer that I think it is trying to mimic.
 

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