I have just seen Woodforde's Wherry on the Wilko website for £16 so intend purchasing 3 i.e. 6 cans of Wort. Does anyone know the likely outcome of adding the extra can? Will it result in a stronger beer or just one with more flavour? If this works it will still cost only £24 for 40 pints which compares well to some other kits!
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http://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1/festival-m8
http://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1/american-craft-brewing-beer-kits-m55
The reviews are much better for both of these, and they are some of the most recently developed high quality ingredients on the market
I suppose using two cans but reducing the volume to say 32 pints would have a similar effect. Anyway, if you could explain why it's not advisable it would be a great help.
I should add that I've already sampled Festival Old Suffolk Strong Ale which is too dark and too much like cough mixture for my pallet. I've also tried Woodforde's Admiral Reserve which was OK. I suppose what I'm trying to achieve is a brew that is similar to any of the following - Abbot Ale, Ruddles County, Old Speckled Hen, Gales HSB or Fullers ESB i.e. a full bodied, malty, toffee flavoured premium ale so if you have any suggestions on how best to achieve this it would be very much appreciated.
The styles of beer you have mentioned have been compared by some other brewers to these beer kits on this link, it is of course just their personal thoughts and not everyone agrees, but may be a good starting point and you can read the descriptions and reviews on each and see if any sound more what you are looking for:
http://www.home-brew-online.com/beer-kits-c1#m15:m18:m2:m7:m8:m1:t285:t32:t342
Usually it is best to start with the best ingredients you can, these do cost more of course, but the results are usually better too. You can add a third can to a cheaper kit but it is experimenting and the results are a little unknown, the more expensive beer refills usually have better ingredients and have been developed to achieve the right balance of tastes and hoppiness, do let us know how you get on if you decide to 'triple tin' it....
I certainly don't want to spoil a potentially good end result!
The best way to make sure the beer brews quickly and properly is to ensure a nice stable temperature. Temperature control is one of the most important parts of the brew, ideally if you can keep it at about 24c in my experience that is just about perfect, although anything from about 20/25c will work but not higher.
I tend to leave the brew a tad longer than the instructions generally recommend just to ensure all the sugar is fermentated 1 week kits I leave for 2, and some of the premium kits where they recommend 2 weeks I generally leave for 3.
This may be me being over the top, but that way I am more confident that it has fully brewed, the sugar will have been turned to alcohol and the yeast will have settled before bottling, which will help to give you a nice crisp and clean tasting clear brew.
Oddly enough I have a Munton's smugglers/oaked ale in the bucket at present and it seems to be taking ages to ferment. The gravity is still around 1018 after 2 weeks so hopefully will drop down to around 1012 so that I can bottle it. Just concerned that each time I check the gravity I guess it increases the chance of an infection.
That is certainly true, the longer you leave it, the more chance there is of infection.
But provided you throughly clean and sterilise everything and keep it covered (does not necessarily need to be airtight though) your brew should be good for at least 3 weeks. Just be careful doing things like breathing in it, or putting your fingers in it if you open it to check it, I don't mean to patronise so apologies but people sometimes don't think about all these things.
But really provided you have everything really clean and sterile at the start I think you would be unlucky for a brew to go bad. I have been brewing a bit over a year and a half and have yet to have one go bad.
As for your gravity reading, just be aware that those hydrometers are not 100% accurate. There are lots of factors that can affect the reading slightly, temperature and whatever else. A good way to tell if the primary fermentation is finished is to see if the reading stays stable for a period of 24 hours. If so it's likely done.
Honestly though, I don't even bother using a hydrometer anymore. By keeping the beer at a stable temperature and leaving it a little longer, I am already pretty confident its fully brewed. There are other ways to tell also, you should have a good layer of white sediment at the bottom of the vessel (if you have the semi transparent plastic fermenting tubs) and all signs of foaming/bubbling should have stopped.
Do you have a heating device for your brew or any way of temperature comtrolling it?
That's really helpful, thank you! I think you're right that it will have fermented by now especially as I have it on a heat tray so it's kept at a uniform temperature. Anyway,I'll have a look at it later keeping my fingers crossed it's ready.
Thanks again!
Probably better not having it airtight as gasses can escape plus oxygen can get in to help fermentation.
Just wipe the foam/yeast around the outside away and place the lid back on. I had one explode also see below. It was fine!
Many thanks for sharing this, it's much appreciated.
Just to report that the brew has finished fermenting and has a final gravity of around 1012. I've now transferred it to a barrel and added some finings with the view to bottling it mid-week. This is one I can'r wait to sample but that's what I'll have to do! The lid on the fermenting bin has now gone back in shape thanks to a bit of hot water so that's a relief too! Will report back when I've sampled the brew.
If like me you like the premium type beers, then I definitely recommend using three cans because it's so cheap. After all, where else can you get a premium beer at 5.7% abv for around 60p per pint?
Brewing Note - expect a very vigorous start to fermentation, especially if you're using a heat tray!