Christmas.

Discuss making up beer kits - the simplest way to brew.
User avatar
wanus
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 715
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:00 pm
Location: 70 mile from my favourite pub

Christmas.

Post by wanus » Mon Mar 13, 2017 5:51 pm

Having done numerous brewferm kits over the last so many year mainly Abbeys,Diabolos and triples i was in my local HBS today and thought i would try this for xmas.Has anyone done this christmas kit before and what help and pointers could you give me before i set it away.Thanx in advance.
Attachments
IMG_1466.JPG
Last edited by wanus on Wed Jul 19, 2017 4:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
FV 1:Empty
FV 2:Empty
Demi 1&2:Empty
Demi 3&4:Empty
Maturing: Bastard builders brew
Bottle conditioning: Bastard builders brew
Drinking:McEwan's
Planning:More 🍺

Keep yer pecker hard and yer powder dry.

richard080561
Piss Artist
Posts: 199
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:02 am

Re: Christmas.

Post by richard080561 » Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:12 pm

I made this kit up in November ready for next Christmas. I just followed the kit instructions so nothing to add
Richard M
Cardiff

User avatar
wanus
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 715
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:00 pm
Location: 70 mile from my favourite pub

Re: Christmas.

Post by wanus » Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:37 pm

So howd yours ferment?OK i hope.I realy like these kits and am gonna do this one and double up on an abbey kit(s) for xmas 2017.
FV 1:Empty
FV 2:Empty
Demi 1&2:Empty
Demi 3&4:Empty
Maturing: Bastard builders brew
Bottle conditioning: Bastard builders brew
Drinking:McEwan's
Planning:More 🍺

Keep yer pecker hard and yer powder dry.

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Christmas.

Post by Monkeybrew » Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:58 pm

They used to have unusual fermentation instructions, IIRC you had to bottle at 1.020 with no priming sugar.

Not sure if they still say the same?

Bloody good beer though!

Cheers

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

richard080561
Piss Artist
Posts: 199
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:02 am

Re: Christmas.

Post by richard080561 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:02 pm

Monkeybrew wrote:They used to have unusual fermentation instructions, IIRC you had to bottle at 1.020 with no priming sugar.

Not sure if they still say the same?

Bloody good beer though!

Cheers

MB
As far as I remember the instructions were pretty much as any other kit and included priming before bottling.
Richard M
Cardiff

User avatar
Monkeybrew
Telling everyone Your My Best Mate
Posts: 4104
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:53 pm
Location: Essex

Re: Christmas.

Post by Monkeybrew » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:09 pm

richard080561 wrote:
Monkeybrew wrote:They used to have unusual fermentation instructions, IIRC you had to bottle at 1.020 with no priming sugar.

Not sure if they still say the same?

Bloody good beer though!

Cheers

MB
As far as I remember the instructions were pretty much as any other kit and included priming before bottling.
I brewed mine a few years back, so it may have changed.

I certainly remember it being a real faff.

MB
FV:


Conditioning:
AG#41 - Vienna Lager - 5.6%
AG#42 - Heritage Double Ale - 10.5%

On Tap:
AG#44 - Harvest ESB - 5.4%
AG#45 - Amarillo Gold APA - 5.2%

User avatar
wanus
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 715
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:00 pm
Location: 70 mile from my favourite pub

Re: Christmas.

Post by wanus » Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:46 pm

I set it away this morning SG 1.065.Your right MB you prime at 1.020 but my instructions say to use sugar.This will be my xmas tipple 2017 all being well but am gonna do a batch of abbey for the new year :D
FV 1:Empty
FV 2:Empty
Demi 1&2:Empty
Demi 3&4:Empty
Maturing: Bastard builders brew
Bottle conditioning: Bastard builders brew
Drinking:McEwan's
Planning:More 🍺

Keep yer pecker hard and yer powder dry.

Leeds_Lad_Michael

Re: Christmas.

Post by Leeds_Lad_Michael » Mon Apr 10, 2017 2:16 pm

Leaving it until Christmas will be about right, I brewed some in May for Xmas last year, but it was much better last month when I finished the other bottles off.

Shame it makes such a small amount though, I think I only got 18 bottles.18 bottles at xmas I wasn't too bothered about as I was disapointed in it, but when i finished the last 5 or 6 off in March it had really improved. Far end of the garage / shed for it all year. Don't be tempted to sample the odd bottle, it will disapoint.

User avatar
wanus
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 715
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:00 pm
Location: 70 mile from my favourite pub

Re: Christmas.

Post by wanus » Wed Apr 12, 2017 2:22 pm

My plan is to drink them at xmas but i won`t be tempted to try em before then.(only beer pigs such as WA would do such a thing).I started this kit at 1.065 and bottled on exactly 1.020.

The thing is i only got 12 500ml bottles.Did you brew over leeds lad michael? :-k I`m now gonna move em into my shed and try and forget about them.

These brewferm kits do get better n better with time as i know from experience especialy with my abbey kits :wink:
FV 1:Empty
FV 2:Empty
Demi 1&2:Empty
Demi 3&4:Empty
Maturing: Bastard builders brew
Bottle conditioning: Bastard builders brew
Drinking:McEwan's
Planning:More 🍺

Keep yer pecker hard and yer powder dry.

WalesAles
Falling off the Barstool
Posts: 3899
Joined: Thu Jan 24, 2013 11:07 pm
Location: South Wales UK.

Re: Christmas.

Post by WalesAles » Fri Apr 14, 2017 1:36 am

wanus wrote:My plan is to drink them at xmas but i won`t be tempted to try em before then.(only beer pigs such as WA would do such a thing).
Wainie,
Oink, Oink! :D

WA

Beer Pig or Be a Pig, I can`t remember what MrsAles called me. #-o
All sounds the same to me.

User avatar
wanus
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 715
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:00 pm
Location: 70 mile from my favourite pub

Re: Christmas.

Post by wanus » Fri Apr 14, 2017 4:00 pm

All being well come christmas i`ll be like a pig in s**t and swilling in it :D
FV 1:Empty
FV 2:Empty
Demi 1&2:Empty
Demi 3&4:Empty
Maturing: Bastard builders brew
Bottle conditioning: Bastard builders brew
Drinking:McEwan's
Planning:More 🍺

Keep yer pecker hard and yer powder dry.

Leeds_Lad_Michael

Re: Christmas.

Post by Leeds_Lad_Michael » Mon May 22, 2017 11:00 am

I bottled into 330ml Duvel bottles, ('ve hundreds of them, coujldn't even give them away on here a few years ago). Getting 12x 500ml bottles sounds about right.

One thing I will make sure of next time I do the xmas brew is to bulk prime in the fermenting bin, got a couple of fizz bombs that aren't too welcome when you don't have many of them.

I'm really tempted to upscale my brewing and buy a brewery sized beast here :

https://www.brouwland.com/en/our-produc ... hout-yeast

I've 6 fermenting bins so I could almost brew it all at once, I'd have to keep one back so i had one for secondary but I could transfer into a container and hold it in the fridge without any issue for a couple of weeks. Thinking if I start it before I go on holiday next month by the time I return it will be pretty much finished off. Could be a few nights bottling off but I'd have plenty of beer for a while.

User avatar
wanus
Lost in an Alcoholic Haze
Posts: 715
Joined: Wed Aug 21, 2013 8:00 pm
Location: 70 mile from my favourite pub

Re: Christmas.

Post by wanus » Sat May 27, 2017 6:56 pm

I find iff you have a batch of fizz bombs the best thing to do,and i`m sure i have read on many bottles is,after opening pour swiftly into a pint glass :!:

It does work and means theres no wiping up or mess iff you just let it stand before pouring #-o
FV 1:Empty
FV 2:Empty
Demi 1&2:Empty
Demi 3&4:Empty
Maturing: Bastard builders brew
Bottle conditioning: Bastard builders brew
Drinking:McEwan's
Planning:More 🍺

Keep yer pecker hard and yer powder dry.

Manngold
Drunk as a Skunk
Posts: 769
Joined: Wed Mar 26, 2014 6:45 pm
Location: Bromley

Re: Christmas.

Post by Manngold » Sat May 27, 2017 10:28 pm

Wow, that is a great price for a 25kg lot of Brewferm kit. Considering most kits retail between £15 - £20.

widdersbel
Piss Artist
Posts: 177
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 2:36 pm

Re: Christmas.

Post by widdersbel » Wed Dec 06, 2017 6:31 pm

Back in September, I bought one of these Brewferm Christmas kits, thinking if I made it straight away, it might be just about drinkable by Christmas.

I made it up as per the instructions and set it going but after a brief initial flurry of activity, it seemed to stop bubbling very quickly and there was no yeasty froth. Best guess is that it was just too cold in the garage - I'd set the FV in a trug of water with a fish tank heater but maybe it wasn't powerful enough. Oh well, never mind, not the end of the world. But as I've been so busy lately, I didn't have time to do anything with it so I just left it...

Finally got round to dealing with it today - planning to use the FV for another brew - but before I poured it down the sink, I thought I'd just have a cheeky taste... Mmmmmm! Very interesting! And definitely a bit boozy, so maybe it has been sitting there fermenting quietly all this time? So I took a sample to test the SG and it came out at 1.020!

So, I'm going to bottle it at the weekend. It looks a bit murky at the moment but otherwise appears to have turned out all right. Very pleasantly surprised. Looking forward to drinking it, eventually - wonder if I can hold off until Christmas 2018?

Post Reply