Another Brewer Muntoned

[Tirpitz]

It's not just that it looks cloudy, it tastes cloudy. The sort of pint that you'd take back to the bar in a pub. So it will need to clear up to be drinkable.

I've got it conditioning in a cool pantry. Sticking it in the fridge might help but I really don't have room. I think I'll just leave it for a couple of months and see how it turns out, I've others on the go so it's not like I need to be drinking it.

This is my first go at two tin kits and I'm not that convinced that the extra expense is worth it. I reckon I could obtain far better results, cheaper, from a one tin kit and using better ingredients (dark spraymalt instead of glucose, maybe replacing the supplied yeast too). I think I'm going to go down this road in future.

[hard water]

I'm not that convinced that the extra expense is worth it. I reckon I could obtain far better results, cheaper, from a one tin kit and using better ingredients (dark spraymalt instead of glucose, maybe replacing the supplied yeast too). I think I'm going to go down this road in future.

that's also me, exactly

[EliteEvil]

The two can kits do seem to take a long time to clear, 18 days in it will probably still be cloudy (from my experience) although I seem to remember drinking Conkerwood Black tasting good a few days after it went in the barrel.

[danbrew]

It's not just muntons either. I had a brupacks black moor stout (also a two can) stick at 1.020 and 3 months later it is still stuck, suggesting the yeast has just totally given up on me. It cleared up well but two pints of this gives me a massive hangover. I've started giving the beer away because I can't take the headaches that day after...

[dunc]

generally I wouldn't touch a two can until its been conditioning six weeks, some take as long as eight weeks to become properly drinkable. I would expect your Conkerwood will be a good pint in another three weeks or so.

having said which, regarding the one cans I have had consistently great results with the Coopers kits and spraymalt/BKE, and they're good to tweak with extra hops etc. The Coopers dark ale might be up your street.

[Tirpitz]

Ok, it's been about 6 weeks now since the Old Conkerwood went in the barrel and was still as dirty as ditchwater, no sign of it clearing at all. Deciding to waste no further time and effort on this Munton's rubbish I emptied it down the drain. Taking the lid off the barrel during the process I could see a cake of yeast floating around on the surface and when the barrel had emptied there was a large cake of wort sludge in the bottom of the barrel. This is definitely not a result of poor racking into the barrel, I've done it loads of times without issue. The yeast was clearly still in suspersion when it was done. And it was clearly still in suspension all the time it was in the barrel, hence the cloudy beer.

Absolute load of rubbish and a complete and utter waste of effort and money. This is the first and last Muntons kit it will be buying. Having said that, the Milestones Olde Home Wrecker (a Muntons in disguise) barrelled about 5 weeks ago has cleared beautifully and already tastes excellent, although I will be leaving it to condition for longer yet.

I may do more two can kits, I'm not sure yet, but I'll definitely avoid all Muntons like the plague. Have just ordered Coopers Stout and Coopers Dark Ale one can kits to make with 50% glucose, 50% dark spraymalt. Also a Tom Caxton Dark Real Ale (which I've done succesfully before) to do with 50% spraymalt too.

My verdict - Muntons two can kits are shit. Save your money.

[Goat]

i have to say ive brewed two munton kits so far, one a two can, and neither have stuck and both have been very good. guess im lucky?

[Stomach]

I have done several Muntons/Woodfordes now and have no fermenting issues. It certainly takes time, at least 2 - 3 weeks sometimes to get below 1015.

I have a Great Eastern conditioning now and that took 4 weeks to get to an acceptable FG. However, its clearing pretty quickly in the keg as it dropped most of the sludge in the FV cos it was there for so long.

And I agree, they can take an age to clear in the barrel. My longest was a Wherry which took 10 weeks to clear, but well worth it. I am going to bottle my next Wherry and see how long that takes to clear. Its supposed to be much quicker.

It seems folk either do well with these kits or they go very wrong!!

Cost wise, a one can kit can cost as much as a 2 can kit when you add 1KG of spraymalt or other similar fermentables!