Sticking Munton's (Woodfordes) Kits - Information and offer

[Normski]

Hi Paul/All
I've done two Wherry's in the last 2 weeks and both have dropped to 1013. Both were from Wilkinson’s and both had Best before dates of 31 May 11.
I have another that I'll be doing soon and I’m starting to feel confident that it too will not stick. Maybe the sticking of Wherry’s has passed. But I'll still be checking the Best before dates in future tho.

[Stevesmit]

Started brewing my first ever brew last Saturaday, a Woodfordes Wherry kit. SG was 1.042. Measured again last night (6 days) and FG is 1.012 so all went well. After veiwing various posts on this forum I replaced the yeast that came with the kit with S-04, and I also pitched in some Youngs yeast nutrient on day 3 (only day 3 because I did'nt get hold of it until then). Most of the fermentation activity seemed to take place in the first 48 hours, as after this point there was no head and little bubbling. This may have been due to the tempreture the FV has been stored at, which is high at 25 to 30 Degrees C in the daytime.

[Normski]

Hi steve
Sounds like you've done a good job with your first brew. Nice one. an cheers

[Old Soak]

I recently did my first Wherry having purchased the kit from Wilkos.

When I opened the box there were 2 sachets of yeast, knowing no different I hydrated both sachets and pitched into the wort.

It was only after that I found that there should have been only 1 sachet

Primary fermentation was over in 2-3 days with a final gravity of 1012.

It tasted great even at this stage!

This is now in a keg in my garage conditioning - Damn this hot weather!

[Stevesmit]

Normski, thanks, its certainly gone well so far. I think reading this forum first has helped a lot as I've been able to benefit from the advice and avoid the firstimer errors, so far anyway!

Old Soak,
I tasted mine at the same stage and whilst the flavour was good, the beer tasted very watery/bodyless to me, but hopefully this is just becasue it hasn't conditioned yet. I intend to give a full 4 weeks conditioning before I crack open the first bottle.

[Normski]

Normski, thanks, its certainly gone well so far. I think reading this forum first has helped a lot as I've been able to benefit from the advice and avoid the firstimer errors, so far anyway!

Old Soak,
I tasted mine at the same stage and whilst the flavour was good, the beer tasted very watery/bodyless to me, but hopefully this is just becasue it hasn't conditioned yet. I intend to give a full 4 weeks conditioning before I crack open the first bottle.

Your gonna wait four weeks before tasting the 1st bottle of your 1st brew!. Yeah right. i'll give yer 7 days an you have to have a taste. Bet you do. It'll be good too.

[Stevesmit]

Well I'm setting out with the best of intentions, but I think your probably right. I'm going to bottle it this weekend, and then the waiting / temptation begins!

[Brupert]

'Bout time you had a try now Smitty. Go on get the tap open............................................

[delboy]

Seems lately a lot of people are getting to the specified final gravity, i wonder have muntons finally managed to sort the problem out???

[Stevesmit]

Brupert,
Nearly cracked open a bottle in a moment of weakness last night. Not helping that I've ran out of bought beer. I think I'm going to have to buy some on the way home after work otherwise I might not resist tonight, Friday de-mob happy an' all that!

[Brupert]

I'm into mine at 10 days in the keg. It tastes pretty good too, what a wimp I am!

[Stevesmit]

Buckled on Friday night, and had a couple, plus another one on Saturday night. Tasted great, lovely flavour and aftertaste. I was impressed with the amount of gas in it too, plenty enough to give a decent head when poured correctly from the bottle. Very impressed with my first homebrew, definitely as good as, and even better than most bought stuff I've had.

I'd like to take it too the next level now and brew an all grain, just got to decide what equipment to get/how much I'm willing to spend. Tempted by the Hop & Grain 10L brewery, but not sure the Wife will be!?

[Normski]

Hi Smiffy
I remember you sayin' - I intend to give a full 4 weeks conditioning before I crack open the first bottle.
I knew you'd never last the 4 weeks. Im glad it turned out as good as i'd hopedand only after a week. Cheers

[sonicated]

I put on a Muntons Santa's Winter Warmer on the 13th of October, OG 1056. By the 19th it was down to 1024 and it stayed this way until the 25th, I then racked into another FV and pitched some Safale S-04. On the 1st of November the SG was 1022 and this stayed the same until the 4th.

I didn't want to bottle as I didn't want any explosions. I borrowed a mates King Keg and kegged on the 4th of November adding 80grams of sugar, taking the SG to 1024. I took a reading last night and it was 1020.

It is clear but tastes sweet and undrinkable. All the time the beer has been in a temperature controlled room at 21C.

Looking at reviews of this kit this is very common.

[Phil M]

Good Morning,

I too am new to homebrew, and on the advice of a friend, and because it was £14.99 at wilco, tried the Wherry. It's OG was about 50, and it's now very much stuck at 24ish, after 8 days. The OG seemed high to me, but I checked the gauge in warmish water and it was spot on 00. I may have mis calculated the amount of water to add, as the FV didn't have any markings, but I got somone to check the graduation calcs, and he came up with the same answer, so I'm pretty sure its accurate.

In an attempt to kick it off again, I gave it a gentle stir, and threw in some yeast nutrients, but there don't appear to be any more bubbles, so I don't think it's working. It's been at a pretty constant 18 degrees, and went nuts after about 24 hours, but the foam has cleared and I'm left with a murky brown and quite malty tasting liquid. I guess I have a few options:-

Complain to the manufacturer - will probably do this anyway!

Bin it. Definately a last resort!!!!!

Bottle it anyway and hope it doesn't go pop. I have quite a few plastic bottles I can put it in, to make it a bit safer.

Leave it for a few more days, somwhere a little warmer - will it go off if left in the fv for too long?

Add more yeast - Unfortunatly I only have bread or wine yeast available, as the local supplier doesn't sell ale yeast. I could order some, but it would take a few days to get here, as Cumbria is a bit soggy at the moment, and kind of isolated.

Any advice on how to save this would be greatly appreciated. As a first brew, it's a bit demorralisong to have it stick. Will try a Coopers next time I think!

Cheers,

Phil