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

[Andy]

SP - I always assumed you were mashing! Shows how much attention I pay

[sparky Paul]

SP - I always assumed you were mashing! Shows how much attention I pay

Not yet, but I'm starting to join in the AG section a bit now.

I think all the kits in the signature give me away a bit...

[Andy]

SP - I always assumed you were mashing! Shows how much attention I pay

Not yet, but I'm starting to join in the AG section a bit now.

I think all the kits in the signature give me away a bit...

Ah, I have signature's turned off!

[vacant]

Muntons 3.6kg kits state an OG of 1050 and an ABV of 5%

However, 3.6kg of lme should give an OG of 1047

Both 3.6Kg kits I've done had OG 1052 (Midas Touch) and 1051 (Smugglers) corrected for 20C. Maybe they're a bit more concentrated than usual?

On the other hand, I made up the Smugglers last Sunday and the yeast totally failed to rehydrate (100ml boiled water, jug covered with tin foil and cooled in a bowl of ice/water to 30C, removed from ice and yeast added). Yeast sachet: X, VKB 6G YEAST so not part of the "SYB bad batch" mentioned in one of your other posts.

Luckily I rescued with safale04. I've done dozens of kits and baked bread for years and never had a packet yeast fail. If I hadn't had brewers' yeast in stock I'd have ended up using bread yeast in a very expensive kit.

I sent an email to Muntons on Sunday with a pic of the yeast after 90 minutes settled at the bottom of the jug, with the water now virtually clear and no frothing. As yet, no acknowledgment four days later. Not good.

[Belmont Boozer]

Hello all,

This is my first post. After starting with a cheap kit (Best forgotten) I and am currently brewing the Woodfordes admirals reserve. I'm told its worth spending the extra few quid!

Set it off last Saturday and used the hydrometer to check OG = 1040

Followed all instuctions and made sure the wort was well aerated before pitching the yeast at 21c. (did not rehydrate the yeast but the instuctions didn't say you had to)

Fermented for about 3 days (airlock was bubbling away) temp was always between 20-21c. It seemed to stop yesterday as there were no more bubbles so I took a sample off to check FG. It was 1013.

I've been reading all the stuff about the Final gravity on muntons kits finishing too high and sticking so I'm guessing that's it

So that means the ABV is 1040-1013 x 1.31 = 3.5%. A big reason I bought the kit is cos it was advertised as a strong Norfolk ale with great charachter. ie 4.5%.

OK its weaker than they said and if I hadn't read all the stuff about the problems others have had with these kits I would have said its just me doing something wrong- But it says 4.5% and it aint.

Chris is doing a great job going after them on this. I will post again when I bottle it in about a week to say if the FG has dropped any. (I doubt it somehow). Having said that if it tastes good things will look a lot brighter. ---

But having said that the Orig gravity is 1040 and the box says fermentation is over when "The gravity remains constant below 1020" 1020!! Who are they kidding. Its an admission the brew will never reach 4.5%. Are they breaking trade descriptions ??

Anyone else noticed this one.

[KevP]

I'll do just that Chris, I'm a little peeved that after stumbling a little blindly and naively into brewing beer with a Micro Brewery kit that, although my brew tastes really good, it is a little weak for my tastes. I also am a little miffed that when learning some more, and buying more kit, that my second brew (Admirals Reserve) also seems stuck (although saying that I roused it yesterday and its dropped nearly 4 points in 24 hours)

I also will vote with my wallet and Muntons kits will not be getting my cash for the foreseeable, I fancy giving in to Ditch's pressure and trying a Coopers Stout!

More power to your elbow though Chris and the others who are making a stand here.

[Ditch]

Kev; Go for it, mate! Try a Coopers Stout and see what You think of it Read every Post ever made on here about the stuff. By Any one. I swear ye won't find Any definite answer to what those tastes are. It's what I'd call a " Summer " flavour ..... 'Summa this. Summa that .....' I'd love to be a (Beer) Fly on the wall at a Seminar on this one. Let a bunch of people sit, sipping it and discussing it. Though, maybe they'd need a weekly seminar, as it matured and changed under ambient temperatures?


Chris; Write an e mail?! I'll be meeting my supplier, face to face, today. I'm bound to mention 'Jims' and so that'll spark off thoughts of Muntons. Then, by god, he'll get My opinion! No way will it be repeatable here. But I'll report ye the gist of what we say

[a wookie ate my baby]

Keeping the thread going...

Wherry from Wilkos. 2 weeks in the fermenter (a week longer than suggested) - stuck at ~1018.

For the 73 people that have made the effort to vote on this discussion (<date>), it suprises me Muntons don't realise you can multiply that figure by >50 and you'll get a more accurate reflection of the people that have read this thread and won't buy their products as a result. Tis like viewing something on YouTube, finding 2 comments, and concluding that only 2 other people have viewed it.

Wookie

[boingy]

As Chris says the key to this is to complain like hell. Ask the retailer for a refund because the product is faulty. Write to Muntons - a letter is much more powerful than an email. Finally, contact your local trading standards.

If Muntons are reading this, and I think they are, then they should be able to see that gaining a bad reputation on such a high profile forum such as this could cause long lasting damage to their brand.

[Andy]

Hopefully they can work with us to sort out any issues.

[fizzypop boy]

Hello to one and all been a long time since iv'e been on.I recently brewed a Woodfordes Wherry obtained from wilko's..og was 1045 fg was 1014 and the kit was 3 months out of date .It was one i bought but never got the chance to brew it until recently.The only thing i did differently was ask Woodfordes to send me some yeast as the kit sachet was missing.

[oxford brewer]

Hopefully they can work with us to sort out any issues.

I do hope so.They cant keep denying that there is a problem and its only going to cost them future sales if they do.
But arn't Muntons the only supplier of 3kg and 3.6kg canned kits in the country(or at least they do all the production and canning of the kits in the UK)IIRC.
So other 3kg and 3.6kg kits must be at risk off stuck fermentations also??

Here's hoping that Muntons get it sorted PDQ!

[Andy]

Do the Brupaks 3kg kits use Muntons extract also ? If so then wouldn't they suffer the same issues ?

[delboy]

Do the Brupaks 3kg kits use Muntons extract also ? If so then wouldn't they suffer the same issues ?

Maybe they ask for a lower mash temp or something along those lines.

[Pav]

Well for me this thread has convienced me to look at other kits. Today I bought a Brupak 2 tin kit. Great reviews and not the worry of a designated thread.

Can't common on gravity reached etc with my previous Wherry kit but if the forum experts are having issues thats enough for me. I hope the Brupak turns out as good as I'm promised!

So if customer relations isn't taking your comments seriously you may point out that they lost my custom today and I to be honest had no reason to look at other kits until reading this. Customer care and relations is everything in my opinion.

Interestingly the brewshop manager told me that they are selling fewer kits. Most have gone to Brupak and one of the other newer ones (can't remember the name now). So sales will tell!