First brewday - Geordie Scottish Export kit (with pics)

[Iank]

Those pics are really clear - you must have a good camera or be good at taking pictures!
Looks like it's going well

[CyberPaddy66]

If it fails to drop below 1010 give it a gentle rousing, I've done that very kit with the enhancer and it will definitely benefit from the 4 weeks maturing in a barrel

[5thelement]

Iank - Thanks for the reply. The camera is a Nikon D40.

CyberPaddy66 - can i ask you a quick question, what colour was the finished beer if you remember? after reading this thread

http://jimsbeerkit.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=9532

i was slightly concerned about the colour! although the description on the can does say a "deep golden colour" which i suppose does match the current colour. If it turns out to be a lager i'll definitely be getting in touch with Muntons to complain! (im sure it's Muntons who make these kits now) in the meantime i've sent them an email with the numbers on the base of the can to see if they can confirm it eitherway.

Cheers

[CyberPaddy66]

It indeed was a light colour lighter than expected but not like lager, I will say it tasted quite flowery though, have a little sip next time you check the gravity, if it's a green hop taste you're doing fine, if it's like water then you got lager

[5thelement]

Thanks for the reply Paddy.

I hope im not the only one to do this but when i removed the hydrometer earlier i licked off the drips of beer and it tasted quite nice, definately not watery as far as i remember, although i'd really need to have atleast half a mouthful to tell! i'll get a little in the trial jar next time and find out.

I'll see what Muntons say about it aswell if they get back to me.

[CyberPaddy66]

I personally use a sterilised sampling jar to do my hydrometer checking, would be too much of a risk pouring all that sample liquid back into the fermenter

[DEV]

Hi
have done this one as per instructions using sugar, light in colour and tastes alot different to bitter in the early stages, but left to condition for 4 weeks in the barrel and it was at its best. clear with a good head right through the 40 pints. You will get more body using enhancer so it should be nicer than what I brewed. My readings were:
start sg - 1032
drop - 27
alc%vol - 3.62
Geordie kits are great for experimenting with because at £4.99 from Wilkos and Morrisons you've got nothing to loose really.
It will turn out great, and you will be addicted to brewing
good luck

[5thelement]

Thanks Dev, much appreciated, sounds encouraging!

I've yet to see Morrisons selling homebrew kits, is it beside the beer etc or somewhere else? i'll be visiting Wilkos again tomorrow to pickup a Geordie Mild maybe hmm decisions lol theres a Morrisons there aswell so i'll take a look.

[DEV]

Hi 5th
Morrisons near me only sell a few beer kits geordie, john bull, brewferm
and wine kits, and brew cleanse, but no other brewing bits and pieces.
But very handy when doing weekly shop, if you know what i mean.
Morrisons tend to move things around from time to time just to confuse everyone, you know, just when you've memorised everything in the store and know exactly to get in and out in under an hour. Then Baang
Ours started off by Motoring accessories, I suppose a man thing, now its by the juices, pop, and beer.

[Gruesome]

Hi 5th, I started a Caxton real ale kit off at a similar time to you so it's at around the same state I guess. I haven't done any brewing for over 20 years so I'm a novice really. I use a fish tank heater to keep the wort up to temperature so it's cheaper and I have a thermometer constantly dangling in the mix. The bin is on insulation and I'd love to post a pic but I can't quite work out how to do that yet! All the best and I'll keep you posted. Andy

[Gruesome]

Yertiz, I worked it out (finally)

[5thelement]

Looking good Gruesome! you'll have to let me know what the Tom Caxton real ale is like, thats one kit im looking at getting next (although i bought a Geordie Mild today aswell lol)

Time for another update aswell

Just tested the SG and it's dropped a little to around 1.008/1.009 which im fairly happy with.



Im not too worried about it being a lager anymore, it's definately not a light yellow and it does match the "deep golden colour" description.

I also had a sneaky little taste and im pleased to report it tastes really nice, quite full bodied with a lingering taste. So far so good!

[StrangeBrew]

Hi 5th, although your brew looks fine, in the other thread the brew looks to have more of a redish colour, I'm wondering if they have changed the recipe for this brew recently.

I've got a Scottish Export to do soon after a Great Eastern and I'm going to use light dme/brewing sugar in something like a 700/300gram ratio with a Brupaks Ale Flavapak and make the brew up to about 20lt instead of 23lt.

If I remember, I'll post back and let you know the colour and how it turns out.

[5thelement]

Everyone else i've asked about this said the colour was quite light, i've not had anyone say it's red other than in that thread with the picture you linked to. The description on the can also says "a deep golden colour" so i dunno, will be interesting to hear how yours turns out too.

[Gruesome]

Well, I took a SG reading today knowing full well that it would be high cos the wort is still fizzing. It was in the red which was good enough for me, no need to be any more accurate that that! I of course decided to sample the small amount I removed to test, cloudy as it was and it tasted good, very hoppy and naturally, yeasty at this stage. It has the makings of a good brew and should hopefully be ready to transfer to the barrel by the weekend. The old fish tank heater isn't doing it's job so I wound the 'stat up a tad...trouble is, I have insulated the fermenting bin so the external heat isn't reaching the contents. All trial and error. I suppose it has just slowed things down a little.