Munton's PG Smugglers - Any suggestions for improvement?

[BarryNL]

Hi All,

I'm planning on making a batch from the Muntons Premium Gold Smugglers Ale kit. Does anyone have any tips for improving this kit - addition of any ingredients, different yeasts to use, etc.

[BIGTRACTOR]

all i can say is DONT USE THE YEAST SUPPLIED WITH IT !!!!!
i've just made that mistake and its stuck , use safale04 istead

[Russ]

Make sure It's well aerated before pitching the yeast. A plasters paddle/ Paint stirrrer on the end of a cordless drill does a good job, in around 5 mins! Got mine from Screwfix £5.99 (Paddle mixer 13047-85).

Good luck

Russ

[BarryNL]

all i can say is DONT USE THE YEAST SUPPLIED WITH IT !!!!!
i've just made that mistake and its stuck , use safale04 istead

Well, I'm planning on doing a batch of my own recipe before the Smuggler's which will use Wyeast 1098 British Ale yeast. I assume I can recover and repitch some of this from the sludge.

Anyone got any opinions of whether 1098 is a good yeast for the Smuggler's kit?

[EasyBrew]

If you're using a Wyeast it already comes with nutrient in the sachet. For best results I'd make a starter and use half.

One thing to note with Wyeast - and it doesn't say this on the pack - it can take 4 days for it to be ready to use.l

[BarryNL]

I actually spent the extra couple of Euros to get the XL size pack of yeast instead of the normal pack which means I get about 3.5x the usual amount of yeast. With that quantity I figure I probably don't need a starter?

Might try extracting half of it anyway to save for the Munton's kit...