Festival Beer Kits - New

[Katrinnas]

Got mine yesterday, nice and speedy.

[Stomach]

I think I will put Landlord and golden Stag on the list for next brews!

[twentyfootwilf]

Got my Father Hook's Festival, yesterday. I'll get it in the Fv soon as I get my current brew bottled. Hopefully we should have some reviews to read when we all get brewed and bottled/kegged

[Monkeybrew]

Got my Father Hook's Festival, yesterday. I'll get it in the Fv soon as I get my current brew bottled. Hopefully we should have some reviews to read when we all get brewed and bottled/kegged

Reviews and pictures please

[wxmexile]

My summer ale arrived a few days ago, very impressed with the packaging and contents of the kit - Hop pellets, priming sugar, a little hop tea bag type thing and very comprehensive instructions on a sheet with sections to record the brew details.

I am a bit concerned however, reason being, i always bottle direct from my FV via a tap and little bottler, this kit though requires that you add the hop pellets to the FV, then rack off the beer to a seperate bottling bucket using the little bag supplied to filter off any remants of the hops. I don't have a seperate bottling bucket - is it going to be possible to just bottle in my usual way? or will the tap just clog up? (i never mess round with hops and things usually, i'm quite happy with my results without), if i secured the bag around the tap on the inside of my fv before adding anything to it would this save it clogging when i come to bottle?

hope that makes sense! any help appreciated!

[sbond10]

I'd say that could work never used hops my self etheir and only have one bucket too so I'd be interested in how this solution works

[Manx Guy]

Yes it probably would work but with the usual caveat of sanitise it to within an inch of its life!


I do something similar when dry hopping for the last few days in primary so see no reason why it wouldn't work. Although I cant say for certain not having seen the kits...

Good luck & happy brewing!

Guy

[twentyfootwilf]

I intend doing my father hooks just as I do any other kit viz just the one fermenting vessel (I can't think it will be detrimental to the result). I will boil the hop bag for a couple of mins to sanitise it, then fill it with the hops and put it in the FV. I will more than likely do this when I pitch the yeast. According to PB2 on the Coopers forum (he's one of the brewers at Coopers) a 23l batch of ale is sufficiently small to have little or no ill effect on dry hopping even when done before the initial somewhat vigorous ferment. However I'm not saying this will suit everyone each person has their own ideas about when to dry hop. I am currently dry hopping a honey beer made using a Coopers original series draught as the base and I did this at the time of pitching the yeast and initial tests are promising.

[Wonky]

Any progress with these kits yet folks? Did they ferment out OK? Initial reports would be welcome as I need a kit soonish and quite fancy one of these.

[MartinC]

[quote="wxmexile"]...I am a bit concerned however, reason being, i always bottle direct from my FV via a tap and little bottler, this kit though requires that you add the hop pellets to the FV, then rack off the beer [/quote]

Try this... Sterilise a bit of old net curtain and some string (or fishing line), then wrap the pellets loosely in it , tie it up to make a loose bag, with the string clipped under the fermenting bin lid. When fermentation has finished you can the just lift the bag out prior to bottling.

Cheers,

Martin

[twentyfootwilf]

I got my Festival Father Hooks Bitter in the FV 4 days ago. I put the hop pellets in the bag that comes with the kit which is intended as a strainer to go over the end of the syphon or bottling stick. The hop pellets fit in very nicely and the draw string makes for a good tight seal. I should be able to re use the bag after washing out the spent hops. I put the hops in th FV at the time of yeast pitching, the instructions say to add them after 5 days, but I don't think it is going to make much difference. I made the volume up to 22l instead of 23 and got an original gravity of 1044. Good amount of yeast with these kits.. 10g!
Also there is a sachet of priming sugar which is said to be the correct amount for kegging the beer, but again this is a very generous 100g which personally I would only be using half that amount if I was planning on kegging it (I will be bottling mine with 1/2 level teaspoon per 500ml bottle) I previously kegged a wherry with 80g and it was more than enough and required a very gentle pour from the keg to avoid a glass full of froth.
I will update the final result when all is finished, but as usual I had a mouthful this morning from the FV and the taste is very promising.

[Austinckb]

Hi all

New here but been folloing for a while. Got a Festival Suffolk in the FV should be ready for bottling Tuesday and a Pilgrims Hope wingin it's way to me in the post. The Suffolk seems good so far going down to (approx) 1.012 fro about 1.06 so could be lethal.
Nothing dramatic in the fermantation process but so impressed with the kit itself and all you get in it for your money, maymake the other manufacturers think again about what they provide in their kits.
Intersested to hear how others are doing with theirs.

[wxmexile]

Update on mine (and thanks to all the replys to my question re the dry hopping) , in the end i bought a hop bag from hop and grape and popped them in there and in the brew after 5 days in FV (after santising the bag by boiling it), plan to remove the bag on day 10 and take my first reading, will probably leave it 14 days in the FV and bottle as long as the readings are stable.

[wxmexile]

Day 10 today for my golden stag, removed hop bag and sample taken - down to 1.010 and the smell from the sample is amazing, very citrusy and complex. This is going to be a fantastic pint.

[twentyfootwilf]

Day 10 today for my golden stag, removed hop bag and sample taken - down to 1.010 and the smell from the sample is amazing, very citrusy and complex. This is going to be a fantastic pint.

Did you not taste it