Wherry different

[jaytee1]

Hi

The missus came back today after shopping with a Woodfordes Wherry kit. Top effort.
So I got straight on the case and made it up.

I made a starter with 4 tbsp of Spray malt and added to that some yeast boiled up (as yeast nutrient) and some rehdyrated SB 12.

Now i decided that I was going to try something a little different with the Kit and diluted the wort with 6 litres of boiling water and brought it back to the boil in a 10l aluminium pot.

I wanted to experiment a little so then added 30g of Kent Goldings 5.5% for 30 mins while boiling and then 10g to steep. Im hoping that because the extract was already hopped that this should add a little more bitterness with some hop aroma without damaging the balance of the beer too much.

Any thoughts?

[jaytee1]

The wort was chilled very quickly, about 15 mins in a sink full of water and iced bottles, i have pictures but no idea about how to upload them to the site!!

[fivetide]

Excellent, hope it goes well and you keep us updated on progress

I couldn't resist another 1/4 pint tester of Wherry lunchtime today, just to see how it's going. Tasted great, still not clear though. I'm hoping it'll be shaping up in another week or so.

[jaytee1]

ive just moved the kk of fixby gold to the cellar to make room for the fermenter of wherry and i couldnt resist trying some.
it was dry hopped with 20g of Kent goldings and it is tasting quite light and dry with a good hop taste.....going to be hard to keep away from

[Chris The Fish]

i reckon your on to a winner, im just drinking my wherry after about 2 weeks and i wish id have hopped it. The hop tones i are minimal, i read somewhere that hop flavours are mostly lost in kits so i was thinking along the same lines if i do another bitter. For the record... its as clear as mud but i think thats more down to the repitch after a stuck fermentation.
I think its still a little early to be drinking it, but you show me a patient homebrewer and ill show you a quiet american!

(no offence to the colonies )

chris

[jaytee1]

Ive just had a quick look at this morning, and thankfully, there is now a 2 inch yeast head and the airlock is bubbling reasuringly.
I wasnt sure how good the yeast starter was going to be, but it seems to have worked nicely.

[jaytee1]

Well even with a yeast starter it seems as though the wherry is being stubborn!

No activity today but at least we are through the dreaded 1020 barrier, 1018 measured so gave it a gentle stir. Hopefully this should push it down too 1012 ish...

However ive never come across the smell that it gave out, when opening the lid, before. Slightly eggy???

Please dont tell me that its infected with nasty microbes....

The wort looks clear and there is no outward signs of infection...

Any thoughts guys?

JT

[delboy]

its early days still jt, give it a few more days at least to see where the gravity goes, i wouldn't worry too much about the eggy smell some ferments just smell a bit like that.

[jaytee1]

I think you might be expecting a little too much in hoping it will get down to 1012, iirc even on a good day Woodefords kits only get down to 1014/5.

ahh didnt realise, thats a positive then as its only a few points away

cheers daab

[jaytee1]

its early days still jt, give it a few more days at least to see where the gravity goes, i wouldn't worry too much about the eggy smell some ferments just smell a bit like that.

Cheers dellboy, i was worried was i would be feeding the porcelain!

ill keep testing the gravity and hope for the best

[jaytee1]

Update is that its down to 1016 today so will hopefully get to the magical mark in the next day or two.