Festival Beer Kits - New

[Monkeybrew]

Set a London Porter off yesterday, smelt good enough to drink before the yeast went in.

Seems a little slow to start, the lock isn't bubbling though there is a thin krausen and it is bubbling through it.

Looking forward to this one.

I've got my eye firmly on the Porter kit

[millemg]

I have got a Golden Stag on the go right now.

I have read a lot of the posts on this Festival thread, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about.

Basically it's only a standard 2 can kit with a bag of hop pellets.

Yes it smells nice now the hops are in, but I feel it's going to be a bit of a thin brew.

The hopped Wherry I did a couple of weeks ago cost me a lot less, and smells and tastes miles ahead of the Stag.

viewtopic.php?f=4&t=55039

I know the proof will be in the final tasting, but I know where my money is so far

[sbond10]

Set a London Porter off yesterday, smelt good enough to drink before the yeast went in.

Seems a little slow to start, the lock isn't bubbling though there is a thin krausen and it is bubbling through it.

Looking forward to this one.

I've got my eye firmly on the Porter kit

I accidentally saw one of my Christmas presents well I saw festival beer kit porter...

[sunny_jimbob]

Bottled my Festival Porter up last night. Very very dark with hints of toffee and licquorice, and quite a strong bitterness that I suspect will mellow a bit in the bottle. It has promise

My only complaint with these was that the extract sachets were a pain to rinse all the extract out of. Much more difficult than a tin. Other than that, very easy and very promising!

[GabrielKnight]

I primary fermented Landlords finest for 10 days, adding the hops after 5 days as directed. I've siphoned into a polypin and primed for 10 days until the polypin has stopped expanding.

The brew tastes good, but it doesn't taste as expected at this point. It's more like an alcoholic grapefruit squash than a beer tbh!

Is this normal? Will those tangy hoppy flavours chill out after a few more weeks and how long should I wait before it's ready? I was hoping to serve it at Christmas.

It says to leave in a cool pace now. Is the fridge as good a place as any for the brew to rest?

[Underscore]

I primary fermented Landlords finest for 10 days, adding the hops after 5 days as directed. I've siphoned into a polypin and primed for 10 days until the polypin has stopped expanding.

The brew tastes good, but it doesn't taste as expected at this point. It's more like an alcoholic grapefruit squash than a beer tbh!

Is this normal? Will those tangy hoppy flavours chill out after a few more weeks and how long should I wait before it's ready? I was hoping to serve it at Christmas.

It says to leave in a cool pace now. Is the fridge as good a place as any for the brew to rest?

I've got a keg of Pilgrim's Hope in the garage at the moment. You would not recognise it as the same beer as went in there. It was very citrussy with lots of fresh hop flavour. All these flavours are still there but they've all mellowed and blended to make a nice beer, IMO. If the Landlord's Finest is similar (and, since I've got one in the stash, I would be interested in knowing whether it is), I suspect that it will probably be a respectable beer by Xmas.

_

[GabrielKnight]

That's good to know. How long is it since you started the brew?

[Underscore]

It was 2 weeks in primary, 1 week secondary before moving to the garage, where it's been for a few weeks now. Even after 2 weeks in the cold, it was a completely different beer - though it's continued to improve since.

_

[Monkeybrew]

It was 2 weeks in primary, 1 week secondary before moving to the garage, where it's been for a few weeks now. Even after 2 weeks in the cold, it was a completely different beer - though it's continued to improve since.

_

The only way that I've been able to keep my hands off of my Pilgrims Hope has been to stash it away in my 2nd shed, furthest from my house.

Mine has had 3 weeks in primary, 1 week in the warm and by Friday, it will have had 3 weeks in the cold.

Can't wait to sample the first proper pint on Friday night

MB

[jimmybobbird]

Just put the Summer Ale on - if it is 1/10 as nice as the Father Hook that was bottled a couple of months ago then all will be good.

[parkerwitton]

Had my Golden Stag bottled since 14th October and it is beautiful. My Father Hooks has been bottled for about three weeks so I await a tasting.

[Greatcthulhu]

I've got a Father Hooks in the keg now, which is just ready for drinking- it's definitely one of the better kits I've tried.

[Monkeybrew]

Had a 5 WK old bottle of my Pilgrims Hope last night and it wasn't that great, initial taste was nice but that was soon swallowed up by bitterness that really lingered on my palate

[sbond10]

Well I'm gonna put on a London porter later me thinks, just a few questions as I'm still only using one bucket due to not having a long enough hose
1) the hops should I bag um or stick the bag over the back of the tap? Or just toss um in and hope it don't clog the bottling stick
2) the priming sugar am I dissolved that in water first and then adding it ?

[chigman]

Had a 5 WK old bottle of my Pilgrims Hope last night and it wasn't that great, initial taste was nice but that was soon swallowed up by bitterness that really lingered on my palate

Spot on with your description of this brew, but I actually quite like it. Having said that, I do prefer the Golden Stag.

Steve