8 brews from 4 cheap kits!

[Stomach]

hi stomach i thought my avatar had some class im just promoting the best team this country has ever seen

<very muffled snigger, which quickly leads to open guffaw!!>

[Monkeybrew]

hi monkey i have put a lot of work and time brewing those ales [and lost a couple on the way due to infection ] but the ale i have in the kegs is top notch [especialy the ttl ] by the way any bottles would be welcome thanks ,if you are ever round my neck of the woods you are welcome to call for a sample

You've certainly been grafting that's for sure!

Did you go with a liquid yeast in the TTL in the end?

And what's the Top Dog stout like?

MB

[spud]

I received an email back from Muntons today, confirming that Woodfordes Wherry and Sundew kits both contained identical cans of extract in each kit.

This was great news to me as I've got 2 Wherry kits and a Sundew kit sitting in stock and they were all purchased for £13.99 each

After apparent sucess with my EKG Wherry ( bloody lovely IMO) brew, I plan to brew 6 different beers over the coming year by using 1 can from each kit at a time and adding hops, grains and also varying brewlengths from 9-11.5L.

Let the planning commence.

Any suggestions welcome!

MB

Are you telling me that Muntons are suggesting that you can split Wherry cans and make 2 x 40pt batches?.
Did they definately say in their mail, that they are identical cans? just find it hard to believe thats all. I always thought that the two tins complimented each other to give a balanced brew.
Surely they would sell more kits if they were priced just over a tenner for one tin??? Just doesn't ring true with me!
Has anyone tried this out making just one tin? and with what results?

[tazzymutt]

Are you telling me that Muntons are suggesting that you can split Wherry cans and make 2 x 40pt batches?

They are not saying that at all. They simply said that the contents of each tin is the same.

I'd read that as "You could make two 20 pint brews or one 40 pint brew".

To make two 40 pint brews would require more ingredients. You could use a Kg of malt, BKE or sugars of your choice with each tin, but the hop flavours would be halved so you'd need to add hops as well to restore or adjust the flavour balance... It is these adjustments and the results of them that the thread is all about

Happy brewing,


Ian.

[spud]

Thanks Ian, Surely by adding KG of malt plus extra hops I would be better just sticking to the kit...hey ho thought I was on to a bargain!

[tazzymutt]

Thanks Ian, Surely by adding KG of malt plus extra hops I would be better just sticking to the kit...hey ho thought I was on to a bargain!

Cost wise, splitting a two can kit and then adding fermentables, hops etc to make two 40 pint kits would probably be comparable to buying two single can kits, so no real advantage. Where it has some advantage is if you want to try some smaller experimental brews to see how dry hopping, adding a hop boil or using a different fermentable affects a brew. Twenty rather than forty pint experiments are less disastrous if, for example, adding a jar of molasses proves not to be to your taste. (Been there, done that, won't do it again...)

Happy brewing,


Ian.

[Monkeybrew]

Are you telling me that Muntons are suggesting that you can split Wherry cans and make 2 x 40pt batches?

They are not saying that at all. They simply said that the contents of each tin is the same.

I'd read that as "You could make two 20 pint brews or one 40 pint brew".


Happy brewing,


Ian.

+1

I was just chuffed that I could make 6 different brews at a low cost using the Wherry and Sundew kits.

MB

[lee1]

hi monkey i used a liquid yeast on a extract ttl , but i have used sa04 on my biab ttl that is absolutley a different class of beer the only two yeasts i have used on my biab ales are sa04 and sa05 at the moment i dont see the point buying liquid yeast when i get the results im getting [but im no boffin ] maybe your yeast experts will tell you different , but im more than happy , by the way the top dog stout is very good very fruity with a chocolaty finish [well i like it anyway ] cheers lee

[Monkeybrew]

I don't plan to use any fancy liquid yeasts until A. I use up my stock of dry yeasts (s-04, s-05 & Windsor) & B. I work out how to split a liquid one to use on another brew. Saying that, the only brew that I do plan to try a liquid yeast on is when I brew another batch of Coopers Czech Pils.

I've got my eye on the Top Dog Stout recipe for a future AG brew

MB

[Monkeybrew]

I checked the gravity last night on day 8, and it was down to 1.012.

Will check again on Tuesday and if it's stable I'll rack it and then crash cool for a few days before bottling.

MB

[Stomach]

I checked the gravity last night on day 8, and it was down to 1.012.

Will check again on Tuesday and if it's stable I'll rack it and then crash cool for a few days before bottling.

MB

Sounding good mate. We will all have our eyes on Dunhlem next year after Christmas!!

[Monkeybrew]

The Dark Wherry was still at 1.012 on day 11, so it got racked into a clean FV and was then chilled until yesterday morning when I placed the FV on my kitchen worktop to warm up, ready for another racking and then bottling.

All bottled up on day 19 and batch primed at 3.5g/L.

Tasted like fruity toffee and looked like muddy water in the clear bottles!

I'll reserve any kind of judgement on this one for a few weeks.

MB

[lee1]

tell you what monkey the beer looks fantastic mmmmm [but the garden could do with pruning ]

[Stomach]

tell you what monkey the beer looks fantastic mmmmm [but the garden could do with pruning ]

He needs to trim his bush!!

[Monkeybrew]

I'll leave the bush trimming to SWMBO, but I must replace my broken fence post. Trouble is I know how much concrete I put around each post