Hello from Wilkinson

[Mr Fuggles]

I agree with you tricky_dicky never really thought of it like that. I have 2 hb shops in a reasonable radius one with a bloke who is miserable and in my honest opinion dont deserve the business although the other one is nice enough neither ever do a special offer despite me spending £500+ a year with him. So yeah if wilko start doing regular offers on guest beer kits like festival and woodfordes online I guess my loyalty would be tested along with many others.

[TheFlatulentCow]

I tried out the Wilkos Gervin Ale yeast at the weekend and it's a very viable yeast. I did a 44L batch of an all grain RyePA and split it into 2 FV's. In one i used the Wilkos yeast (which as Steve already confirmed is Nottingham strain) and the other I used S-05. After 24 hour the Wilkos yeast krausen was escaping through the airlock whilst the S-05 only has about an inch of krausen. I'll let you know how it tastes when it's finished.

Cheers.

[RdRd]

Check Wilkinson's stores and web site for what I think is a good deal of Woodfordes Wherry kits £15 and they currently have a deal including a free bag of brewing sugar with all beer kits. I missed a recent deal on Nog also for £15. My local store has recently increased its range with their own brand beer kits and beer enhancer which I hadn't seen in there before.

Disclaimer : I don't work for them or have any commercial interest, just a thirsty man trying to spread some savings!

[Steve@Wilkos]

Steve, do you have a definitive list of which Wilko branches stock homebrew stuff and which "display size" each branch has?
I realise this will change over time but perhaps you could have a list on your website?

My only suggestion for additions to the range would be a good sanitiser. StarSan is something that is very popular but fairly hard to get hold of in the UK. There are only a couple of outlets for it afaik. Example: http://www.the-home-brew-shop.co.uk/aca ... _227g.html

Hi Boingy
Yes I have a list but it is on excel and not sure what is the best way to get that info on here. Any tips?

Cheers
Steve

[Steve@Wilkos]

HI everyone,

A while ago I mentioned that we had an upcoming promo on the Wilko own label kits (Wine and Beer).

Well it is live now.
We have free brewing sugar with beer kits and 3 for 2 on wine kits.

If you give them a go, then please let us know how they turn out.

Cheers
Steve

[PaddyX21]

Hi Steve,

Firstly - thanks for taking the time to come on here and get some 'real world' feedback from your existing (and potential) customers.

My local store is Gillingham High Street, and they appear to have a pretty full range, although as it spread around a corner I can't really tell exactly which one.
The recent increase in stocked options is greatly appreciated, as is the highly competitive pricing regime.
Personally I would appreciate a choice of dried yeasts, as they take up very little space, and perhaps some other 'branded' kits. I did notice the Brewmakers Best of British Kits have just arrived, so that is an appreciated option.
Would you consider stocking wide neck pressure barrels, e.g. King Keg? I am reluctant to buy the 2" neck PB's due to cleaning difficulties, even at the absolute bargin price of £8.50.
I would also have purchased the dark spray malt had it been available (am I the second or third to mention this so far...), but did purchase the medium.

I will be making the one can 'Wilkos' Sweet Newkie Brown kit, with 1Kg Medium Spraymalt and the Gervin yeast shortly, which I will document in a separate posting on the forum, so feedback on the quality will be forthcoming in the next couple of months

Thanks Again
P

[tricky_dicky]

HI everyone,

A while ago I mentioned that we had an upcoming promo on the Wilko own label kits (Wine and Beer).

Well it is live now.
We have free brewing sugar with beer kits and 3 for 2 on wine kits.

If you give them a go, then please let us know how they turn out.

Cheers
Steve

Hi Steve

Good news about this deal - I think I will try and get hold of a stout kit this weekend, how long will the free brewing sugar offer be available for? Also any chance of extending the deal to include your Cider Kits as well??

[crafty john]

Out of interest I have just had a look on your website, some good deals for kit brewers. However I noticed that you advise to clean fermenting vessels etc with soapy water NOOOOOO This is not good practice, all brewing equipment should be cleaned and sanitised with a proprietary cleaner and steriliser, surely you are missing a trick advising your customers to use just plain soap and water, you sell steriliser so why not advertise this to make sure that your customers do what is necessary for all brewing?

Having said that I only use thin supermarket bleach, soda crystals and sodium metabisulphite for my cleaning and sanitising regime. that is my personal choice which works for me, however advising your customers to use warm soapy water is an accident waiting to happen.

I don't mean to pick fault, I just thought I would make you aware that soap and water isn't enough to do the job. Good luck with your venture.

Regards
John

[themadhippy]

I was told a long time back to avoid using soap/detergent for cleaning brewing kit as it can lead to problems with head retention,no idea how true it is.

Having said that I only use thin supermarket bleach

Avalible from wilkinsons,29p for 2 liters

[boingy]

Hi Boingy
Yes I have a list but it is on excel and not sure what is the best way to get that info on here. Any tips?

Cheers
Steve

I've PM'd you, Steve

[Jim]

The only reference to washing with soapy water I can find is the following for a Wilko pressure barrel (though I'm sure the advice is repeated on other products: -

Wilko pressure barrel with screw top. Sterilse before use, wash after with warm soapy water. Comes with carry handle on barrel.

Seems perfectly sensible to me unless you interpret it as meaning that you should sterilise, then wash with soapy water, then use (which would of course be ludicrous).

What they are actually saying is 'sterilise' (presumed to include appropriate rinsing depending on the product used) then use the item. After you are finished using it, wash with warm soapy water. Perfectly sensible way to care for your brewing vessels imo!

[crafty john]

The only reference to washing with soapy water I can find is the following for a Wilko pressure barrel (though I'm sure the advice is repeated on other products: -

Wilko pressure barrel with screw top. Sterilse before use, wash after with warm soapy water. Comes with carry handle on barrel.

Seems perfectly sensible to me unless you interpret it as meaning that you should sterilise, then wash with soapy water, then use (which would of course be ludicrous).

What they are actually saying is 'sterilise' (presumed to include appropriate rinsing depending on the product used) then use the item. After you are finished using it, wash with warm soapy water. Perfectly sensible way to care for your brewing vessels imo!

Fair point Jim, I was only trying to point out that wilkos literature could be improved, regarding cleaning and sanitisation seeing as they stock the appropriate products, I never meant to rock the boat.

[Jim]

The only reference to washing with soapy water I can find is the following for a Wilko pressure barrel (though I'm sure the advice is repeated on other products: -

Wilko pressure barrel with screw top. Sterilse before use, wash after with warm soapy water. Comes with carry handle on barrel.

Seems perfectly sensible to me unless you interpret it as meaning that you should sterilise, then wash with soapy water, then use (which would of course be ludicrous).

What they are actually saying is 'sterilise' (presumed to include appropriate rinsing depending on the product used) then use the item. After you are finished using it, wash with warm soapy water. Perfectly sensible way to care for your brewing vessels imo!

Fair point Jim, I was only trying to point out that wilkos literature could be improved, regarding cleaning and sanitisation seeing as they stock the appropriate products, I never meant to rock the boat.

No need to worry about boat rocking, CJ - I was just adding my thoughts to the discussion.

[wxmexile]

Hi Steve, thought i'd share this that i posted on the Kit brewing section of the forum;



'Thought i'd give an update on the wilkos sweet newkie brown - its been in the bottle 3 weeks at this stage and its good! - its very dark and has a distinct sweetness to it, but its smooth and clean tasting, good white head, very quaffable! i would defo stick to using a nottingham yeast with it, like i say its very clean tasting and i can't help thinking if i'd used the kit yeast it wouldn't have this quality. Critsisms - its slighty too sweet, and though i'm no expert would say it would work really well with a hop addition that could give it some more bitterness / aroma - any suggestions? also if i did this again i'd chuck another jar of malt extract in and up the dextrose, i like a kick with brown ale!'

I am also just sampling the wilkos lager i have done (kit yeast , 500g light dme 500g dextrose to 20l), its only had 10 days in the bottle but i have to say i'm not holding out much hope for this kit - its pretty grim at this stage, thin, sweet, pretty tasteless. Sure it would be better with a lager yeast and more time. I'm not hard to please though to be honest, i usually just do standard kits with little tweeking, but can't see myself revisiting this unless it dramatically improves with a bit of conditioning.


Also Steve - why not get this thread moved to the kit brewing section - you will get much more feedback as very few people view the guestbook (i presume) , and kit brewers are your biggest customers. .

[Steve@Wilkos]

Out of interest I have just had a look on your website, some good deals for kit brewers. However I noticed that you advise to clean fermenting vessels etc with soapy water NOOOOOO This is not good practice, all brewing equipment should be cleaned and sanitised with a proprietary cleaner and steriliser, surely you are missing a trick advising your customers to use just plain soap and water, you sell steriliser so why not advertise this to make sure that your customers do what is necessary for all brewing?

Having said that I only use thin supermarket bleach, soda crystals and sodium metabisulphite for my cleaning and sanitising regime. that is my personal choice which works for me, however advising your customers to use warm soapy water is an accident waiting to happen.

I don't mean to pick fault, I just thought I would make you aware that soap and water isn't enough to do the job. Good luck with your venture.

Regards
John

Hi John,

Thanks for the feedback. I will ask the web team to have a look at this. Would you mind inboxing me with the weblink?

Cheers
Steve