Sticking Munton's (Woodfordes) Kits - Information and offer

[jubby]

A little update:

I actually got a response from Linda Arthrell today after e-mailing her yesterday afternoon. And she wanted my batch numbers which I of course do not have since I didn't save the tins...

Nevertheless she also gave me this information which perhaps could be of some interest for someone here:

"About 6 months ago we changed the mashing profile due to the seasons barley, which modified the fermentable sugars in the kit."

Olle

Given all of the excuses she gave me; that one makes the most sense. Mashing at a lower or more stable temperature perhaps Let's hope it's not BS

[petehastwofeet]

Here's my tuppenny so far,
Having read mostly bad reports in forums about Santa's winter warmer should really have put me off, but I'm a sucker for marketing. It has a pretty box, and a nice strong warmer to have with the brother and father at christmas sounded too tempting. Anyway, I followed the instructions, didn't brew it short or anything like that. I put aside the yeast that came with the kit and used a sachet of Safeale 04. I also added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. I started this one on 06/09/11. It blubbed like the clappers til 10/09/11, then stopped completely. I got around to checking the gravity today (12/09/11). It was 1.020 exactly. I've stirred, added another sachet of S-04 and another spoon of yeast nutrient. Given that I'm in a meddling mood, I may stir again before bed. Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.

[Ditch]

I was a mug. I threw myself on muntons sword. Now my brew is f**ked. My money wasted

FYP, Pete

[bungle666]

I was a mug. I threw myself on muntons sword. Now my brew is f**ked. My money wasted

FYP, Pete

B..

[Stomach]

I was a mug. I threw myself on muntons sword. Now my brew is f**ked. My money wasted

FYP, Pete

[Stomach]

Here's my tuppenny so far,
Having read mostly bad reports in forums about Santa's winter warmer should really have put me off, but I'm a sucker for marketing. It has a pretty box, and a nice strong warmer to have with the brother and father at christmas sounded too tempting. Anyway, I followed the instructions, didn't brew it short or anything like that. I put aside the yeast that came with the kit and used a sachet of Safeale 04. I also added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. I started this one on 06/09/11. It blubbed like the clappers til 10/09/11, then stopped completely. I got around to checking the gravity today (12/09/11). It was 1.020 exactly. I've stirred, added another sachet of S-04 and another spoon of yeast nutrient. Given that I'm in a meddling mood, I may stir again before bed. Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.

Well the muntons yeast cant be blamed anymore!!!

[petehastwofeet]

[quote="Stomach"][quote="petehastwofeet"]Here's my tuppenny so far,
Having read mostly bad reports in forums about Santa's winter warmer should really have put me off, but I'm a sucker for marketing. It has a pretty box, and a nice strong warmer to have with the brother and father at christmas sounded too tempting. Anyway, I followed the instructions, didn't brew it short or anything like that. I put aside the yeast that came with the kit and used a sachet of Safeale 04. I also added a teaspoon of yeast nutrient. I started this one on 06/09/11. It blubbed like the clappers til 10/09/11, then stopped completely. I got around to checking the gravity today (12/09/11). It was 1.020 exactly. I've stirred, added another sachet of S-04 and another spoon of yeast nutrient. Given that I'm in a meddling mood, I may stir again before bed. Wish me luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.[/quote]

Well the muntons yeast cant be blamed anymore!!![/quote]

Ah face palm! I've just got up the energy to start ploughing through the 21 pages on this, and it was clearly never just the yeast! I should have replaced the yeast sachet, and both cans of malt extract! Of course! I think Ditch has summed up my feelings on this perfectly, and while I don't think I'd try one of these again, I'm a bit loathed to just chuck it. If there's nothing doing by the weekend, I'm gonna see what dry beer enzyme has to offer. After that, I'll stick to coopers!

[houblon]

Ah face palm! I've just got up the energy to start ploughing through the 21 pages on this, and it was clearly never just the yeast! I should have replaced the yeast sachet, and both cans of malt extract! Of course! I think Ditch has summed up my feelings on this perfectly, and while I don't think I'd try one of these again, I'm a bit loathed to just chuck it. If there's nothing doing by the weekend, I'm gonna see what dry beer enzyme has to offer. After that, I'll stick to coopers!

It's weird, the fact that both yeasts are doing it would suggest that either something's being produced that's knackering the yeast, or it's plain running out of fermentable sugar.
You could test:
Draw off a decent sized sample with yeast still in suspension and add this to a volume of unfermented wort. If fermentation starts back up, it would suggest the latter. If not, the former.

[petehastwofeet]

This morning, there was activity, but blink and you'd miss it. A bubble every 2 minutes or so through the airlock. Maybe all is not lost!

[FiercelyFuzzy]

I thought I'd add that I recently brewed a Brupaks Colne Valley Bitter using a 1 litre starter of WLP002 I grew up on a stir plate. I made the kit up to 20 litres so the OG was 1045-ish. After 2 weeks of rousing, warming etc the FG was 1018. The starter was at high krausen so the yeast should have been at the peak of health and activity. I aerated the wort as usual.
Even with all this it still finished high!
Due to time constraints at home I've recently moved back to kit brewing from all grain. When I was doing all grain I never had stuck fermentation once. Even with high OG brews. I thought kits were supposed to be easier!

[petehastwofeet]

OK, today was a bit of a result for me. Dry beer enzyme fixed everything, and then some. FG reading, 1.002. Accorded to Dave's Dreaded thingymewotsit, that makes it 6.78% before priming. Yikes! It tastes ace though. Still a bit grim that it took this much faffing to make. If this still tastes good by xmas, I'd probably do it again, but know to use the cheap beer enzyme in it instead of the extra packs of expensive yeast.

[houblon]

Is it one of those things where you can add a little bit and only get a small effect, or will it just take longer to get those extra sugars to convert (and thus risk bottle bombs).

Also, where did you get it from?

[petehastwofeet]

I got it from Colchester Homebrew, it's the Brupks one. http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/col ... nzyme.html

I'm pretty sure I'm now at risk of creating bottle bombs when I prime, so if anyone could offer any tips on this I'd really appreciate it. I was planning to bottle prime with spray malt, but I'm not sure there's much point in being reinheitsgebot about it now there's an enzyme that will break the malt down in there. Can anyone offer an idea of whether I should reduce the amount of sugar/malt used now I've added the DBE? Sorry if this is vague, but I'm feeling a bit lost on this one.

[AceMcAce]

I'm pretty sure I'm now at risk of creating bottle bombs when I prime, so if anyone could offer any tips on this I'd really appreciate it.

Evening Brother.
I'd just batch prime as normal, If you're really worried about bottle bombs then put it in plasics if you have them to quell your fears. I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as the hydro readings are steady. If the DBE has eaten all the sugars, then just prime as normal with table sugar.
Then again, my advice may be pure rubbish. You should probably wait for others to weigh in.

[petehastwofeet]

Brother!
Well, that's the niceties out of the way. The mild is done. It's over. Gone. Finito. So into that barrel will go my explosive hooch, and the pressure valve will take care of the rest. It's not ideal, cause I was hoping to bring bottles up in the car for xmas, but I guess we'll just have to deal with it. The more we drink, the more petrol I'll save on the way home.