Branny
Beer swillin, pie munchin, fat mon
The bonus of being cans (as opposed to those annoying pouches) and the inclusion of Pure Brew with the enhancers for £22.25 seems great value for kits that are so well received.
Dark Rock kits
- Thread starter GazzaW57
- Start date
Help Support The Homebrew Forum:
Keep an eye on Dark Rocks YouTube channel, sounds like they will be showcasing kits
Well it’s now been some 6 to 8 weeks since I bottled my Riwaka Pale Ale, and I’m afraid I’m a tad underwhelmed by the final result. I’m not sure whether I’m just used to IPAs, or whether I’ve done something wrong, but I’m afraid I just don’t find it very palatable. I followed the excellent instructions to the letter and all I’ve ended up with is an over carbonated beer that’s very bitter and lacking in any real flavour, I’m going to leave it for a further 2 to 3 weeks, to see if that improves it in any way. The IPA from the Range I did a while back, has improved in the bottle quite a bit over the past 10 weeks or sp, so I hope this will be the same.
I have just done the Riwaka and as you, was expecting something good. I was very disappointed. Agree with everything you say about it, in fact, I am thinking of throwing out the last 8 litres or so that’s left.
Bitter_Dave
Regular.
- Joined
- Apr 6, 2021
- Messages
- 220
- Reaction score
- 229
Fermentation ambient temp of 22/23 c seems a bit on the high side, especially considering temp of beer will rise above this. FG of 1.006 also seems a bit low, which might make it taste a bit thin and therefore accentuate the bitterness?
I've not made these kits before so can't comment what they should be like though.
I've not made these kits before so can't comment what they should be like though.
GhostShip
Junior Member
My Riwaka is currently in the brew fridge and will be going out to the shed tomorrow or Saturday. Sorry to hear you guys have been underwhelmed, but I'm thinking something might have gone wrong? The Partridge Brothers giving it 10/10 means it must have something going for it. I'll post a review of mine in due course.
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
I don’t think there was actually anything particularly gone wrong with mine, just not to my liking/taste. However, I think I may have found something of an answer. I have tried 5 of the series so far and found that quite a few use the same can of extract and the only real difference is the type of hops used (check the 6 digit product code on the cans) and a different enhancer in the case of IPL which, is similar to, but a bit better than the Riwaka (to me). The one that I have liked (Citra) has a different can of malt than the others, the Nectaron was ok, but didn’t really float my boat, not living up to its hype. I didn’t get the product code from that can unfortunately so which malt that one uses, I can’t say.
The ones I am not keen on, all use the same malt extract so seems it’s just not to my taste.
goffski
Active Member
I got this kit ready, hopefully I'll get it on the go this weekend.
I've done a few Dark Rock kits, extract and part grain and I've found them all to be great.
I've done a few Dark Rock kits, extract and part grain and I've found them all to be great.
I hope yours turns out well as I bought one the other week along with a Citra, Hoppy Days and a Nectaron. I'll be getting the Nectaron on brew after next, I hope it lives up to the hype
Cheers Tom
Just checked the four kits I've got upstairs....
Nectaron 0230-244159-4024
Citra 0434-244159-4024
Riwaka 0454-244159-4024
Hoppy Days 0161-244159-4024
Cheers Tom
My Citra have both been 244096. The 244159 are the ones I am not keen on. Thanks for that Tom.
(Gonna stay away from all these now if they’re using 244159 in Citra too)
Last edited:
It’s 55697on the bottom of the Citra. I believe the product codes on the top are Muntons codes but I may be wrong.
The central 6 digits on the top are the product code, the other ones are batch codes, date codes etc. from Muntons I believe, not sure about the one on the bottom as I hadn’t looked at that one before.I never even looked at the other end of the canWill have a look
Cheers Tom
My Citra has 1385 244096 4017 top and 55697 BBE 01/2026 bottom.
My Hoppy days has 0061 244159 4024 top and 58652 BBE 04/2026 bottom.
All 4 kits have the same codes on the other end of the cansI never even looked at the other end of the can
Cheers Tom
58652 04/26
Obviously the 04/26 bit is the best by date. Would be interesting to know what all the others are.
Ah, should have refreshed the page.....
Cheers Tom
Oh well, thought I would give the DR kits a try but just not for me, plenty of other options to try out alongside my usuals. (Haven’t done any MJ brews yet
)
Not everyone's taste buds are the same. A lot of people love the MJ juicy session IPA but I thought it was overkill with the fruit flavour. You may like itOh well, thought I would give the DR kits a try but just not for me, plenty of other options to try out alongside my usuals. (Haven’t done any MJ brews yet
Cheers Tom
Just a thought but did you get any of that hop boost stuff included with the kits? Non of the ones I've bought have it but another member on here (@dowden87) did the West Coast and he's really impressed with it, hop boost was included with his kit.Oh well, thought I would give the DR kits a try but just not for me, plenty of other options to try out alongside my usuals. (Haven’t done any MJ brews yet
Just a thought......
Cheers Tom
Came with a hop bag, a vacuum packed bag of hops, a sachet of pure brew and a pack of yeast if I remember correctly. Also, always brewed with the “enhancer” for the product, the IPL using a different enhancer to the others. In fairness, the IPL (so far, as it’s still fresh and not conditioned long) so far seems to be better than the others even though I am not really a lager fan. My “go to” west coast ipa is Muntons Flagship range at 7% abv and will take some beating.
P.S. (@dowden87) will be Peter
