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Back in my AG days I used Liberty Bell loads of times. Possibly more than any other yeast. It never failed me. I would probably try using it again with the kits I brew these days if my local shop still stocked it. Still, what works for some does not always work for others, and for reasons we...

Greetings Goldie!

Welcome Berty!

If you want a beer that tastes like a US IPA the Muntons Gold one probably isn't the one to go for. I've not made it, but it is based on a traditional UK IPA recipe but made at a weaker ABV level. UK IPAs do not have the intense citrus flavour of US IPAs which have become the norm in pubs etc...

I used to live in Brighton many years ago and I remember the water had a lot of chlorine in it. Might be worth trying that Pure Brew stuff or Campden tablet as suggested.

Welcome! Try using DME in place of beer enhancer. Costs about the same and I suspect the results will be even better!

Hi Slid, thanks for the reply. In my experience the regular 'active' muntons yeast in one can kits seems closer something like Mangrove Jack's Empire Ale yeast - less attenuative and flocculant than Nottingham. Indeed, I made up one kit with Empire Ale yeast and it seemed similar to the results...

Quick update, in case anyone is interested in this beer kit. Despite the mishaps this has turned out to be a decent beer - very palatable. The malt flavour is solid. Not particularly hoppy, but they it does not claim to be. Does not taste like a homebrew. I'm not sure I would buy it again, but...

... Did not go according to plan! I thought I would try a Muntons Connoisseurs Summer Ale. I've done Yorkshire Bitter and Nut Brown Ale in the range and I thought they were decent. Bought 1kg of Pale DME. Unexpectedly it came with an 'American Ale' yeast and some hop flavouring powder. Never...

Thanks. It's here: https://uk.diybeer.com/brewing-info/recipes Extra smooth bitter made with molasses sounds interesting, although I think I would use DME instead of brew enhancer if I were to make it.

Sounds nice. I'd quite like to try that kit, plus the Coopers English bitter at some point.

Agree with Graz re. kit yeasts being pretty decent these days. Muntons two can kits have muntons gold which is a decent highly flocculant yeast. The one can kits have muntons active yeast which is less attenuative (70% versus 75%) and less flocculant, but leaves more body (and benefits from cold...

Nothing wrong with the quality one can kits either imo, as long as you use dried malt extract instead of sugar as the extra fermentables. I've made some nice beers with the muntons one can kits that way. You can also sub some of the dme for some steeped crystal malt etc. Easy way to add extra body.

I was an AG brewer for a number of years who moved onto kits in recent times due to time constraints primarily. If you avoid chucking in tons of sugar, pay close attention to fermentation temperature, are careful about oxidation (all things an AG brewer would do) you can make decent beer. There...

Good to hear. With Bitter kits I think 1kg of medium DME is the way to go. Not tried the simply one but maybe I will.

That's Miles Jenner - a top guy who makes absolutely superb beers. Harvey's bears absolutely no similarity to John Smith's beers, so I guess their yeast must have changed.

Isn't it well known that some yeast strains just don't like being dried? If it did we would have a dried version of the Fullers yeast on the market. I assumed Harvey's was dual strain yeast. I think Brewlabs have it but not in dried form.

Ok, I'll reword that - it would not be possible to create a dried version that retained the distinctiveness, and this is a good reason as to why they re-pitch their wet yeast it. It is not just about cost.

I doubt very much Harveys have a lab. They are a regional brewery going back to 1790. I suspect the primary reason they don't use dried yeast is because it would be impossible to dry what is a very distinctive yeast. I'm sure it's the same for a good number of regional breweries. I say this as...

Traditional breweries like Harveys have been repitching the same yeast for decades. The yeast is probably the most significant influencer on the flavour of the beer. It would be more or less impossible to create a dry version, so they would be mad to use dried yeast. Same for breweries like Fullers.