The Best Summer Ale

Bigd2657 · Dec 31, 2016

Hi all,

I just thought I might post a question, which beer kit do you think makes the best summer ale, and if it needs tweaking which are the best tweaks to get out of a kit.:thumb:

Also if I leave my beer kit in a primary bucket for 4 weeks will it damage it if it is still on the yeast before I mini - keg and bottle it.:thumb:

Thanks all in advance :thumb:

have a Happy New Year to you all.:thumb:

Big D 2657:thumb:

Gerryjo · Dec 31, 2016

Bigd2657 said:
Hi all,

I just thought I might post a question, which beer kit do you think makes the best summer ale, and if it needs tweaking which are the best tweaks to get out of a kit.:thumb:

Also if I leave my beer kit in a primary bucket for 4 weeks will it damage it if it is still on the yeast before I mini - keg and bottle it.:thumb:

Thanks all in advance :thumb:

have a Happy New Year to you all.:thumb:

Big D 2657:thumb:

I've just transferred a Pale Ale and a Chestnut Ale to secondary FV yesterday and they taste great and have been 4 weeks in the primary.Ã°Å¸ÂÂº

Sent from my ALE-L21

nigelnorris · Dec 31, 2016

Last year I made a Festival Golden Stag Summer Ale kit and it was great. Fermented for two weeks then dry hopped for a week and it came out great, another week in the bucket in the middle wouldn't have changed anything. It was good as it was, if I remade it I wouldn't change or tweak it in any way.

barbeer · Dec 31, 2016

I did Woodfordes Sundew earlier in the year. I didn't think it was that great though. It was a good beer but not that much flavour and I was hoping for something like a blonde ale but it was really just like a lightly coloured/pale ale with less colour and strength than the other kits I have done. I might at some time try it again but with some hops added to see if that improves it. It has got to taste a bit better after 4/5/6 months.

I have looked at the Festival kits and they look interesting, so maybe I will try one some time.

Bigjas · Dec 31, 2016

+1 for the Golden Stag :thumb: I did this kit for a party and it went down very well with the guests!! They drank the lot!!

Sandimas · Dec 31, 2016

I guess it depends what you mean by summer ale?

To me it means a hoppy British golden ale, which sadly the festival kits aren't: they're good but I found them all a bit "samey" with full-on US hop flavours like Citra and Cascade.

I'd be tempted to do something like St Peter Golden Ale and add some Styrian Goldings: 10g steeped in water cooled to <80C, and then dry hop with another 15g after the initial ferment has died down.

It's always irked me a bit that none of the higher-end kit manufacturers have managed to produce a kit with additional hops to replicate some of the classic British styles, they've always gone down the US route.

Dutto · Dec 31, 2016

The photographs show the distribution of the beer I planned to take to France with me back in September of 2016.

The first photograph shows "Plan A" but unfortunately the Fulstows Recession Session AG Kit was so good that it just didn't make it to France because it had already been finished by departure time! :thumb: :thumb:

The second photograph shows "Plan B" which actually made it to France and out of that selection the "Muntons Golden Stag Extract Kit" was, for me, by far the best.

HAPPY NEW YEAR
to everyone!
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:

H0PM0NSTER · Dec 31, 2016

I would recommend the Festival Summer Glory kit. Brewed it last summer and it was great. The kit comes with dried elderflowers as well as additional hops. However, just as darrellm mentioned - Festival do seem to use a lot of American hop additions in their lighter ale kits. The hops in the Summer Glory kit overshadowed the elderflowers (which were coming through nicely in the sample I tasted before dry-hopping) but the taste and aroma were there again once the beer had fully conditioned - the best bottle was the last 5 months later.

If I did the kit again I'd be tempted to half the hops or leave them out completely.

The Best Summer Ale

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