Wilko's Dark Velvet Stout

flyan · Jan 7, 2013

Morning all,

I racked up my first brew last night (the Wilko's Hoppy Copper Bitter) and after cleaning out the FV I thought it'd be a shame to leave it empty (plus I'd bought a second one earlier in the day) so I cracked open the stout kit and got on with it.

I slightly under filled it to 21 litres instead of the 23 it recommends with a hydrometer reading of 1042. Cracked in the yeast at about 25 / 26 degrees and sealed it up tight. As my house is cold as hell I again wrapped up the FV to keep the chill off.

I checked it this morning to find it happily bubbling away through the airlock. I checked the temp before leaving for work to see it around 23 / 24. I've eased off the blanket around it to cool off a little so hopefully it should level out at the 20 ish area. That or I'll have a kitchen full of foam when I get home from work

Anyways, second kit underway with the first prepping in the pressure keg. I now want to go out and buy more stuff as having two on the go just isn't enough.

DAMN YOU HOME BREWING! I love it really and would defiantly say I've caught the bug.

Kinleycat · Jan 7, 2013

flyan said:
Morning all,

I racked up my first brew last night (the Wilko's Hoppy Copper Bitter) and after cleaning out the FV I thought it'd be a shame to leave it empty (plus I'd bought a second one earlier in the day) so I cracked open the stout kit and got on with it.

I slightly under filled it to 21 litres instead of the 23 it recommends with a hydrometer reading of 1042. Cracked in the yeast at about 25 / 26 degrees and sealed it up tight. As my house is cold as hell I again wrapped up the FV to keep the chill off.

I checked it this morning to find it happily bubbling away through the airlock. I checked the temp before leaving for work to see it around 23 / 24. I've eased off the blanket around it to cool off a little so hopefully it should level out at the 20 ish area. That or I'll have a kitchen full of foam when I get home from work

Anyways, second kit underway with the first prepping in the pressure keg. I now want to go out and buy more stuff as having two on the go just isn't enough.

DAMN YOU HOME BREWING! I love it really and would defiantly say I've caught the bug.

Keep us posted, i think i will try either this one or the coopers stout later on in the year. : cheers:

flyan · Jan 7, 2013

Looks like I posted in the wrong place this morning in my no-coffee haze.

Sorry about that.

Deaconbrau · Mar 30, 2013

I just wondered how it went?
I used to be a bid fan of Edme stout but have been wanting to try a wilko's or a coopers. Was hopining you could make that that decision for me... :wha:

Kinleycat · Mar 31, 2013

Put one of these on this morning.
500g muscovado sugar
660g black treacle
250g extra dark DME.
2 tsp yeast nutrient.
OG 1045 brewed to 22L.
Pitched yeast at 20c.
Bottling for the autumn (I can't even begin to tell you how optimistic that is!!!) :thumb:

Kinleycat · Apr 7, 2013

A week in the FV and its down 1010.
The trial jar is very nice!!

iceo · Apr 7, 2013

i started mine this morning with a few tweaks sg 1.042 so im happy. it has already started popping the cap of my DJ

Kinleycat · Apr 11, 2013

This kit has rested at 1006, so was bottled this morning.
Primed 18 x 750ml bottles with 10ml of maple syrup and the remaining 7 with 1 x tspn of granulated sugar.
The bold aim is to put these away until the autumn.

iceo · Apr 11, 2013

Kinleycat said:
This kit has rested at 1006, so was bottled this morning.
Primed 18 x 750ml bottles with 10ml of maple syrup and the remaining 7 with 1 x tspn of granulated sugar.
The bold aim is to put these away until the autumn.

what did it taste like at bottling? did you let it clear i know its a stout. i bet it dont last if you start on it

Kinleycat · Apr 11, 2013

iceo said:
Kinleycat said:

This kit has rested at 1006, so was bottled this morning.
Primed 18 x 750ml bottles with 10ml of maple syrup and the remaining 7 with 1 x tspn of granulated sugar.
The bold aim is to put these away until the autumn.

Click to expand...

what did it taste like at bottling? did you let it clear i know its a stout. i bet it dont last if you start on it

Very nice, as good at this stage as the Coopers stout I did in late December early January.
It will be interesting to see what difference the maple syrup and some time does for the end result.

iceo · Apr 12, 2013

thats good to hear. the maple does sound nice, might give mine a hint of vanilla

iceo · Apr 14, 2013

i bottled mine today, its got a strong liquorice flavour that i dont mind. will see what its like in a few weeks. primed it with a caramel coffee syrup

GJB · Apr 14, 2013

iceo said:
i bottled mine today, its got a strong liquorice flavour that i dont mind. will see what its like in a few weeks. primed it with a caramel coffee syrup

I did the Coopers Stout and this had a liquorice flavour after 2 weeks. It's been in the bottle for 3 months now and this has gone. Tastes very much like the import 7% Guinness now.

iceo · Apr 14, 2013

GJB said:
iceo said:

i bottled mine today, its got a strong liquorice flavour that i dont mind. will see what its like in a few weeks. primed it with a caramel coffee syrup

Click to expand...

I did the Coopers Stout and this had a liquorice flavour after 2 weeks. It's been in the bottle for 3 months now and this has gone. Tastes very much like the import 7% Guinness now.

thats great. iv just put another one on with coffee grounds in so will see that thats like

iceo · Apr 19, 2013

iv got half a bottle of wisnia would it work in the stout? would the flavour be there?

BigSi · Jun 2, 2013

Made mine with small tin of black treacle and chocolate powder with 600g of brewing sugar. Came out at 4%. Very drinkable.

flyan · Jul 13, 2013

Sorry for the huge delay in replying. The first batch came out sour for me though everyone I gave it to loved it. On my second batch now. Two weeks in the FV with a 1kg bag of brewing sugar. Tried my first taster at two weeks and it's going down a treat though every extract home brew I've tried seems to have an after taste which I can't get out through brewing. Any advice?

Cheers all.

flyan · Jul 13, 2013

Quick update - three bottles in and it's lovely. Need to hold off and not drink the rest now.

Cheeseford · Jul 15, 2013

I've just done one of these at 20 litres, with 500g of muscovado sugar, a 454g tin of black treacle and 350g of brewing sugar. The OG was 1047. After three days in this weather, it was down to 1011. I left it three days longer and it was still at 1011, so I bottled it. Even in its callow, unconditioned state, it was a bit special, and I can't wait to see how it develops and matures.

flyan · Aug 7, 2013

I've tried to leave as much of this un-drunk as possible but it's getting the better of me. After two weeks in the bottle it was very drinkable but had a little HB twang to it. At week four the twang has lessened and the flavours are coming through nicely. At week six or seven now(?) it's a belter. The twang is all but gone and it's a deep smooth stout. I'll be using this again in the future, probably as a base to try different things out. Planning a cranberry stout for Christmas using two cans and a few other choice ingredients.

Wilko's Dark Velvet Stout

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