Beerworks Bohemian Blonde Pils

[GerritT]

Well, 2 days later and nothing to note from the airlock after it settled back down to 90-100 second bubbling 24 hours after adding the hops. Looks like it might have stopped altogether or minutes in between.

Speaking of the hops, it still strikes me as odd in why, when the brew was already cloudy, would the instructions pretty much have me make a "sludge" with the hop pellets using hot water and spoon it into (trying to leave as much liquid behind as possible) the bucket that would I assume be made much more cloudy again?.

Am I missing the point and this "sludge" of hops mix will also aid the settling and clearing of the brew?. Either way, I'm going to take a gravity reading either tomorrow (3rd day after hops) or Monday (4 days after) to see what the reading is and try again the day after. Though if the same as the 1000 gravity reading I got prior to adding the hops then I fail to see the point in taking a third reading as I'd already have 2 identical readings.

In which case, is it then more a matter of how long its OK to leave it before bottling?. The instructions suggest 5 days after adding the hops, but maybe that doesn't account for fermentation finishing a few days earlier than expected?.

Sludge sinks to the bottom, easier than leaf. But I think a lot of brewers just pop 'm into the brew, just keep things clean and don't splash.
Refractometers are £12-something on aliexpress, just be prepared to wait for a month. Consider sticking to a refractometer with only Brix, because gravity is of little use after fermenting. Less confusion. Gotta love hydrometers!
Have you tried you hydrometer with clean water? Tapwater should give you 1000.

 

[ITMA]

I'm sorry I missed the start of this thread because this was my first brew, last September, and it set me off on the brewing craze since then.

My experience:

It came with yeast, labelled "Premim (sic) Lager Yeast". No idea what the yeast actually is, my guess is that since Love Brewing make this kit themselves and they only stock Mangrove Jacks', I'm guessing it's the bohemian lager yeast, repackaged. Could be wrong.

Their instructions absolutely blow chunks. They're definitely written by Richard Blackwell from the youtube channel as it uses that "we" language he uses. Ie "we then wait until we have the same hydrometer reading two days in a row".

It took forever to ferment out: it was stuck around the infamous 1020 for an age. Final reading was 1010 and it took 4 weeks to get there. Something wrong if you're getting 1000.

Anyway, I think I was lucky. Temperatures for me in September were no higher than 15 deg c and the end result was lovely - I was really impressed by it. It led me to carry on brewing and go all grain etc.

But... I did the Southern Gold Digger for my next brew. Similar instructions to brew at 20deg C etc. Disaster. I don't have accurate records so I don't know what happened, maybe the temperature was higher, but it had the awful toffee flavour. Diacetyl I think. Haven't had this on a brew since. Most of this batch ended up down the drain.

My feeling is the kits are high quality, the malt is excellent quality and its great the include hops for dry hopping. But the yeast has some quality control problems (do they even include an expiry date?) and they really should state what the strain is. And if it really is "premim lager", they need to change the instructions.

 

[ITMA]

Don't worry about the sludge, if you store the bottles cold all of that will drop out nicely. Mine came out very clear.

 

[Dave 666]

I'm sorry I missed the start of this thread because this was my first brew, last September, and it set me off on the brewing craze since then.

My experience:

It came with yeast, labelled "Premim (sic) Lager Yeast". No idea what the yeast actually is, my guess is that since Love Brewing make this kit themselves and they only stock Mangrove Jacks', I'm guessing it's the bohemian lager yeast, repackaged. Could be wrong.

Their instructions absolutely blow chunks. They're definitely written by Richard Blackwell from the youtube channel as it uses that "we" language he uses. Ie "we then wait until we have the same hydrometer reading two days in a row".

It took forever to ferment out: it was stuck around the infamous 1020 for an age. Final reading was 1010 and it took 4 weeks to get there. Something wrong if you're getting 1000.

Anyway, I think I was lucky. Temperatures for me in September were no higher than 15 deg c and the end result was lovely - I was really impressed by it. It led me to carry on brewing and go all grain etc.

But... I did the Southern Gold Digger for my next brew. Similar instructions to brew at 20deg C etc. Disaster. I don't have accurate records so I don't know what happened, maybe the temperature was higher, but it had the awful toffee flavour. Diacetyl I think. Haven't had this on a brew since. Most of this batch ended up down the drain.

My feeling is the kits are high quality, the malt is excellent quality and its great the include hops for dry hopping. But the yeast has some quality control problems (do they even include an expiry date?) and they really should state what the strain is. And if it really is "premim lager", they need to change the instructions.

Thanks for reporting back how you got on with it, nice to know at least 1 other member has brewed it.

I think the issue I had that whilst we might accept it was a " lager" yeast, this means that the brew can safely be brewed at a higher temperature without any real negative affect. Which is just as well as clearly I did brew at the higher end, probably mid 20's. Not by design mind, I wrongly guessed the coolest room in which to brew purely on floor material being the kitchen, and that's its a non heated room (except when cooking). When in thinking afterwards I should have put the bucket at the bottom of the stairs by the front door & electric cupboard (which I will on my next brew).

Added to that, the temp when I took the first hydrometer reading was higher than the ambient and suggested temp for doing so and that I never spun the hydrometer so the reading of 1040 was obviously out. But as to why I've now (prior to adding the hops anyway) got a 1000 reading is puzzling despite the instructions suggesting a target of 1004 of less.

If as you feel something has gone wrong, in what way if we assume (I'll test the hydrometer in a bit) the reading of 1000 to be correct?. Maybe more a side affect of brewing as a higher (but within tolerance levels) temp I'm hoping than something that has gone wrong to the degree where the beer is ruined or undrinkable.

 

[Dave 666]

So, tested the hydrometer in water, exactly 1000. Tested the brew again, 1000 so no change except the sludge of hops look to be taking its time to settle. Though in general the beer looks to be clearing a little.

Taste test, I'm no expert but I can't taste any problems or issues, even with bits of the hops sludge. If anything tastes pretty close to the sample from the shop. Just a little bitter and dry if anything. Certainly no indications of a ruined brew anyway. Also smells great to.

 

[Dave 666]

Well I now have a more notable layer of sediment at the bottom of the FV. And as today is the 4th day since adding the hops, all looks good at the moment. I might give it another couple of days and then bottle up (work permitting) if it looks clear enough.

Not that I'm really bothered about cloudy ale, its going into brown bottles after all. But if I still have the hop sludge I might syphon into the bottles using a fine sieve.

 

[Saisonator]

I would recommend you pour it out the bottles into a glass before you drink it.

 

[Dave 666]

Well, I do feel that I'll appreciate it better if I can see what it looks like however it turns out.

 

[Dave 666]

Now 7 days since I added the hop sludge and had a final check before deciding on if to bottle. Whilst much of the sediment & hops looks to have sunk and the brew is certainly getting clearer, the brew overall remains present with quite a bit of sediment in the sample glass I drew.

Sure, it might settle in the bottle, but as said its still far more sediment in a drawn glass than I'm happy with. So if there a practical way to try and filter the remaining sediment as I could be waiting another week and still have a lot of sediment?. Thinking of some fine sieves or a small piece of muslin cloth in a funnel during bottling. Would that work and not filter anything out that would prevent carbonisation once sugar is added?.

By the way, sample glass tastes great, very pleased so far for flat warm ale. Can't wait to see what it ends up like.

 

[Dave 666]

Bottled this up yesterday, bit of a messy process but got the hang of it in the end. The first few bottles had way to much big particles of sediment in than I was happy with. So I guess the syphon system only has a sediment trap and not a filter fitted.

No worries, the muslin cloth over the 15 litre stock pot filtered the big particles out well enough. Particularly effective for the last few litres. Though in thinking I could maybe have just tied a small offcut of the muslin over the end of the syphon system and used that to filter the bigger particles without the need to syphon into a second container prior to bottling.

Some into glass bottles, some into plastic to better know how carbonation is going. As soon as a nice firm plastic bottle time to cool them I guess.

Again, had a little taste, not to sure this time, time will tell I guess. But won't be expecting to much for my first brew, as I did have the issue over the 1000 gravity reading which is unusual. As long as its drinkable I'll be happy.

 

[Dave 666]

So near 2 (only) days after bottling I note the plastic bottles getting notably firmer. Sod it I think, England are playing in the world cup on TV so cool a bottle and test it, of cause I'm not expecting complete carbonation after 2 days let alone fully ready. Open the bottle, a little fizz, yet not hit with the hoppy smell\gasses that catches you like my sample bottle in the shop did. But semi carbonated all the same and poured it into a glass which held the carbonation pretty well. Still quite cloudy though.

Clearly its nothing like ready, but also no indications of the messed up brew it could have been from a FG 1000 reading either (maybe more 1001?) . I can definitely get that Bohemian Pilsner taste from it, even if very much a young immature beer. Very happy at this early stage and things are looking promising if its drinkable (just) at such a young age.

 

[ITMA]

There must be something wrong with your hydrometer, that reading is bizarre. If it's drinkable now, you've definitely got a winner, this one improves markedly after 4 weeks or so.

 

[Dave 666]

There must be something wrong with your hydrometer, that reading is bizarre. If it's drinkable now, you've definitely got a winner, this one improves markedly after 4 weeks or so.

I did test my hydrometer with 20c water and that gave a 1000 reading, so possibly not much if anything wrong with it. And when I did my next (and first AG ) brew the SG reading was pretty much spot on what it should have been.

I don't know how on earth I got it so low, despite that the instructions suggest a target FG of 1004 or less. All I know is that the weather was warm, certainly had fluctuating temps and that temps were within the most upper (if acceptable) limit of temps.

My guess is the yeast worked very well with my unique fermentation conditions as above?. Even now as I type I can feel it improving more with each sample. In all honesty, this isn't going to last months. But I sure intend to keep about half the bottles for a minimum of a month before trying how this improves. Will certainly get this kit again.

 

[Dave 666]

OK, having sampled a number of bottles, just needs maturing I feel. But a few bottles tonight whilst the football is on is in order. A pic of today's chilled beer that I'm currently enjoying a few bottles of.

 

[Jordan West]

Hey, how's it going guys. First timer on here...

I've just started this kit tonight. Its my second one of the beerworks kits. First was the Chinook IPA, which is doing well and is waiting for Christmas.. I am just a bit worried now, I have read the instructions over again and it says to only add the big bag of sugar for the IPAs, stouts etc...even though it was in the kit for this pilsner.. I noticed the OP said he added the sugar as per instructions so I assume its OK.. Would there be any reason not to add sugar for fermentation in a Pilsner?? The yeast I had was also a lager yeast...

Cheers

 

[Mungri]

It’ll only be included if it’s needed in that kit. If you look at the bitters in the range the extra sugar isn’t included, so you’ve done the right thing adding it.
Good kits to start with the beerworks ones. Not done that one but the couple I did were decent brews.

 

[ITMA]

Definitely no problem. It will add %ABV without adding any flavour. The instructions for these kits are all over the place.