Beerworks President's Sierra American Pale Ale review

[mikecfc]

I bottled mine this afternoon. 1.010 gravity (been fermenting 13 days). Gravity hasn't really moved in about a week. Tasted it, was a very bitter aftertaste. Did you get that? But tasted pretty good. I hope the bitter aftertaste mellows. Bottling took a while with everything. I may get another kit on tomorrow!!!!

Yes had abit of a bitter aftertaste but seemed rather nice for a young beer should mellow a bit hopefully. Did you use the priming sugar included in the kit? Did you use the muslin bag over the end of the syphoning tube and how did that go?
I have my next kit ready a mangrove jack's pink grapefruit IPA.
What brew are you going to do next?

 

[Manuelcj89]

Yes, it did taste nice already. I'm excited for it. I used the priming sugar, brought it to the boil briefly then let it cool. The mesh bag was good! The beer seemed fairly clear already. It did get very fiddly, so I lost (in total) about 2 litres. Which I need to get better at when tilting the bucket. I have a Cwtch kit and a Brewferm (which apparently take a few months in the bottle to get good). Question about cleaning, did you use anything specific? I used left over steriliser, no problems in cleaning things off, I don't know if I should use something special or not?

 

[mikecfc]

Yes, it did taste nice already. I'm excited for it. I used the priming sugar, brought it to the boil briefly then let it cool. The mesh bag was good! The beer seemed fairly clear already. It did get very fiddly, so I lost (in total) about 2 litres. Which I need to get better at when tilting the bucket. I have a Cwtch kit and a Brewferm (which apparently take a few months in the bottle to get good). Question about cleaning, did you use anything specific? I used left over steriliser, no problems in cleaning things off, I don't know if I should use something special or not?

I have always used vwp powder steriliser and never had any issues.

 

[Manuelcj89]

This was my first brew so not sure what people use. I used my sodium percarbonate sterilising powder to clean it too. Hopefully that will be okay. I put Cwtch on today!!!!

Keep me updated on this one please, I'll do the same.

 

[mikecfc]

This was my first brew so not sure what people use. I used my sodium percarbonate sterilising powder to clean it too. Hopefully that will be okay. I put Cwtch on today!!!!

Keep me updated on this one please, I'll do the same.

I bottled mine today went went well but took a while, I think the muslin bag slowed the syphoning down a bit. Really looking forward to this. It smelt really nice as I was bottling and had to have another taste it's good! Mine wasn't clear at all very cloudy tbh hopefully it will clear over time.

 

[Graz]

Kegged mine on Friday (+ a few bottles due to corny keg volume). Smelt good, sample tasted good, bit of malt coming through + the hops. Certainly got potential. Burst carbonated at ~35psi for 24 hours and then dropped to serving pressure. Aiming for around 2.5 volumes of CO2 as I like the American style beers to be a little more fizzy than British Ales.

Hopefully I can give this one a bit more conditioning time, kind of fell behind on brewing so I've pretty much been drinking stuff a week or so after kegging but I'm starting to get the volumes up again!

 

[Manuelcj89]

Okay, I gave in. Had a bottle today. Only been in bottle a week. Wasn't fully carbed (but almost). The aroma and flavour is lovely!!! Still young, you can tell. But seems like a lovely beer. Yeast still hasn't all dropped out, not clear yet, stil tasting a bit yeasty. But very promising. I should wait another two weeks I think.

 

[mikecfc]

Okay, I gave in. Had a bottle today. Only been in bottle a week. Wasn't fully carbed (but almost). The aroma and flavour is lovely!!! Still young, you can tell. But seems like a lovely beer. Yeast still hasn't all dropped out, not clear yet, stil tasting a bit yeasty. But very promising. I should wait another two weeks I think.

I have done the same lit the BBQ and opened a bottle, still a little cloudy but it tastes really good went down a treat! This is only going to get better! I think I will order another kit of this genuinely Tastes like a pub/bottled beer no homebrew twang at all very happy..

 

[Manuelcj89]

Totally agree. Mine was a bit yeasty still and not fully carbed. I'll try another this weekend. Do any of you know if it's worth putting bottles in fridge for about a week to help with clearing etc?

 

[mikecfc]

Totally agree. Mine was a bit yeasty still and not fully carbed. I'll try another this weekend. Do any of you know if it's worth putting bottles in fridge for about a week to help with clearing etc?

Not sure but I have now put all mine in the fridge hopefully to help clear?

 

[Manuelcj89]

Had another one tonight. Better again. Nice sweet Citra but good bitterness, still a bit of yeast but definitely less, so wait another week or two! Not cleared yet. I may put one in the fridge tomorrow for a week and compare it with one I'll put in next Thursday.

 

[Manuelcj89]

Not sure but I have now put all mine in the fridge hopefully to help clear?

Did you fridge them? How did it turn out? I'm debating to put a few in the fridge for a week or two as I have a spare shelf, so want to know if it's successful?

I tried another about a fortnight ago and it didn't taste as good. Very malty and tasted of alcohol more. Hopefully that was just a phase! At about 6% maybe it takes longer to condition anyway.

 

[mikecfc]

Did you fridge them? How did it turn out? I'm debating to put a few in the fridge for a week or two as I have a spare shelf, so want to know if it's successful?

I tried another about a fortnight ago and it didn't taste as good. Very malty and tasted of alcohol more. Hopefully that was just a phase! At about 6% maybe it takes longer to condition anyway.

Yes I have put all mine in my spare fridge, they have all cleared nicely seems a little on the dark side for a pale ale but tastes really nice. Put a few in the fridge for a week and try again. This is definitely my best homebrew kit so far. One thing I have noticed is that this strong without tasting like it!!

 

[Graz]

I tried another about a fortnight ago and it didn't taste as good. Very malty and tasted of alcohol more. Hopefully that was just a phase! At about 6% maybe it takes longer to condition anyway.

This sums up mine to be honest. It's got an odd malty taste to it that whilst not unpleasant is overpowering and throws it all out of balance. Not undrinkable but not the greatest. I force carbonated this maybe a month ago and nothing has really changed, it's perfectly clear when poured. It will now be my draught beer for the next few weeks as it's the longest conditioned brew I have at the moment, might intersperse it with the other beers I have kegged to see if it does improve with age but I'm not sure it will.

Due to the whole thing of kits being 23L and Cornys 19L I do have a few bottles of it as well stashed away, of course I'll open one of these at Xmas and it will be the best beer I've ever made

 

[TastyMcbrewski]

I certainly got the heavy malt taste - I thought I had messed up so interesting to note the above.

The closest thing I could liken it to was Sam Adams lager - not unpleasant but not what I was expecting.

 

[Manuelcj89]

This sums up mine to be honest. It's got an odd malty taste to it that whilst not unpleasant is overpowering and throws it all out of balance. Not undrinkable but not the greatest. I force carbonated this maybe a month ago and nothing has really changed, it's perfectly clear when poured. It will now be my draught beer for the next few weeks as it's the longest conditioned brew I have at the moment, might intersperse it with the other beers I have kegged to see if it does improve with age but I'm not sure it will.

Due to the whole thing of kits being 23L and Cornys 19L I do have a few bottles of it as well stashed away, of course I'll open one of these at Xmas and it will be the best beer I've ever made

Yes, I'd agree with this. I'm getting a spare fridge in a few weeks so hopefully I can control the temperature of the fermentation better. But I'm also in no rush to drink it. So I'll wait and keep checking it to see how it changes over time. It's an okay beer at the moment, but I was hoping for better.

I cracked a bottle of Cwtch that I'd brewed which didn't pop like the rest do (though had carbed well) and it tasted horrible! I'm hoping that's just a one bottle issue and not the entire batch. Was smoky and definitely not how Cwtch tastes, though it tasted very nice before bottling. Hopefully it was a one bottle issue.

 

[GhostShip]

Yes, I'd agree with this. I'm getting a spare fridge in a few weeks so hopefully I can control the temperature of the fermentation better. But I'm also in no rush to drink it. So I'll wait and keep checking it to see how it changes over time. It's an okay beer at the moment, but I was hoping for better.

I cracked a bottle of Cwtch that I'd brewed which didn't pop like the rest do (though had carbed well) and it tasted horrible! I'm hoping that's just a one bottle issue and not the entire batch. Was smoky and definitely not how Cwtch tastes, though it tasted very nice before bottling. Hopefully it was a one bottle issue.

I had that recently and funnily enough it was with my President's Sierra APA. When I opened the bottle, there was no hiss. The beer was undrinkable. Either I hadn't screwed the cap on well enough or it was a faulty bottle with an air leak. It was my first experience of oxidation. The rest of the bottles were absolutely fine, so I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[Manuelcj89]

Ah great, I may pop another in the fridge to test!

@GhostShip I saw you'd written about temperature control of your fermentation. What do you have as a set up?

Thanks again for your info and review here! It got me into home-brewing!!

 

[GhostShip]

Ah great, I may pop another in the fridge to test!

@GhostShip I saw you'd written about temperature control of your fermentation. What do you have as a set up?

Thanks again for your info and review here! It got me into home-brewing!!

Wow - thank you! Please don't blame me if it all goes wrong!

I have a tube heater in my fridge - the cable fits perfectly through the drain hole at the back so no need for drilling, and then an Inkbird controller. I always tend to set the fermantation temperature at 20ºC, with an under/over measurement of 0.5ºC (so if the temp in the fridge drops to 19.5ºC the heater will come on, if it rises to 20.5ºC, the fridge will come on. I think it's made a hugh difference to the quality of my homebrew.

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to try and be patient. Difficult, I know, when beer's involved, but as a guide, after secondary fermentation (at 20ºC), I would then just use the fridge (disconnect the Inkbird) and leave it for two weeks. I then move the bottles to the shed and I won't try the first bottle for at least a month after that (sometimes two). Like you, when I started I would try one when it had only been in the bottle for a week - and I was invariably disappointed. When I'd reach for my last bottle, I'd often realise that it had improved dramatically - and now it was all gone!

It's also why I now keep an eye on my stocks and brew at the right time so I always have time to leave them to properly condition and have another one following up that I know will be ready when the one I'm currently drinking is finished.

Hope this helps!

 

[Manuelcj89]

Wow - thank you! Please don't blame me if it all goes wrong!

I have a tube heater in my fridge - the cable fits perfectly through the drain hole at the back so no need for drilling, and then an Inkbird controller. I always tend to set the fermantation temperature at 20ºC, with an under/over measurement of 0.5ºC (so if the temp in the fridge drops to 19.5ºC the heater will come on, if it rises to 20.5ºC, the fridge will come on. I think it's made a hugh difference to the quality of my homebrew.

If I could give you one piece of advice, it would be to try and be patient. Difficult, I know, when beer's involved, but as a guide, after secondary fermentation (at 20ºC), I would then just use the fridge (disconnect the Inkbird) and leave it for two weeks. I then move the bottles to the shed and I won't try the first bottle for at least a month after that (sometimes two). Like you, when I started I would try one when it had only been in the bottle for a week - and I was invariably disappointed. When I'd reach for my last bottle, I'd often realise that it had improved dramatically - and now it was all gone!

It's also why I now keep an eye on my stocks and brew at the right time so I always have time to leave them to properly condition and have another one following up that I know will be ready when the one I'm currently drinking is finished.

Hope this helps!

Thanks for that!!!
Could I ask a couple of extra questions (sorry to carry on, I'm just eager to learn)?
Your inkbird thermostat I assume also comes through the drain hole of the fridge? Do you tape it to the fermentation vessel or drop in into the brew?

When you say secondary fermentation, I assume that would be when you've bottled? Or is it in a separate fermenter? Do you cold crash before bottling and/or use finings?

I have two more kits (but going to wait until I get the fridge) then thinking of doing smaller 10litre AG brews on my stove top to compare what they're like. Have you tried any All grain brewing?

Again, thanks for your info and help!