Brewferm kits - any ready to drink in a short time?

martin22 · Oct 16, 2013

Do all the Brewfierm belgian beers need a long maturation? (and how long is 'long?!)

or are there any that can be drunk relatively soon after brewing. Am tempted by one of these: Grand Cru, Triple, Abbey or Diablo but i see the abbey one say needs a long maturation on the brewferm website.

Also how much brewing sugar do they need? Just so i can order this at the same time.

thanks in advance

Speccy · Oct 16, 2013

I've just done the Oud Vlaams Bruin. I know you're supposed to leave the Brewferm kits for months, but I cracked open a bottle after a week to, er, check it was doing OK, and it was so amazing I had to open another. Trying to leave the rest till Christmas, though.

The Triple I did definitely tasted better after three or four months, but it was perfectly drinkable sooner.

Doing the Diablo next.

Each Brewferm kit needs a different amount of sugar. For maximum authenticity you're meant to use candi sugar, but I did both the above using golden syrup.

martin22 · Oct 16, 2013

Thanks,

How do you convert the amount of sugar in g to the amount of golden syrup needed?

Speccy · Oct 16, 2013

Received wisdom seems to be that golden syrup is roughly 20% water. The Triple needed 500g of sugar so I poured in a 680g jar of Morrisons syrup, which gave me an OG of pretty much spot on 1.075.

The syrup pours more easily if you give it a blast in the microwave (after removing the lid).

RobWalker · Oct 16, 2013

yep, about that - 1.25x is the rule of thumb for honey, golden syrup, treacle etc, at least when dealing with the sugar content.

Bowl sprayer · Oct 16, 2013

Yes, some do seem to get there earlier.

Diabolo has matured fairly fast. It has taken less time than the Grand Cru.

My Abdij has also matured quickly. Very drinkable now and it has only been in the bottle 2-3 weeks. I drank it while it was still in the warm during secondary fermentation and it was really good. Very similar to Old Tom.

I am sure they have all benefitted from a good period of racking off in the cool, at least 2-3 weeks before bottling.