Brewmaker Best of British IPA

[GJB]

Had one of these in the FV for 6 days at the end of march. Nothing added apart from the 2 tins.

Didn't seem to do much for 2 days, nothing bubbling or moving. 3rd day it went crazy. Then after 6 days it stopped, got down from 1.042 to 1.009.

Bottled it up with 1 Coopers drop and haven't touched it for over the recommended 6 weeks.

Compared to a Coopers Brewmaster IPA it's pretty good, aged well so far and you can tell its a two can kit - some real depth to it.

Leaving it now for another couple of weeks until my keg of Woodfordes Wherry is gone

 

[winelight]

I have this kit in bottle now, it has had about 2 weeks conditioning in the cold, I tried it early on but wasn't too impressed, I think I maybe overdid the additional hopping. I'll try again after it's had a bit more time and report back.

 

[tricky_dicky]

I have this kit in bottle now, it has had about 2 weeks conditioning in the cold, I tried it early on but wasn't too impressed, I think I maybe overdid the additional hopping. I'll try again after it's had a bit more time and report back.

What additional hops did you put in this? - I have one on the go now and was going to pop in 50g of EKG to dry hop it. I always find kits lack aroma - but your comment makes me wonder if I should just leave it as is?

 

[winelight]

Definitely dry hop it. But I also added hop tea to make it even more bitter. I'm getting used to it now, lol.

I just tried a couple of bottles tonight (I have to drink them up, they're green glass) and it's a lot better than it was. Still rather bitter but I like that.

Anything you can do to enhance the aroma will be good. I didn't dry hop this one, only added the hop tea, but probably should have.

I don't remember which hops I used... Ella, I think. But as I say, only to bitter it, not to add aroma.

 

[tricky_dicky]

I did indeed dry hop this after 7 days in the FV, with 70g of EKG. I had read that this was a beer with quite a malty profile, so thought I would up the ante with the hops and go for it, as it is an IPA.

Bottled it on Saturday, and I had to try one last night. Fantastic stuff, it is quite dark - much more a traditional English IPA than an American one - but the good malt base really backs up the hop character. Clearly it's far too young, but I reckon a month in the bottle and we will have a winner.

One thing I did note was a slight medicinal smell - now I am certain it's not infected as the taste is fine - I am wondering if the amount of Goldings hops I put in have caused this? It's not that prominent, but is definately there.....

 

[europeanbob]

I've just knocked the top off my first bottle of these. Not too impressed to be honest. Very dark and tastes more like a wherry than a pale ale. Only been in the bottle six weeks so I hope it improves.

Can anyone recommend a good two can pale? I like them quite hoppy.

 

[Sandimas]

Can anyone recommend a good two can pale? I like them quite hoppy.

Happy to be proved wrong, but I've never come across a really hoppy kit, tend to be more malt than hops in my experience. I think you need to make the jump to Extract brewing and use some real hops. If you do something like one of these Extract kits, the only extra stage above a normal 2-can kit is boiling the muslin bag of hops:
http://www.forestersarmsales.co.uk/page3.html

 

[europeanbob]

Can anyone recommend a good two can pale? I like them quite hoppy.

Happy to be proved wrong, but I've never come across a really hoppy kit, tend to be more malt than hops in my experience. I think you need to make the jump to Extract brewing and use some real hops. If you do something like one of these Extract kits, the only extra stage above a normal 2-can kit is boiling the muslin bag of hops:

I am thinking of giving extracts a go actually. Seen some of the citra kits which I like. Just need to get a stock pot.

Cheers for the advice

 

[simcoe soup]

This is the worst kit I have made. Far too dark and generally just not very nice.

 

[Kinleycat]

I've just knocked the top off my first bottle of these. Not too impressed to be honest. Very dark and tastes more like a wherry than a pale ale. Only been in the bottle six weeks so I hope it improves.

Can anyone recommend a good two can pale? I like them quite hoppy.

I like the Wilko Golden Ale.
:wha: Did i say like? I mean love the Wilko Golden Ale :drink:

 

[europeanbob]

I've just knocked the top off my first bottle of these. Not too impressed to be honest. Very dark and tastes more like a wherry than a pale ale. Only been in the bottle six weeks so I hope it improves.

Can anyone recommend a good two can pale? I like them quite hoppy.

I like the Wilko Golden Ale.
:wha: Did i say like? I mean love the Wilko Golden Ale :drink:

I've just this minute walked through the door with a Wilko Golden Ale. I've got high hopes for it after reading its review thread. It'll probably be the last kit I do before graduating to extracts. Fingers crossed.

 

[Kinleycat]

I've just knocked the top off my first bottle of these. Not too impressed to be honest. Very dark and tastes more like a wherry than a pale ale. Only been in the bottle six weeks so I hope it improves.

Can anyone recommend a good two can pale? I like them quite hoppy.

I like the Wilko Golden Ale.
:wha: Did i say like? I mean love the Wilko Golden Ale :drink:

I've just this minute walked through the door with a Wilko Golden Ale. I've got high hopes for it after reading its review thread. It'll probably be the last kit I do before graduating to extracts. Fingers crossed.

This stuff is belting!!! :thumb:

 

[Kinleycat]

And now i've got four more to brew at £8 a piece from that nice Mr Wilko!!! :party: :party:

 

[PuggledPrune]

Got one of these kits on its way. Have also ordered EKG to dry hop with. Looking forward to it.

 

[PuggledPrune]

Bottled this today. Must say it tasted a bit watery... hopefully it will improve with age.

 

[Lesinge]

I have done this beer twice. The first time I just did what it said to do and it turned out to be a really nice beer, although it was more malty than hoppy for an IPA and quite dark too. It was a firm favourite for people who tried it. The second time I racked it and used a hop tea of Challenger hops and left it for two days (was going away so didn't have any time to do more with it). It became one of the best beers I have made and people who liked the first one loved this even more. The hops seem to make it lighter in colour and gave it a lovely aroma and citrus tone flavour. On a tasting of my beers it came out top amongst the people there apart from the Brewferm Diablo which they loved because it got them drunk! :thumb:

 

[Cheeseford]

I've done three of these over recent months. The first was kegged, and took a distressingly short time to drink. The second was bottled, and I'm afraid I didn't enjoy it as much as the first. The hoppiness just wasn't there. The third has been in the bottles for about 10 days. I dry-hopped with Fuggles a couple of days before bottling, and the test samples seem much more like my sort of beer than batch 2.

 

[nhenson22]

I picked this kit up the other day as it was only £15. If I do this one next it will be only my third brew so looking for a bit of advice.

From reading the above comments it would seem most agree on the fact that it is not quite hoppy enough for an IPA. What dry hops would you advise to add and at what stage during fermentation do you add the hops?

My other question was regarding the alc %, what did most end up with as their final? I would quite like to make sure it is quite a punchy IPA, is there any fermentables you would advise adding that would mean a higher percentage but not much lost in terms of body?

Thanks all, look forward to getting on with this one.

 

[fatbloke]

Hi
I have just this afternoon bought this kit for my first ever brew!
I think following the instructions 'exactly' is on the cards for me but I'm certainly intrigued by the addition of hops..maybe next time!

cheers

fatbloke

 

[Bowl sprayer]

4th brew and at the end of the primary fermentation i was getting no aroma of anything other than malt. I bought Cascade hops from my LHBS and used two handfuls to dry hop when I racked it. No science involved. I guesstimate 50 grams as about 1/2 the 100 gram bag is left. Left it for 5 days before transferring to a keg.

I kegged it on Sunday 11th. The result is stunning! Very similar to a pint of London Pride i had on the weekend. Although still very young and yet to clear it has a fabulous aroma and hop flavour. I think without the dry hopping it would have been very malty and a bit lame on hops.

I will update with the end result in a few weeks.