Brewmaker, Old English Ale

[njal67]

Currently have the Brewmaker Old English Ale on the go bought from Wilkinsons.
Been on for 7 days and after the disaster of my previous Youngs kit, this has been much easier.
The day after putting this brew on there was the thickest foam head pushing up the top of the FV

OG started of at 1040 and currently 1016 which was my first test day looking for 1009 so will leave another few days before next test

I couldn't help but sample some from the testing measure WOW it already has a decent taste, lovely malt flavour and a nice hoppy note with good bitter after taste.

I will update in a few days with where it I am at with it but up to now I give this a thumbs up for a try

 

[deano1584]

Just done this myself, very dark and very bitter. That primary batch priming the instructions recommends works a treat :drink:

 

[Lesinge]

I have had this in bottles for a month and whilst at first it tasted a bit like Abbott Ale, over time it has become more choc lately bitter, a bit like a lighter London Porter. Very nice beer, although I actually prefer more hopped beers.

 

[Remf]

I am just finishing the last of this one, and I love it. It is a very dark brew with a good head to it, and I will brew it again.

Alan :

 

[MarkCL]

In case anyone is interested, looks like Wilkinson's have this on sale at the moment at £15 rather than the usual £22 so might be worth getting one and seeing how it turns out :

Cheers,
Mark

 

[Remf]

In case anyone is interested, looks like Wilkinson's have this on sale at the moment at £15 rather than the usual £22 so might be worth getting one and seeing how it turns out :

Cheers,
Mark

That's me off to Wilkinson's then.

Alan :

 

[mike_t]

I got the wilko brewing kit (fermentation bin, pressure barrel etc) as a gift and my partner got me the Brewmaker Old English Ale.

Followed the instructions although the box stated no sugar required but the instructions inside said to add sugar when transferring to the pressure barrel.

The brew has been in the barrel for 3 weeks and I just sampled it tonight......
It has no head and no fizz and there's only 2 reasons why I think this might have happened.
The pressure barrel did initially leak but stopped, and I kept it in my garage which in this recent heatwave got very warm.

Should I ditch it and start again or can I revive with some added sugar or CO2?

Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

 

[HLA91]

If the pressure barrel leaked then your co2 probably was lost, if it tastes fine then drink it and drink it quick as exposure to air will make it go bad quickly, some Vaseline on the o-ring of the pressure barrel will help seal it but once you start dispensing and the initial pressure is lost then air. Will glut up the tap and start to turn it bad so drink quickly. :

Also wilkos are discontinuing this and all the other brewmakers kits by the looks of it.

 

[Deejie]

Interesting thread, broadly in favour of this kit...

... Very nice beer, although I actually prefer more hopped beers.

Such as - what's your recommended alternative?

DJA

 

[MadrikXIV]

I have one of these from the Wilko sale, I have some Challenger, Target and Northdown hops (Me dad likes London Pride) I was contemplating adding them to this one when I get around to it.

 

[avtech]

Wilkinsons now have this reduced to £11 :thumb: , so I started one this afternoon :grin:

 

[tricky_dicky]

Started one of these last weekend (21st), with some modifications

Brewed short to 20 litres with approx 25g Fuggles and 100ml of Black Cherry Kriek Extract. I am not entirely sure what I was aiming for here, some kind of Belgian Cherry Old Ale I suppose.

OG was 1050, and now after 10 days it is down to 1012 ish so looking at somewhere around 5% or just above. Had a taste last night and it is very bitter and very dark, with a slightly sweet finish - I was hoping the bitterness of the hops and the relative sweetness of the cherry would balance this out nicely. Suspect this will need plenty of conditioning time to achieve this.

Plan is to bottle this on Saturday and leave until at least Christmas if not January.

Fingers crossed this turns out ok

 

[Lesinge]

Interesting thread, broadly in favour of this kit...

... Very nice beer, although I actually prefer more hopped beers.

Such as - what's your recommended alternative?

DJA

From what I have tried I like the Wilko Golden Ale, Best of British IPA and the Simply IPA. Of these the Golden ale is the most bitter, the Simply seems to start off the most hoppy but fades and the BOB IPA is quite Malty but you can add some hops to turn it more hoppy which I did on my second brew. Funnily enough the 3rd one I did of this was less malty and more hoppy anyway. The Blackrock Golden Ale is too young yet to tell what sort of hoppiness you get from the plain brew, but I will keep the review up to date.

 

[Deejie]

The Blackrock Golden Ale is too young yet to tell what sort of hoppiness you get from the plain brew, but I will keep the review up to date.

:
DJA

 

[padders]

i have just finished drinking this one, it is just fantastic, i got it for £15.00 at wilko,cant wait to do this one again
i brewed just as instructed , 9/10

 

[iwoo]

Just started drinking this one and its 10/10, the best kit I have brewed yet, 23lts of good tasting beer i GOT THIS AT £11 in the Wilco sale, primed with 1 level teaspoon (measure) of brewing sugar.

Fantasic

 

[goldenone]

I have one of these conditioning at the minute & should be ready for the first taste in a few weeks.

Must say i'm looking forward to this one....Made even better by the fact that I picked up 2 kits (along with a Brewmaker IPA & Yorkshire Bitter) for £5.50 when Wilko were clearing them out

 

[goldenone]

I've had these in the bottle now for around 3 months and it really is a lovely ale.....So glad i've got another of these kits