Bruphoria Hip Hop IPA

[Hopplehammered]

I won this kit in an HBC giveaway. Put it on today, so review of the kit contents, instructions etc

3.0Kg 2 can kit, comes with hops and an additive bottle (bottle A).

Made up to 22L, Bottle A added and yeast pitched.
I dropped the hydrometer in, albeit with the froth from aeration. Somewhere in the 1042 ish range
Put onto ferment at approx. 19.5

General comments on the kit, instructions clear, it does talk about boiling water in a pan, when a kettle would be fine and easier.
No fussy packaging (which I like) , and ring pulls on the cans, which really makes things easy. There's an aroma when stirring it in I can't quite place - smells good though.
The yeast is a 11grm Gervin G12, which is better than a 6-7grm supplied with many kits. It has a good expiry date of 2017.

I'll comment more when I hop and then when I bottle, and of course taste.

 

[ManseMasher]

Cracking review, thank you!

 

[fourbob]

Nice review, I'd be interested to hear how this one comes out.

I've been drawn to the bruphoria kits when I've been ordering grain from HBC to bump my order up to the free postage level but never yet pulled the trigger because I've never seen them reviewed....

 

[Hopplehammered]

Added the hops tonight. Instructions stated to be added after 10 days, bottle after 14, but due to other commitments I'll be bottling after 20 days this coming weekend. Definitely should be the better for it anyway.

Three hop bags to soak in boiling water for ten mins before adding all to the fv. I'd recommend using a decent sized mug to get them well soaked, I used a normal cup and they were probably packed a bit tight so moved them to a mug to assist in the soaking.

Will report back when bottled.

 

[Hopplehammered]

Ok, three weeks in the bottle so time to report back, I've deliberately waited a while to post to give it a fair review

After week 1 it was really green, borderline vile. Couldn't even finish my 330m l trial bottle. Perhaps expecting too much as a hbc ag apa was drinkable after 5 days.
After 2 weeks, better but had a real kit twang. I could finish a pint but didn't go back for more. I did feel smooth, but not great flavour. The base taste was similar to a young st Peter's red, although from the description it shouldn't have been. Thought I need to lay it down for a while.
After 3 weeks, tried in error btw as I'd capped my last three brews with the same colour caps (a cheap bulk buy). Transformed. Still smooth but really light with a fresh hop flavour coming through mid taste. In comparison to the ag apa I have on the go, you can still tell its a kit (just) but in comparison to half of the new craft beers it's much much better (anyone living in the ROI will know what I'm talking about, lots of beer labelled up as craft, but really mass produced rubbish lacking flavour). Had half a dozen over the weekend and really quite pleasant.

I'm brewing mostly all grain now with the occasional tweaked kit when I need volume. If I were looking another kit at this price (I did win it, but you know what I mean), the choice would come down to a coopers kit with lsm+ a hop pellet tea or one of these. This bruphoria benefits from being self contained and I fully expect it to continue to improve. Definitely worth a look, get some on early spring to mature for the first bbq of the year, as a bbq would really suit this.