Bulldog Brew Bad Cat

[Mavroz]

My next brew is going to be a Bulldog Brew Bad Cat.

The kit has arrived and hopefully will hit the Fv (hopefully getting to know the terminology a little)abigt on Sunday, all being well.

Big bag of Extract, a couple of packs of Hop pellets this time (my last one was leaf and bud).

What i have noticed i the yeast packet is only 10 grams.... Again my last brew was 20 grams.

Will it be necessary to buy more / add more yeast to ensure a good fermentation? Am i being paranoid about what i have read regarding small yeast packs and stalled fermentations?

 

[Chippy_Tea]

Moved from the kit brewing forum as no one had answered.

 

[Mavroz]

No worries, it is in the FV now, hopefully bubbler will start sometime in the next 24 hrs.....

 

[Chippy_Tea]

The old Woodforde's Wherry kits came with 6g of yeast and many failed they now come with 11g so you should be OK.

Have a look at the Woodforde's Wherry kit thread here - https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/the-last-stuck-woodfordes-kit-thread.74911/

.

 

[AdeDunn]

I made one of these back when I made kits. The yeast managed the job ok, but the beer was ruddy terrible! Went down the drain in the end. Not even my wife could drink it. You'll probably find yourself wishing it had stalled.....

 

[Mavroz]

Ok, will see how it goes as it gets really good buyer reviews on the net. Hopefully it will be fine, smelled really nice.

 

[RichK]

I've not done the Bad Cat, only an Evil Dog. I too wondered if 10g of yeast was sufficient & as I had a 'stingy' Muntons 6g pack to hand that went in as well. I think it needed it as it took a good three weeks to finish. OT- it's the only homebrew kit I've done to date that I won't be doing again as it was a triumph of alcohol over flavour. ymmv.

 

[Mavroz]

Right, the Cat has been in the FV for 2 days, there appears to be a visible foam appearing around the bucket on top of the liquid.

The issue i have with it, is the gas that is coming out of the airlock (very slowly to say the least, unlike my last brew) smells distinctly of sulphur (rotton eggy smell)

Now i was worried that there may have been something nasty going on and was wondering whether to dump it or not.

While the forum has been down, talked to a local brewer and he said do not throw it, it may be the variety of yeast that is producing the smell. I told him what the brew was, which he hadn't heard of but said let the fermentation run it's course and see what the gravity is in a fortnight and see what it smells like then.

He also suggested that i get some yeast nutrient, follow the instruction on that if i am worried. This may clear the smell up if the yeast is just being lazy?

Any ideas?

 

[steve denholm]

I'd just wait and see matey (I've only brewed 2 extracts myself, the first one I watched everything the FV did worried and posted on here but the beer turned out great), if there's foam round the top the yeast should be doing its thing.
I also only really "broke the seal" on the FV at the end of 3 weeks to take SG readings and then to bottle

 

[Mavroz]

Had a fiddle as I could still smell the brew but the air trap had stopped bubbling or moving. I think I have a leak between trap and grommet or grommet and bucket.
Removed trap and gave a couple of wraps of ptfe tape to the stem and pushed it back into the grommet which seems tighter. Will monitor.
Think I need to find a better way of making sure the blow off is airtight against the bucket rather than just pushing a silicone grommet in and relying on that.

 

[Pavros]

Rotten egg smell can be normal for some yeasts - I don't think it'll be anything to worry about.

I have made a few of the Bulldog 4 Fingered Jack kits and they take a while to fully ferment. I usually let kits go for 2 weeks in the fv but the Bulldog and the Youngs American seem to take at least 3 weeks before they are ready for bottling.

 

[Mavroz]

Thanks for the reassurance. abigt

 

[AdeDunn]

Just checked my notes, mine took a full 4 weeks to finish fermenting completely, and was bubbling the whole time. Went from 1.064 to 1.004. That was the problem, too much alcohol, not enough flavour to counter the alcohol flavour. By the time the alcohol started to mellow, the dry hop had faded completely away.

 

[Burtie]

I've currently got this secondary fermenting in a pressure barrel.. It's my first brew, didn't notice much in the bubbler after a couple of days so had a sneaky peak and saw a large krauzen(??) and nice yeasty aroma..it had a constant FG after about 10 days and I added the hop bags 3 days before moving to the pressure barrel (ideally one or two days may have been better).
Personally, I'd leave it and as you take FG readings have a sip.. Mine was quite sweet but certainly palettable.. My OG was 1.059 and FG 1.008 making it approx 6.7%

 

[Burtie]

Had a problem with the pressure barrel - I'd only put Petroleum Jelly on the cap and not the tap screw also so I had to release the pressure a bit, lay down the barrel and replace the tap.
Here's the brew after one day in the barrel..

 

[Mavroz]

Thanks for the info Burtie, i only use bottles at the moment.

So, i added the stated amount of Yeast Nutrient to the Cat in the FV yesterday and pretty much immediately the bubbler went off on one.
24 hours later, a steady burp every 20 seconds or so and in all honesty the eggy smell is starting to subside and be replaced by the brewing ale smell.
The guy i spoke to did recommend me to use Yeast Nutrient in any beer or ale that is heading up towards the higher end of 7% and above ales.
He said it just reduces the chances of the yeast stalling as basic yeasts possibly tend to get alcohol shock at higher %'s.

Is this true, has anyone else heard of "shocking the yeast", i guess the guy is right up to now as the brew has sprung back into life,

 

[Burtie]

I've two turbo ciders on the go and am using Yeast Nutrient in them..

I haven't added it to the kit brews (mainly because I assume they have the correct type and amount of yeast) but it shouldn't negatively affect the beer if you did..

 

[Mavroz]

The Cat is due to be dry hopped tomorrow.... The thing is there is still a good strong burp coming out of the air trap every 3 or 4 minutes.

Do i still hop on the suggested day? Do i wait a little longer as i am only going to hop for 2 days before bottling? Well that was the plan.

 

[Burtie]

Personally, I'd wait.. You're two weeks isn't up until Sunday and ideally you need 3 days with a constant SG reading. Your brew should be perfectly alright where it is for 3 or 4 weeks or more..
Perhaps dry hop after 2 days constant SG?

 

[Mavroz]

Ok. Dry hopped the cat this morning. SG has been pretty.much bang on 1011/1012 since Thursday evening.

Must say it looks very nice.. had to have a small taste and it is again very nice. No sulphur odour or taste whatsoever. Looks like the nutrient has helped.

Anyway 48 hr dry hop then bottle up probably Monday.

As this goes into condition, the English ale will be 6 to 7 weeks in so hopefully will be good for the p**s up next weekend for bank holiday, if the samples I tried 're anything to go by.