Bulldog, Evil Dog Double IPA

[Faramj360]

the dog has finished , matured and cleared very strong 9% not to hoppy which I like and crystal clear perfect Ipa. I will be doing it long next time 24/5l get more beer at a reasonable 5/6%

 

[Faramj360]

nice pint

 

[Faramj360]

I will say though, a friend and I have both brewed this and neither of us can manage more than 5x 500ml bottles before being black out drunk (his wife found him naked on their landing) and it does give you a rather large hangover/dry mouth the next day.

 

[pms67]

I will say though, a friend and I have both brewed this and neither of us can manage more than 5x 500ml bottles before being black out drunk (his wife found him naked on their landing) and it does give you a rather large hangover/dry mouth the next day.

Sounds like its worth buying :
Lol

 

[exocetdj]

Hi Guys!

I recently aquired a evil dog brew kit courtesy of my lovely wife.

Left it in primary for two weeks, adding hops 2 days prior to bottling and finings one day prior to bottling

Beer went instantly clear after bottling (due to the finings no doubt) and i left for 5 days.

I got a wee bit impatient last night and tried 3 bottles. It was tangy still and not much fizz but i'm guessing this will change the longer I leave it?

Starting reading was 1.053 and prior to finings being added was 1.008 leaving it 6.1% (i brewed 24 litres) which is strong enough for me!

Anyway it tasted good last night (even despite its youth) and im guessing will carbonate more the lonfger i leave it??

What a true face-smashing beer!!!!

Cheers guys!!! :drink::drink:

 

[goldenone]

After my initial disappointment in the taste of this beer I think I may have found a way of improving it.

It simply requires leaving in the fridge for a day or two before drinking as the taste was far superior to the bottles I had previously drank straight from the shed.

I still wouldn't describe it as superb but the bottle I had last night was the first one I finished out of the 3 or 4 I had tried :

 

[danbriant]

I'm thinking of grabbing myself this kit, as I have not yet brewed beer. I already have a Wide Neck Fermenter 25L with airlock :P

I will be putting it into bottles, possibly using Spitfire bottles mostly. Then storing in a box

How longs the bottle conditioning time on this?

 

[goldenone]

I'd say a minimum of 2 weeks in the warm followed by a further 2 weeks in a cooler temperature such as a shed.

As you said its your first brew but I've found it's all about patience. I personally aim for at least 2-3 months before drinking as you find that the taste improves with time. When you brew more you tend to rotate your brews more so that when one batch is well on the way to being drank another is ready to start drinking.

I'd also recommend for a first kit trying the Woodforde's Wherry as it is still one of the best & most reliable you can do.

Good luck with it though :-)

 

[silverlegend]

I started my second brew on 3rd August and, despite being kept at 22 - 25 degrees, it's still fermenting - much longer than the instructions suggest. I finished the last bottle of the first batch a few weeks ago and am looking forward to the current one.

I'm 'making do' with a very disappointing lager from Coopers while waiting for the evil dog.

On the subject of bottles I was pleased to find that one can still get swing-top bottles, though at a steepish price; my local Tesco stocks some French lemonade (Geyer Freres) at about £3:50 for 750 ml (avoid the pink one - it has a positively foul-tasting sweetener in it!). I've recently seen one of these bottles offered on Ebay as 'antique' simply because there is the foundation date of 1895 moulded in the glass. The French must have been technologically advanced to have made such a good plastic sealing washer 109 years ago!

 

[Del]

Wilkinsons still do swing-top bottles at £8 for 6 (but currently on offer at £6) so don't bother with Tesco. My Evil Dog took about 7 weeks to finish believe it or not (was a bit chilly in the garage though) but starting to taste really good if a bit lacking in malt backbone.

 

[pms67]

I started my second brew on 3rd August and, despite being kept at 22 - 25 degrees, it's still fermenting - much longer than the instructions suggest. I finished the last bottle of the first batch a few weeks ago and am looking forward to the current one.

I'm 'making do' with a very disappointing lager from Coopers while waiting for the evil dog.

On the subject of bottles I was pleased to find that one can still get swing-top bottles, though at a steepish price; my local Tesco stocks some French lemonade (Geyer Freres) at about £3:50 for 750 ml (avoid the pink one - it has a positively foul-tasting sweetener in it!). I've recently seen one of these bottles offered on Ebay as 'antique' simply because there is the foundation date of 1895 moulded in the glass. The French must have been technologically advanced to have made such a good plastic sealing washer 109 years ago!

:razz: M & S do a similar bottle full of lemonade or strawberry or something,when on offer they are about £1.50 or £2 :party:

 

[dan125]

The Range also sell 500ml brown swing top bottles in boxes of 12 for about £12-£15 (can't remember exact price).

And Asda usually have a 3 for £5 deal on swing top bottles of Grolsch. they're only 450ml and green glass but have the advantage of coming complete with beer.

 

[silverlegend]

Thanks Del, for the bottle info. I bought half a dozen swing top bottles at a car-boot sale last year, they turned out to be of Italian origin. They are of relatively thin glass, from their shape do not look as tho' they'll stand much pressure and the top does not seat securely causing easy pressure loss (just as well, possibly!) I think that they are sold by IKEA at something like £3•50 each, I paid £5 for the six and reckon that, even at that price, I was robbed!

My brew has, at long last, stopped and I added the tea-bag hops yesterday. I'm hoping that it will have cleared by Sunday (28 days from start) when I can bottle it and start the wait for it to mature.

 

[silverlegend]

Thanks to pms67 and dan125. My preferred bottles are some Fischer ones (20 of them at 700ml) that I collected years ago along with 6 or 7 Grolsch (500ml?). I've not seen the Fischer for years but will certainly investigate the Asda Grolsch offer and have a look at the M & S ones.

I'm not familiar with the Range but will look it up on the 'net.

Thanks again to all:

 

[pms67]

The Range also sell 500ml brown swing top bottles in boxes of 12 for about £12-£15 (can't remember exact price).

And Asda usually have a 3 for £5 deal on swing top bottles of Grolsch. they're only 450ml and green glass but have the advantage of coming complete with beer.

The only downside is that it's Grolsch :sick: !!!!
Only kidding but homebrew it ain't.
Do what I do and persuade the family that the M&S juice is "worth it" "it'll taste nice on a hot sunny day" then quickly wash and stash bottles in your shed :

 

[mitsu monkey]

Well I'm back again on this thread. After lambasting this kit a few weeks ago it seems I have been too hasty with my criticism of it.
As it ages in the bottle the mellower it gets, it's losing its overpowering alcohol flavour giving way to the hop and grain flavours. To be honest it's not bad at all.

 

[stout les]

its a mistake us homebrewers make, trying them out too early & they're not fully conditioned
I did that with a coopers bitter, it was horrid after 8 weeks in the barrel, but now after 4 months or so its really nice. i think it pays to have a good stash so we dont drink them too young.
i've got 3 bottles of 10 month old coopers stout shouting for me now so i better go & see to them:

 

[Slid]

its a mistake us homebrewers make, trying them out too early & they're not fully conditioned
I did that with a coopers bitter, it was horrid after 8 weeks in the barrel, but now after 4 months or so its really nice. i think it pays to have a good stash so we dont drink them too young.
i've got 3 bottles of 10 month old coopers stout shouting for me now so i better go & see to them:

Interesting one, Les, the Coopers Stout always seems OK after about 10 days! Might have gone out to 10 weeks, but am interested in how you think it has developed over the 10 months.

I tend to use stout to add to cider or other beers, so am intrigued.

 

[pms67]

its a mistake us homebrewers make, trying them out too early & they're not fully conditioned
I did that with a coopers bitter, it was horrid after 8 weeks in the barrel, but now after 4 months or so its really nice. i think it pays to have a good stash so we dont drink them too young.
i've got 3 bottles of 10 month old coopers stout shouting for me now so i better go & see to them:

Yeh Les,better go and see to them :party:
Have one for me mate.
Cheers

 

[stout les]

Interesting one, Les, the Coopers Stout always seems OK after about 10 days! Might have gone out to 10 weeks, but am interested in how you think it has developed over the 10 months.

I tend to use stout to add to cider or other beers, so am intrigued.

your right slid it is a nice drink to drink young. is it worth conditioning for ten months? no it dosn't get any better from a 3 months conditioning.
the only reason mine is 10 months old is i forgot i had them