Bulldog, Evil Dog Double IPA

[tobiasbeecher]

Can anyone confirm that the taste changes a fair amount after primary? The smell and taste at the moment is almost like cider for me!

 

[sqrson]

Can anyone confirm that the taste changes a fair amount after primary? The smell and taste at the moment is almost like cider for me!

+1

Mine has been in the bottle for over a week ( had a sneaky snifter ) and it tastes extremally fruity and flowery. Dont get me wrong I like my fruity AIPAs, thats why I went for this kit, but there is no bitterness at the moment - just the explosion of fruitiness. It will make a great summery drink nevertheless :drink:

 

[tobiasbeecher]

Well it is improving. Day 11 of fermentation. I will bottle in about another week.

 

[mattyhall22]

8 days in and bubbling on average once every 10 seconds. what bubble frequency do people stop after?

You will be far better off using a hydometer to take readings, when you get the same reading over three days the fermentation will have done.

FV can sometimes leak CO2 out of the lid rather than the airlock so could look like fermentation has stopped.

:

 

[mattyhall22]

Could use some advice guys.....

I brewed this kit myself a couple of months ago, and think I underestimated the temperature of the room I left my FV in (since bought a heating tray as the room got cold overnight). Bottled the beer after mixing with 100g of priming sugar but noticed it was fizzing in the neck as I bottled it into swing top bottles. I lost about 3 in the first week, exploding. Decided to cycle all the swing tops and relieve some of the pressure, but when I did - a load of sediment rose to the top and didn't budge. Left things for a few weeks and the beer cleaned as expected, so opened one and it exploded all over me lol! As I finished wiping the beer off the ceiling, the froth had calmed to a liquid in my glass but the process had re-mixed all the sediment into the beer. Had a taste, and it was pretty bad but tasted very strong in alcohol. As a last ditch effort to save the batch, I bought a keg, popped every bottle into the keg rather explosively - and then just left it. Poured a small glass last night and it tastes like pure ethanol! It's pretty awful to be honest. Although I've learned a lot from this brew (like really check fermentation has finished, not just check for air-lock activity), I'm left with a barrel of undrinkable ale (even with lemonade). Is there anything anyone can suggest to save the batch? Was thinking of just adding more water, but there wasn't much of a beer/hop taste left either it was that strong.

Any ideas?

JD

If you could crack open the bottles slightly to release some excess pressure then re-seal. You need to be careful not to let any air in though. It will be a pain in the *** to do all the bottles, other than that think binning it all is the only other option.

:???:

 

[tobiasbeecher]

Day 16. The SG hasnt changed in 24 hours and is at 1010. Was expecting it to go a little lower. I will leave it to sit a few more days at least. Some have reported 1006, 1004 etc while others have reported 1010, 1012. Seems quite varied.

Has carbonation been fine for all, despite SG readings?

 

[Maiacetus]

Just mini kegged this IPA yesterday after 20 days in FV. Ended up at 1.004 after starting at 1.060. Had a lag of 24 hours before fermentation started, but it was all done in two weeks.

Lets see how the carbonation s turns out.

 

[tobiasbeecher]

Mine is now bottled after 3 weeks in FV. I used dextrose to prime. Its not as light as yours though, but it is very clear. I crash cooled it and it bottled incredibly clear, despite hopping twice. I am a bit concerned that it was TOO clear. Did any yeast make it into the bottles? Most of the yeast was at the bottom and or around the top by the lid, is that a problem? See below:



But why is it so dark?!



Here it is bottled (more bottles out of picture):

 

[munkian]

Just made this kit up, waiting for it to cool down before I pitch the yeast.

I love hoppy American ales - does this mean I should give it a few weeks in the primary, put in secondary, add finnings and leave for a bit before kegging with the hop bags ?

Thanks :hat:

 

[Bob S]

This is just an exceptional brew. Am steadily ploughing through it just now. I left for a month after putting into keg and I have to say it's just brilliant and has totally hooked me back into home brew once again. Wonderful fragrant hoppy flavours and very pokey. Mine came in at 7.6% which is pretty damn fine for me!

 

[JamesMcS]

This brew is delicious!

Started 13 days ago, just added the hops with a view to kegging or bottling on the weekend, so a total of 18 days in the primary.

The trial jar, pre hops, was a tiny bit sweet and a tiny bit thin - but I made the mistake of making 24 litres instead of 23. probably the nicest IPA I've ever tasted, still - lovely mix of flavours even without the extra hops. And at 8.6% already!

I would recommend this kit to anyone. It's my second brew and it tastes like anything you'd get in a pub with a good cellar keeper

 

[Monkeybrew]

Well I am just finishing the keg of this, and although I admire the ethos behind the kit, I won't be brewing it again.

Just too strong, and winey almost, with a bit too much hoppage, in all just a bit unbalanced.

 

[JamesMcS]

You're right, it is strong - not the sort of thing I'd usually drink - is odd that even that much alcohol isn't detectable right now though.

I'm sure the taste week be completely different after the boys and a month in the keg, be interesting to see how much variation there is from batch to batch

 

[tobiasbeecher]

I still haven't tried mine yet. it is conditioning in the bottles right now. About 1.5 weeks to go!

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

Tried mine and definitely needs longer. Tasted better when I bottled it than it does now. At the moment it's all alcohol.

 

[JamesMcS]

From what I've read, that goes after kegging/bottling for a few months.

This will be the first brew to be drunk out of the three that I've got on the go so will be reporting back with impressions over the coming months. Can't fault the trial jar at the mo though (^_-)

 

[munkian]

Been in the Fv for 13 days now, still has a huge foamy head but no airlock activity, I take it I should just leave it?

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

I take it I should just leave it?

I racked mine to another FV after 12 days and left it another 12 before bottling. How's the gravity looking?

 

[Monkeybrew]

The other thing with this brew was head aches the next day, and it is the only beer to make me a bit ummm, tetchy, grumpy, arseholey or whatever. I am usually a very merry drinker but this seemed not to suit my temperament :-(

 

[tobiasbeecher]

I can try my batch tomorrow, it will then have had 3 weeks in bottle. My plastic bottle has carbonated nicely so I have high hopes for it!