Bulldog Four finger Jack American Pale ale.

[Monte Cristo]

Cheers Dave i will give that a whirl:hat:

 

[davecullen86]

Seems this thread is very quiet. Having a drop of my 3 month old Four Finger Jack with a lemonade top tonight and its "ok". Still has that "taste" - APA Lovers: you'll probably like it. English Ale lovers, stay away... It is what is says on the tin so cant complain :)

 

[Monte Cristo]

Tried my carbonation tester bottle last week and was pleasantly surprised didnt think it tasted like alcoholic fruit juice, will see what difference a couple of weeks make.

 

[el gringo]

Now its sat for a little while longer i'm starting to get on with this one a bit better,

I've tried it warm (ambient), Couple of hours in the fridge and also days in the fridge and have come to the conclusion a couple of hours chilling really sets it off well.

Still not completely convinced but its much better than it was

 

[Midlife]

Brewed this and drunk it... It was an easy between extract brewing. Brewed nice in a single FV, transferred to a keg after 7 days. Started drinking at 4 weeks but it was too early. After six weeks, really clear, nice light ale with a definitive aroma. Bit too strong for me at around 6.2. If you like strong beer then it will be ok for you.

Cheers

D

 

[GraemeTheGremlin]

A very interesting thread. I will be starting this kit this evening, I usually wet pitch my yeast but I note from the comments here that the yeast has a different characteristic from more traditional kits that I've experienced.

Does anyone have any feedback on this?

 

[GraemeTheGremlin]

I wet pitched as stated above and I brewed 20 litres as opposed to the 23. It has been in the FV for a full three weeks, I had a lower SG at 1040 than others in this thread and has now settled at 1002. I transferred to a secondary FV on Sunday to add the hops tea and will be priming and bottling this evening. Had the obligatory taste out of the trial jar and I have very high hopes for this beer. Won't be tasting for another month or so, if I can last that long!

I notice folk have been priming with 115g sugar, I would usually prime with 85g.... will let you know the results.

 

[philwood313]

I bottled my four finger jack brew this weekend, it smelt very fruity and I can't wait to see how it turns out.

http://imgur.com/a/tRtJZ

 

[GraemeTheGremlin]

Had a bottle of this last night, it's worth the wait. Beautifully complex beer that I'm really proud of. Like a lot of kits patience is rewarded.

 

[SlyBrew]

Only my second kit, but this has turned out reasonably good (for a novice). There's a pretty good aroma to it, which certainly adds to the final product. Much better chilled compared to room temp (not sure if it's supposed to be chilled). Upon pouring, loses most of its head in about 90 seconds, but I'm guessing that's something I've done wrong. Seems a good kit for someone at a similar level of experience.

 

[Knell]

Doing this as my first kit and got a question about the hop timing. Instructions says 2days, should I do that in the primary fv or the the one I'll be using for bottling? If the 2nd, then should I add the priming sugar for bottling after the 2 days?

 

[LordVauban]

Having done a couple of the kits, my advice would be to wait for fermentation to stop, add the hops (they're in a tea bag, right), then transfer to the bottling bucket 48 hours later, and then bottle immediately. If you put the priming sugar, dissolved in a little water, in the bottom of the bottling bucket it ought to mix nicely.

 

[Knell]

Thanks LordVauban, basically keep it simple.

It's been in the fv 6 days and I have to stop myself opening up to take a look. I need to stay patient

 

[Spacedhopper]

Started this off today and my og was around 1055!! I forgot to take it and dropped the hydrometer in after I added yeast!! I also made the mistake on my first kit of not aerating the wort so also stirred and splashed this one for about 5 mins!!!

Smelt very malty for a pale ale .. Will keep you posted

 

[Spacedhopper]

so 3 days in this one is frothing like a good one hitting the lid of the FV!!

Nice smell coming from the airlock too..looking forward to this was going to pressure barrell it but may bottle it now

 

[dbg400]

I just started this kit today. For those that have already done it is there anything extra you need to do with the hop tea bag, other than what is in the instructions?

The reason I ask is that I did the Evil Dog kit recently, and after putting the hop tea bag in a mug of boiling water (though admittedly more like eight rather than 10 minutes) I got very little hop aroma, and the resultant brew has no trace of hop aroma (added a day before bottling, after fermentation had stopped). Very disappointing for a supposedly double hopped IPA! All the other kits I've done (Festival & Youngs) have used hop pellets thrown in loose, and there has been plenty of hop aroma. It might be just a duff hop tea bag, but I don't want the same issue again if it's a trick I'm missing out on.

 

[Spacedhopper]

Haven't got round to the hop tea but yet but as I understand you do the tea then chuck the lot including the tea bag in!!!

 

[Knell]

day 12 now, the Krausen is still on the top. Do I need to wait for this to drop before I start taking gravity readings? I'm not using an airlock so no way to see if the bubbles are still coming up.

 

[Spacedhopper]

Knell, let me know how you get on with yours !

I'm on day 5 and the kreusen is all over the top of the lid but has subsided slightly!!

Not sure if I'm going to keg batch prime or bottle!!

 

[dbg400]

Quite a slow starter this one. Started Wednesday afternoon and not a hint of activity until lunchtime today. It's bubbling along quite steadily now though. I hardly need the waterbath the FV is stood in as it's 19C in my garage at present - weird weather!