Bulldog, Hammer of Thor

[redhousebrewing]

Noticeable improvement at 6 weeks conditioning (2 in the warm and 4 weeks in the cold) - the alcohol taste has just about gone.
Saving most for over Xmas and its shaping up to be a very nice (and potent) brew.
Stuart

 

[Markdon]

What was your OG?

What did you do for priming? Thinking about leaving my hops out til its fermented out, then adding them for three days before bottling, for a bigger aroma punch.

 

[motney]

Just completed my first lager -Thors Hammer- very pleased. Came out at 5.7% purely because in my little cottage I cannot control the temperature very well that said it tastes wonderful and just in time for Christmas.

 

[redhousebrewing]

What was your OG?
What did you do for priming? Thinking about leaving my hops out til its fermented out, then adding them for three days before bottling, for a bigger aroma punch.

SG was 1054 corrected and FG 1009-1010 - I brewed to 22.5l (full length when allowing for hop tea and batch priming) with 250g beer enhancer added in.
Added 200ml of hop tea 12 days in and bottled on day 16, batch primed with 4oz granulated sugar dissolved in 300ml boiled water.

HTH
Stuart

 

[motney]

Wow adding Beer enhancer to Thors Hammer....like it ....did it make any difference?

 

[redhousebrewing]

Wow adding Beer enhancer to Thors Hammer....like it ....did it make any difference?

Its only a small amount of extra fermentables but IME brewing kits at full length leads to falling slightly short on ABV - the beer enhancer would add around .3% ABV in this case and I hit the 6% ABV target. It feels to me like the ABV figures on the packets are marketing figures and only obtainable in ideal conditions (not critiscism of Brewferm, just a general observation).
This is the first HoT kit I've done so nothing to compare it to - expecting that the best is yet to come as it continues to mature.

Stuart

 

[Markdon]

After 8 days the gravity is 1010, still bubbling albeit slowly. Tasted quite sweet?

Think i may put the hops in for 4-5 days then rack into secondary for a week, before priming the bottling bucket and bottling.

 

[Markdon]

Seeing the other fg above was 1010, I'm going to add the hop tea tomorrow for 6 days then rack to secondary for a week.

 

[Markdon]

Racked into clean bin today, fg was 1006, started at 1050 so works out at 5.8%, not too far from the target.

Smelled amazing since the hop tea has been in, trial jar was tasty. Lost a few pints when racking as slipped and banged bin so sediment stirred up. Had the bin on an angle to get the dregs out and failed. Binned that last bit and cleaned up.

A week in there then will batch prime and bottle. Looking to crack one open in march :)

 

[comparethebeerkit]

This was my first beerkit I've made for 30 years, so I followed the instructions to the letter.

Fermentation was constantly around the 20C mark.
I bottled after 10 days into Newcastle Brown Bottles with 1 Coopers Carbonation Tablet per bottle.
I left it for 1 week before sampling a bottle - it definately had the homebrew tang.
I've just tried a bottle after 2 weeks - and it was a really good beer and had lost that homebrew tang.

I think this is going to brew into a great beer, I think it's worth paying the extra money for this kit as it's already better than alot of bottled beers I've bought recently.

 

[Markdon]

2 weeks in the warm, about to go into the cold, popped one just to see how it was going.

Lost 1/4 pint as it redecorated the kitchen.

Doh.

Tastes ok, quite fruity? Doesnt taste like a 5.8% drink. Think it would sneak up on you and slap you in the face. High hopes. As long as the carbonation sorts itself out? Down to it being young?

 

[IOMMick]

This was my first beerkit I've made for 30 years, so I followed the instructions to the letter.

Fermentation was constantly around the 20C mark.
I bottled after 10 days into Newcastle Brown Bottles with 1 Coopers Carbonation Tablet per bottle.
I left it for 1 week before sampling a bottle - it definately had the homebrew tang.
I've just tried a bottle after 2 weeks - and it was a really good beer and had lost that homebrew tang.

I think this is going to brew into a great beer, I think it's worth paying the extra money for this kit as it's already better than alot of bottled beers I've bought recently.

Excuse my newbishness as I only started home brewing at Christmas, but I've seen a couple of comments now saying the kit is expensive - I was just wondering if anything of a similar quality can be produced cheaper (out of a can)? I blindly wandered into my LHBS the other day and spent 19 quid on a single can of Burton Bridge Bitter and then 6 quid on a beer kit enhancer, so when I later ordered the Bulldog 2 can pack with hops etc included for £24.45 I thought it seemed quite reasonable.

 

[mattyhall22]

This was my first beerkit I've made for 30 years, so I followed the instructions to the letter.

Fermentation was constantly around the 20C mark.
I bottled after 10 days into Newcastle Brown Bottles with 1 Coopers Carbonation Tablet per bottle.
I left it for 1 week before sampling a bottle - it definately had the homebrew tang.
I've just tried a bottle after 2 weeks - and it was a really good beer and had lost that homebrew tang.

I think this is going to brew into a great beer, I think it's worth paying the extra money for this kit as it's already better than alot of bottled beers I've bought recently.

Excuse my newbishness as I only started home brewing at Christmas, but I've seen a couple of comments now saying the kit is expensive - I was just wondering if anything of a similar quality can be produced cheaper (out of a can)? I blindly wandered into my LHBS the other day and spent 19 quid on a single can of Burton Bridge Bitter and then 6 quid on a beer kit enhancer, so when I later ordered the Bulldog 2 can pack with hops etc included for £24.45 I thought it seemed quite reasonable.[/quote]

£19 seems very expensive for a single can kit :shock: , the Woodfordes wherry is a two can kit and can be purchased for £15.20 at Wilkos. I am doing a Bulldog Evil dog kit as my next brew, and from reactions so far the £24.50 seems like a good deal for it :thumb:

 

[IOMMick]

£19 seems very expensive for a single can kit :shock: , the Woodfordes wherry is a two can kit and can be purchased for £15.20 at Wilkos. I am doing a Bulldog Evil dog kit as my next brew, and from reactions so far the £24.50 seems like a good deal for it :thumb:

Yes, I think I realised that after I walked out of my lhbs on the Isle of Man - I went straight on to Art of Brewing and ordered 150 quid worth of kit, including the Evil Dog and Hammer of Thor which seemed good value compared to my recent purchase - oh, and a second FV so that I can ramp up production levels. Now I'm trying to bribe my local barman to stash used Grolsch bottles for me... :

I think I'm going to do the Hammer of Thor next, and I'll maybe do a picture update of progress on here.

 

[winnywood]

Just put this bad boy on og was 1.054 smells good made up to 23 lt added yeast at 22.5°c.
First time ive used a bagged kit and it was really easy.
I got my kit from a local indoor market and payed £22.45 so bagged a bargain.

 

[winnywood]

Heres a pic.

 

[winnywood]

Now the froth has gone I reakon its actually 1.056.

 

[Tean Buns]

The brew has been in bottles for almost two weeks, will let you know how it turns out ... I reckon it will need at least four weeks conditioning. :wha:

 

[Markdon]

The difference 5 days in the cold makes. No gushing, tastes like a different brew. So much flavour. Keeping the rest for a month.

 

[Tean Buns]

First taster after JUST two weeks in the bottle, well home-brewer's patience, it's well known that it is an imaginary concept, and the beer is warm to boot ... so I'll be getting back to you all later for a more serious taste test.

The beer has gassed up, that is a good thing, :party: but it obviously needs to be in a nice cool cellar for a few more weeks to let the flavours develop. So let's go for the two week taste test.

Nose => not brilliant but nothing offensive, just two week old home-brew. Some sort of maltiness coming through on the nose, slightly fruity, not surprising really, ale yeast and only two weeks in the bottle. Very respectable for the 'greenness' of the beer.

Palate => a residual sweetness from the yeast not having had the time to do its work, oh impatient one, nicely carbonated but under-standard lager carbonation, this will evolve with time. I cannot pick up any of the hop profile at the moment but then again it is probably swamped by the residual sweetness in the beer. For a two week old lager (brewed with ale yeast it must be remembered) this is quite a decent brew indeed, I am not going to be worrying Paulaner of Munich with it, but it is a promising brew. It will evolve with time, the beer will 'dry out' and with a spell in the fridge to bring it down to standard lager temperatures I am sure it is going to be a very good beer indeed. I think I shall keep it for my guests who are a little adverse to home-brew :mrgreen: ... the dark side is calling them.

So, chuffed with the kit at this point ... and it's a kit ... wish they had made kits like this when I started ... back along. :whistle: