Cwtch by Tiny Rebel Brewery

[GhostShip]

Just had a bottle of Cwtch that my wife brought me back from a recent trip to Wales. The kit is incredibly true to the real beer - almost identical other than the bottle of the ‘real thing’ has more carbonation.

Beautiful beer though.

 

[Duxuk]

I tried the methodology of Cwtch. I left the hops in during the entire fermentation. I did 2 brews like this and it certainly gets the hop flavour into the beer but...................I felt in my brews it added a taste which seemed "malty". Since my malt bill was my usual then the flavour can only have come from the hops. It was slightly more caramelly than I would get if I had filtered the hops out so I have not continued to use the technique. I also got a few bottles less from my brews since there was a lot of hop waste to contend with when bottling. Just my own experience there, not advice!

 

[GhostShip]

Just followed up the real thing with a bottle of my Cwtch. It is easily as good in my view - maybe even better! I will definitely do this kit again. I also plan to visit the Tiny Rebel brewery in South Wales at some point - will report back when/if I make it.

 

[Sandimas]

Just had a bottle of Cwtch that my wife brought me back from a recent trip to Wales. The kit is incredibly true to the real beer - almost identical.

Smart move by the brewery IMHO - if it hadn't been for the kit I wouldn't know what Cwtch was. Went into a bar and spotted it so had a pint, the homebrew kit had turned out to be good advertising for the brewery. I dunno why other breweries are so protective of this recipes, us homebrewers are hardly likely to impact their overall turnover.

 

[Brew_DD2]

Smart move by the brewery IMHO - if it hadn't been for the kit I wouldn't know what Cwtch was. Went into a bar and spotted it so had a pint, the homebrew kit had turned out to be good advertising for the brewery. I dunno why other breweries are so protective of this recipes, us homebrewers are hardly likely to impact their overall turnover.

A lot of breweries aren't and are happy to share recipes when asked. Funnily enough, a poster recently contacted Tiny Rebel for the recipe for their Cali and they refused to share it. Seems daft to me.

 

[Beerwolf]

Just wanted to also give my thumbs up for this excellent kit. Second attempt and perfection. Dry hopped after 10 days using a large nylon hop bag, weighted, instead of just throwing them in. This worked a treat with no obvious loss of hop presence. Used Beer Brite to help clear things up and bottled with 2 crafty fox carb drops after 2 weeks. Result is crystal clear reddish brown gorgeousness, all the aroma and flavours there and perfect after only 1 week in the bottle. Have tried the real stuff and this is as good. I wonder if anyone has tried this with steeped Crystal Malt added ? This could be beer heaven. Just to add I used US-05 yeast which seems to have given a better result than my first attempt.

 

[Llamaman]

A lot of breweries aren't and are happy to share recipes when asked. Funnily enough, a poster recently contacted Tiny Rebel for the recipe for their Cali and they refused to share it. Seems daft to me.

Maybe if the Cwtch kit is doing well they're thinking of expanding the kit range, and hence don't want to release the recipe?

 

[GhostShip]

Maybe if the Cwtch kit is doing well they're thinking of expanding the kit range, and hence don't want to release the recipe?

I was told by my LHBS last year that Tiny Rebel have a couple of new kits on the way this year.

 

[RichK]

Just tried my first bottle of Cwtch. This is one that I'll definitely be doing again. Talk about hoppy overload. :shock: Still needs time in the cool to clear a bit though.

 

[Qoelet]

Finally bottled this one up. Left it fermenting for nearer 10 days (after dry hopping) than the instructed 4-6, and it was still really cloudy and bitty.

But managed to get nearly 40 bottles of the stuff. Incredibly easy to do.

Can't wait to try it. I've had Cwtch a few times before and it's lovely.

In fact, Tiny Rebel are one of my favourite brewers. Their Hadouken is one of the best IPAs Ive ever had and their Stay Puft marshmellow porter is incredible. If either of these are part of these new kits they're releasing this year, Im all over them!

 

[Graz]

Having had the last bottle of this last weekend I'll say that this is possibly one of the best kits I've ever made (and I've done a few ).

This is despite the fact I put too much priming sugar in and ended up with it being quite over carbed. To pour it I had to open the bottle, pour carefully into a large jug which was mostly froth at that stage, wait several minutes for it to settle down and then pour it into my beer glass.

Will definitely be doing this again (without deciding I want it to be "fizzy") and I really do hope there are some more Tiny Rebel kits in the pipeline.

There are two others I'd rate close to this, the Youngs Mocha Porter & Oaked Rum Ale. I'm doing my first ever Youngs American IPA so I'm hoping that will also be up there.

 

[GhostShip]

Having had the last bottle of this last weekend I'll say that this is possibly one of the best kits I've ever made (and I've done a few ).

This is despite the fact I put too much priming sugar in and ended up with it being quite over carbed. To pour it I had to open the bottle, pour carefully into a large jug which was mostly froth at that stage, wait several minutes for it to settle down and then pour it into my beer glass.

Will definitely be doing this again (without deciding I want it to be "fizzy") and I really do hope there are some more Tiny Rebel kits in the pipeline.

There are two others I'd rate close to this, the Youngs Mocha Porter & Oaked Rum Ale. I'm doing my first ever Youngs American IPA so I'm hoping that will also be up there.

I was delighted with my Cwtch brew but I have to say, my Youngs American IPA has bettered it. Absolutely beautiful pint to the point where I didn't think it would be possible from a kit. Maybe I just got lucky with fermentation temperatures/dry hopping/conditioning etc., but it's superb. I'm going to do it again as my next brew to see if I can replicate it. Hope yours is every bit as good!

 

[Pit Creature]

Just tried my Cwtch for the first time. It’s beautiful! I haven’t had many pints better than this. Looking forward to trying Young’s AIPA.

 

[Qoelet]

So I've had this bottled now for two weeks (at temps around 15-22, hard to regulate with the recent weather we've had)... would those more experienced at this now suggest putting some in the fridge for a week or two?

I've a family event in just over a week so would ideally like a few ready for then... how much cold storage would people recommend prior for optimum taste?

 

[GhostShip]

So I've had this bottled now for two weeks (at temps around 15-22, hard to regulate with the recent weather we've had)... would those more experienced at this now suggest putting some in the fridge for a week or two?

I've a family event in just over a week so would ideally like a few ready for then... how much cold storage would people recommend prior for optimum taste?

Ideally, they should all now go into the cold for a week or two. I normally leave them for two weeks which helps to clear the beer.

If you can't get them all into the fridge, then put them out in a shed or garage. It's the problem with this time of year if you don't have a dedicated fridge - it's too warm, particularly during the day.

I wanted to get another kit in before the summer, but it's too late now because of the temperatures so will wait until September.

 

[Pit Creature]

So I've had this bottled now for two weeks (at temps around 15-22, hard to regulate with the recent weather we've had)... would those more experienced at this now suggest putting some in the fridge for a week or two?

I've a family event in just over a week so would ideally like a few ready for then... how much cold storage would people recommend prior for optimum taste?

I tried mine early (after 1 week in the house and 1 week in the garage) and it was great, if you like hops! It’s mellowed a bit since but I wonder if I preferred it with the more intense hops. I’m not sure it’ll ever be clear though but that doesn’t bother me.

 

[Liam Galt]

Just after a bit of advise.

My Cwtch has been in the FV for nearly 2 weeks now.

I’m not sure whether I want to go straight to bottling or to put into a secondary fermenter to aid with clearing the brew.

A few people have mentioned how cloudy it seems when bottling and if this would make a huge difference?

Thanks

 

[Jakeyboi]

Just after a bit of advise.

My Cwtch has been in the FV for nearly 2 weeks now.

I’m not sure whether I want to go straight to bottling or to put into a secondary fermenter to aid with clearing the brew.

A few people have mentioned how cloudy it seems when bottling and if this would make a huge difference?

Thanks

Hi Liam, this really is a murky brew. Imo it's def worth putting into a secondary or cold crashing for a week or two. When I made this kit I hopped in a muslin bag, then cold crashed for two weeks, it resulted in a crystal clear beer. My brother in law made this recently without the muslin or cold crashing and we described it as pond water, although it still tasted lovely.

 

[Liam Galt]

Hi Liam, this really is a murky brew. Imo it's def worth putting into a secondary or cold crashing for a week or two. When I made this kit I hopped in a muslin bag, then cold crashed for two weeks, it resulted in a crystal clear beer. My brother in law made this recently without the muslin or cold crashing and we described it as pond water, although it still tasted lovely.

Thanks Jakeyboi

I’m not sure cold crashing is an option. This is my first attempt at Home Brewing so no fridge that can fit my FV in.

(Probably worth the investment though for regulating fermentation temperatures going forward)

 

[Jakeyboi]

Thanks Jakeyboi

I’m not sure cold crashing is an option. This is my first attempt at Home Brewing so no fridge that can fit my FV in.

(Probably worth the investment though for regulating fermentation temperatures going forward)

Yeah it's pretty straight forward to build a fermenting chamber if you have some basic diy skills and YouTube it. Well worth the effort, my beers definitely improved once I got that done. It's still worth putting into a secondary for a couple weeks to clear though, put it somewhere cold in the house if poss. Even a gorilla bucket filled with cold water.