Festival ale hop pellets

[livewire]

Hi All
Just wanted a bit of help and advise.
I have brewed a Festival father hooks best bitter and added all the hop pellets as per the instructions, but found the hop taste to be very strong even after leaving for 6-8 weeks after conditioning.

I am now brewing one of their golden stag summer ale kits but don't want the hop taste to be too strong like the last kit, so I am thinking of only putting in half the hop pellets but worry this mite be to weak?

If any of you can share your experiences with these kits and I would really appreciate the advise.

 

[stout les]

I had the same problem with my stag, even after 6 months the hops were still overpowering. it may be the same with all the festival kits i don't know. next time i do one i would probably use half or even a third or maybe add them all just at the end of ferment.

 

[Monte Cristo]

Add them at the end of the fermentation Livewire and leave for the amount of days recommended on the instructions, that's what i did with my Golden Stag and it turned out really good after about 6 weeks conditioning.
I made the Festival Razorback and had the same problem as you, the hops were really overpowering and a little too bitter for my liking. The problem seems to be that the fermentation is never what the instructions say so if you add after 5 days of a supposed 10 day brew and it takes 18 like mine did, the hop pellets will have been in for 13 days.
Adding them at the end does make the whole process longer but the result is much better. :hat:

 

[Redsnapper]

I have done a few of these and I don't like my beers too hoppy.The fashion seems to be to follow the American trend of more is better,but not I think in this case.So I tend to dry hop with the pellets after 10 days ,so they are in the FV for four days prior to bottling.And I only use about 30g per time.This leaves the rest of the pellets for other brews.They keep well in the freezer, just seal the bag with some duct tape and chuck in the freezer.You can use the frozen pellets straight into another brew whilst still frozen with no problems.
The festival kits are great and still turn out well with less hoppyness.:thumb:

 

[martindisorder]

I have the festival landlords choice in the FV at the minute I dry hopped with the whole pack of pellets after 5 days and they have been in for a week now but my sg is sitting at 1.014 the instructions say it should get down to 1.009. If I was to siphon the beer off the hops into a secondary will it keep fermenting and hopefully get down to the target gravity as I go away tomorrow for the weekend and dont want it to be too hoppy by leaving the hops in for the extra 3-4 day if I can avoid it.
Tried a the sample last night and it tastes like its going to be a good pint. Cheers

 

[Easy Peasie]

Guys
Please note that dry hopping does not add any bitterness to your beer. The bitterness is extracted during the boil. It will add flavour and aroma.

 

[Mfc86]

I am doing a golden stag now... Quite new to brewing, I am a bit tentative about opening the lid after 5 days, is this not a bit risky with air getting in?