I've been doing these kits for a while they are by far the best on the market and yes if your a pig like me and can't wait to drink it they do taste a bit hoppy and you will find as you get too the last few pints it tastes amazing patients is the best thing a home brewer has
Festival Golden Stag Summer Ale Review
- Thread starter muddy90
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Just found a stray bottle of this at the back of the cupboard.....brewed it in April 2015.....it will not surprise anyone when I write that it has settled down wonderfully....
Happy Sunday!
Happy Sunday!
Did this as per instructions with all the hops included, bottled end of April - 6 weeks on and its a great drink - Golden and summery but no sign of any stags yet ! Hopefully tonight !
In all seriousness probably my best kit to date , so will be doing again soon.
In all seriousness probably my best kit to date , so will be doing again soon.
After a long lay of from brewing I called into a local home brew shop and was recommended to try this kit. I pretty much followed the instructions and added the hops after 5 days, however it took longer to ferment out so I would say they were in for around 10 days which I was little worried about.
I bottled it and had a taste as there was about half a bottle left over, I was very pleased even at that stage. After 2 weeks in the bottle I could not resist trying it and was pleased as the flavour had mellowed a little even though not completely clear in the bottle. After a month this is a cracking pint, and without doubt comparable to commercial brews in terms of flavour - though mine is a little hazy I am happy with it, actually I am delighted and will definitley do this kit again.
I have a local real ale micro pub near me and have been sampling some of their summer hoppy beers and I can certainly say that if you served up a pint of this in a blind tasting it would hold its own with those commercial brews. Yes it is very hoppy and citrusy but that seems to be fashionable at the moment.
If you haven't tried it then you should.
I bottled it and had a taste as there was about half a bottle left over, I was very pleased even at that stage. After 2 weeks in the bottle I could not resist trying it and was pleased as the flavour had mellowed a little even though not completely clear in the bottle. After a month this is a cracking pint, and without doubt comparable to commercial brews in terms of flavour - though mine is a little hazy I am happy with it, actually I am delighted and will definitley do this kit again.
I have a local real ale micro pub near me and have been sampling some of their summer hoppy beers and I can certainly say that if you served up a pint of this in a blind tasting it would hold its own with those commercial brews. Yes it is very hoppy and citrusy but that seems to be fashionable at the moment.
If you haven't tried it then you should.
Hi All,
this is my second festival kit, and i had carbonation issues on both. I did Razorback the first time and after 4 months it was still flat. I spoke to the homebrew shop and he said shake them and warm them up for a few days (it was in winter) and it all came good, beautiful brew.
The Golden Stag however has been 3 months, and wont carbonate. I've bottled it in a mixture of Grolsch type glass bottles and reused plastic PET bottles. The beer has a good taste, but is a bit sweet (understandably). The difference is that i bottled the Razorback in November at about 17-18 degrees Celsius, and the stag in June at 30 degrees Celsius, I live in Barcelona!
I've been told the heat shouldn't have mattered, it would have just resulted in a bad taste if there was a problem.
Could i have killed the yeast at the high temperatures?
Any suggestions to save the brew?
this is my second festival kit, and i had carbonation issues on both. I did Razorback the first time and after 4 months it was still flat. I spoke to the homebrew shop and he said shake them and warm them up for a few days (it was in winter) and it all came good, beautiful brew.
The Golden Stag however has been 3 months, and wont carbonate. I've bottled it in a mixture of Grolsch type glass bottles and reused plastic PET bottles. The beer has a good taste, but is a bit sweet (understandably). The difference is that i bottled the Razorback in November at about 17-18 degrees Celsius, and the stag in June at 30 degrees Celsius, I live in Barcelona!
I've been told the heat shouldn't have mattered, it would have just resulted in a bad taste if there was a problem.
Could i have killed the yeast at the high temperatures?
Any suggestions to save the brew?
![BREWING THERMOMETER STICKERS ACCURATELY MONITOR FERMENTING BEER & WINE LIQUID TEMPERATURES 5PCS HOME BREW SPIRITS WINE LCD ADHESIVE [US]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/311DDjo2X3L._SL500_.jpg)
GhostShip
Junior Member
Put this into the FV today. My first Festival kit and smells wonderful though the two plastic sachets that contain the extract irritated me - seems much more difficult to get all of the extract out compared to cans. I assume all Festival kits are produced in the same way.
Still, really looking forward to trying this one given all the positive reviews. First time I've used StarSan as well, which I found a trial - not rinsing just feels so alien!
Will add a proper review in a few weeks time!
Still, really looking forward to trying this one given all the positive reviews. First time I've used StarSan as well, which I found a trial - not rinsing just feels so alien!
Will add a proper review in a few weeks time!
crayfisher
Active Member
I love this kit,probably my favourite of the festival range and made it about 4 times now, just bought the summer glory one and started the new zealand pilsner today. :whistle:
I have never found these to be too much of a problem. I stand them in a jug and pour some hot water into them and leave them for 10 minutes which disolves the remaining extract you can then carefully pour them into the fv.
GhostShip
Junior Member
Phew! Just finished bottling my Golden Stag. Had planned to do it at the weekend, but ended up busy on Saturday and in London on Sunday. The hop pellets went into the beer last Tuesday evening so I was conscious of not leaving it too long. Tuesday and Wednesday are squash nights so it really had to be tonight.
All went really well. The only thing I forgot to do was to put the muslin bag over the siphon tube when transferring from the FV to the barrel (which is when I batch primed), so tried the bag over the end of the Little Bottler when transferring to bottles which actually worked fine.
I've only bottled once before and this took a quarter of the time thanks to Starsan, the Little Bottler and the new bottle tree and bottle rinser that I bought last week. I absolutely wouldn't be without any of these four items - the rinser is a brilliant piece of kit.
You'll all be familiar with that tremendous feeling of satisfaction when it's all done and everything is washed up. Just a pity it's only coffee I'm sitting here 'celebrating' with.
Will report back with a review of the beer in a few weeks. I have high hopes for this one - hope I'm not disappointed!
All went really well. The only thing I forgot to do was to put the muslin bag over the siphon tube when transferring from the FV to the barrel (which is when I batch primed), so tried the bag over the end of the Little Bottler when transferring to bottles which actually worked fine.
I've only bottled once before and this took a quarter of the time thanks to Starsan, the Little Bottler and the new bottle tree and bottle rinser that I bought last week. I absolutely wouldn't be without any of these four items - the rinser is a brilliant piece of kit.
You'll all be familiar with that tremendous feeling of satisfaction when it's all done and everything is washed up. Just a pity it's only coffee I'm sitting here 'celebrating' with.
Will report back with a review of the beer in a few weeks. I have high hopes for this one - hope I'm not disappointed!
GhostShip
Junior Member
Right, after 3 weeks in the FV, 2 weeks secondary fermentation in bottles, 2 weeks in the cold and then a further 6 weeks back at room temperature, I've just poured the first bottle of my Festival Golden Stag.
First the positives. Great golden colour, perfect carbonation and good head. Not as clear as I would have liked for some reason, but perfectly acceptable.
Now the negative. There is a hint of home brew twang. This is the third kit I've made and the first two suffered badly from HBT. This is not as bad as the first two, but it's definitely there. If you can get past the twang, it's reasonably hoppy, with a nice bitter taste, though I would prefer a bit more flavour and a bit more 'body'.
I'm trying to console myself with the fact that it's the best I've made so far, but if this is the pinnacle, then I'm wasting my time with kits.
The difference between this one and the first two (Wherry and St Peter's Ruby Red), is that I used Starsan rather than Wilko's own brand sanitiser. Water was Tesco Ashbeck mineral water and the yeast was that supplied with the kit. Brewed to 23L.
I'm going to try another couple of kits - probably Cwtch and the American IPA and if I can't get rid of the twang, then I'm done. If it's not the water or the sanitiser, then it has to be the lack of temperature control or that's just what you get with kits and I'm too fussy.
It's drinkable though and certainly won't be wasted. Things could always be worse!
First the positives. Great golden colour, perfect carbonation and good head. Not as clear as I would have liked for some reason, but perfectly acceptable.
Now the negative. There is a hint of home brew twang. This is the third kit I've made and the first two suffered badly from HBT. This is not as bad as the first two, but it's definitely there. If you can get past the twang, it's reasonably hoppy, with a nice bitter taste, though I would prefer a bit more flavour and a bit more 'body'.
I'm trying to console myself with the fact that it's the best I've made so far, but if this is the pinnacle, then I'm wasting my time with kits.
The difference between this one and the first two (Wherry and St Peter's Ruby Red), is that I used Starsan rather than Wilko's own brand sanitiser. Water was Tesco Ashbeck mineral water and the yeast was that supplied with the kit. Brewed to 23L.
I'm going to try another couple of kits - probably Cwtch and the American IPA and if I can't get rid of the twang, then I'm done. If it's not the water or the sanitiser, then it has to be the lack of temperature control or that's just what you get with kits and I'm too fussy.
It's drinkable though and certainly won't be wasted. Things could always be worse!
nigelnorris
Beavis at Bat
I honestly don't think that it's that. Too many of us have made and enjoyed Festival kits, they don't taste home-made. I've yet to make an all-grain brew [and I've done a fair few by now] that I can honestly claim to be anywhere near as good as the Festival kits I was making before I swapped. Not that I'd go back, but it's a different kind of enjoyment.
I think you'k find Cwtch much, much better, And maybe the American IPA too (I did the American Amber Ale and loved it). I didn't think too much of Golden Stag when I brewed it.
GhostShip
Junior Member
Thanks guys. I'm not ready to give up yet!
Dutto
Landlord.
Did one of these last year:
FESTIVAL GOLDEN STAG SUMMER ALE
Started 8th August 2016
Yeast pitched at 25 degrees. Fermenting at 24 degrees in fridge.
Hop pellets from kit plus, an additional 20g of Cascade Hop Pellets, added 13th August 2016.
Moved on to worktop 16th August.
Kegged 22nd August into MK 5, 6, 7 & 8 and four 650ml flip-top bottles.
OG 1.044
FG 1.007
ABV 4.86%
I took the MK's to France and taught my mate how to fit the Flexi-Tap. It tasted superb ... :thumb:
... and my French mate thought the same; unfortunately!
FESTIVAL GOLDEN STAG SUMMER ALE
Started 8th August 2016
Yeast pitched at 25 degrees. Fermenting at 24 degrees in fridge.
Hop pellets from kit plus, an additional 20g of Cascade Hop Pellets, added 13th August 2016.
Moved on to worktop 16th August.
Kegged 22nd August into MK 5, 6, 7 & 8 and four 650ml flip-top bottles.
OG 1.044
FG 1.007
ABV 4.86%
I took the MK's to France and taught my mate how to fit the Flexi-Tap. It tasted superb ... :thumb:
... and my French mate thought the same; unfortunately!
sdt7618
Landlord.
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I have done 3 Festival kits and the Youngs American IPA and can honestly say I have never had any kind of homebrew twang. Back in the day when I started doing kits 30 years ago it was par for the course but with today's premium kits it's a thing of the past in my experience. I don't have temperature control, I do have somewhere that the temperature stays pretty constant.
The festial kits I have tried have all produced a beer that is sa good as some real ales in my local micropub. What I sould say is that the timings given on the kits for them to be ready are a little optimistic, but then they want to sell it as way of drinking quality homebrew in a relatively quick time. I always give mine longer in the secondary and longer in the bottle.
GhostShip
Junior Member
I wish someone could tell me what causes HBT! It's not the water and it's not the sanitiser. That leaves me with temperature control or possibly old extract in the tin. The first two kits I made had that smell and taste and it's so off putting. The Golden Stag is not so bad but it's still there. It could drive a man to drink...
