Festival New Zealand pilsner.

[nigelnorris]

I've pitched in the hops without bothering to bag them. Ritchies suggest dry hopping after 5 days which really doesn't seem a good idea.

With the Ritchies kits that's how they intend it, the little bag is to use as a filter over the end of your siphon tube.

It's a really hoppy brew, four or five days in the FV will give a big hop taste and aroma. In fact a bit too much for me, I've tended to leave the bottles untouched for a couple of months to let it mellow out a bit.

 

[JohnRB]

Advice please.

Instructions clearly say 'Don't stir in the hop pellets'. So after 36 hours they have broken up but are sitting happily on top of the krausen. Should I heed the instructions or give it a good stir?

 

[Tanzanite]

Advice please.

Instructions clearly say 'Don't stir in the hop pellets'. So after 36 hours they have broken up but are sitting happily on top of the krausen. Should I heed the instructions or give it a good stir?

Leave it alone, stop twiddling, seal the lid insert air lock and leave unopened for two weeks. then put into a clean FV for another two weeks to clear and the yeast to clean up then you can bottle:thumb:

 

[JohnRB]

Leave it alone, stop twiddling, seal the lid insert air lock and leave unopened for two weeks.

Thanks for the advice.

I'm very much a newby but leaving the hops in for 16 days seems a 'long' time. Ritchies recommend 5 days. Any thoughts?

 

[nigelnorris]

Thanks for the advice.

I'm very much a newby but leaving the hops in for 16 days seems a 'long' time. Ritchies recommend 5 days. Any thoughts?

I ferment for a week or so, then add the pellets for roughly 5 days bringing it up to two weeks, then bottle using the little bag to filter out the hop debris. If memory serves I think that's how the kit instructions go. You can also do as suggested and rack into a secondary, again filtering out the hop mass and then leave for a couple of weeks to condition before bottling or kegging. Either way you only end up with 5 days of dry-hopping.

If there's still enough krausen to be holding the pellets up then I think you might have added them a bit early, better is to wait until fermentation is nearly over then add them. That said there's no harm done, patience will iron out the wrinkles. I've had this stuff bottled for months, it just gets better and better as the flavours smooth out.

 

[terrym]

Advice please.

Instructions clearly say 'Don't stir in the hop pellets'. So after 36 hours they have broken up but are sitting happily on top of the krausen. Should I heed the instructions or give it a good stir?

If you want to send the hop bits to the bottom of the FV knock the the sides of the FV adjacent to where your hops are floating all the way round the FV. There is no need to open up the FV to do this. Keep doing this over a few days and watch the hops 'rain' down to the bottom each time until there are no more. There will only be a few hop bits left on the top when you open up.
And the sock that came with the kit to fit over the end of the siphon tube definitely works. I use mine now every time I dry hop. :thumb:
PS If you want to restrict the length of time the hops are in your brew I suggest 5 days at fermenting temp (you are on day 2 it seems) with a further 2 days in the coldest place you have, which will greatly help clear your beer ready for bottling.

 

[JohnRB]

Excellent. Some really good advice there. I particularly like the idea of tapping the FV to dislodge the hops.

Incidentally, the hops were added on day 9 and temperature had been held at 21Deg.C thoughout. Its the first time I've experienced such an enduring krausen. Love to know what yeast Ritchies used.

 

[Chance1234]

Meh!
Disappointed in this kit, it is just a fizzy IPA . First opened a bottle about six weeks ago,(after initially leaving for six weeks) and it wasn't pleasant, but after leaving it a while it became very drinkable, but as said, its a fizzy IPA and not much else - I wouldn't say its bad by the way, just had higher expectations.

 

[turkish]

i and my mate brewed couple of festival kits (razorback n new zealand). First immediately change the yeast. I hate their yeasts.
ı also add 1,7 kg lme and half kg. sugar and brew two different batches. Becomes more economic and more easy to drink. My friend however he sticks orginal recipe. ı think my touches make the kit better.

 

[Caolan]

i and my mate brewed couple of festival kits (razorback n new zealand). First immediately change the yeast. I hate their yeasts.
ı also add 1,7 kg lme and half kg. sugar and brew two different batches. Becomes more economic and more easy to drink. My friend however he sticks orginal recipe. ı think my touches make the kit better.

What do you not like about the yeast? I've just kegged their Golden Stag today. Only used half the hops and dry hopped for 24 hours because of the new zealand pilsner being a hoppy bitter mess in my opinion.

 

[Glitchy]

maybe not
There's a thread on the festival red larger discussing the yeast
(cant post link sorry)

Was discussing this brew today at my local brew shop, the owner seemed to think it was a Californian yeast, m54 maybe?

 

[rickyE93]

Hi, this kit has just arrived and I intend on following the instructions (apart from ignoring the 21L and going to 23L as I saw in another thread that the 21L is a typo.)
The kit only has 350g of brewing sugar and another 150g for priming sugar. My question is, is the 350g enough? This is only my second brew and a lot of the kit instructions I have seen seem to suggest adding at least 1kg of brewing sugar or equivalent. Thanks!

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Hi, this kit has just arrived and I intend on following the instructions (apart from ignoring the 21L and going to 23L as I saw in another thread that the 21L is a typo.)
The kit only has 350g of brewing sugar and another 150g for priming sugar. My question is, is the 350g enough? This is only my second brew and a lot of the kit instructions I have seen seem to suggest adding at least 1kg of brewing sugar or equivalent. Thanks!

Is it a single or double can kit? If double then 350g would be OK.

 

[Ale House Rock]

Hi, this kit has just arrived and I intend on following the instructions (apart from ignoring the 21L and going to 23L as I saw in another thread that the 21L is a typo.)
The kit only has 350g of brewing sugar and another 150g for priming sugar. My question is, is the 350g enough? This is only my second brew and a lot of the kit instructions I have seen seem to suggest adding at least 1kg of brewing sugar or equivalent. Thanks!

I've made a lot of Festival kits and the quantity of brewing sugar will vary depending on the intended final ABV assuming you get down to the predicted final gravity. So, if all goes to plan, the 350g will get you final ABV as stated on the kit. I've always found Festival kits to be fairly accurate in that respect. If you add 1kg of sugar, assuming it ferments all the way to the final intended gravity, you will have a stronger brew and I'm not sure if a pilsner style beer like this would still be palatable with a higher amount of alcohol. Perhaps another more experienced brewer or someone who has actually added more sugar than that provided with the kit would be better placed to advise you.

 

[Crabby_patty]

This is the first beer kit i have made in about 20 years and im impressed with it . Iv only had 2 bottles so far as still conditioning and both got the thumbs up from me and the wife . I put the hops in a sock after reading reports on this thread and it worked fine . Plenty of hop flavour and might be a bit to hoppy for me but hoping it will drop down a bit . If the summer returns im looking forward to drinking a few of these in the sun.

 

[Ale House Rock]

This is the first beer kit i have made in about 20 years and im impressed with it . Iv only had 2 bottles so far as still conditioning and both got the thumbs up from me and the wife . I put the hops in a sock after reading reports on this thread and it worked fine . Plenty of hop flavour and might be a bit to hoppy for me but hoping it will drop down a bit . If the summer returns im looking forward to drinking a few of these in the sun.

Good for you. Plenty more good kits out there for you to explore, too. Enjoy your beer!

 

[The_Don]

This is the first beer kit i have made in about 20 years and im impressed with it . Iv only had 2 bottles so far as still conditioning and both got the thumbs up from me and the wife . I put the hops in a sock after reading reports on this thread and it worked fine . Plenty of hop flavour and might be a bit to hoppy for me but hoping it will drop down a bit . If the summer returns im looking forward to drinking a few of these in the sun.

Great result, this is another of my go to beers!!!