First brew - Woodfordes Wherry

[duotwr]

Hi everyone,

thought I should stick a post in here. After a bit of forum advice last week I got my first brew going on Friday night. Doing a Woodfordes Wherry.

Got it going on Friday evening. I brewed it a little short - I've seen some comments about the accuracy of the markings on FVs, so I topped it up to around the 21 litre mark. Yeast went in at 18 degrees or so. Couldn't quite see the OG due to the foam in my sample jar - around 1040 I think.

So it's bubbling away in the spare room. The room gets a bit warm so it's now sitting around 21 (keeping it out direct sun though).

Got a load of Hollows Fentimans bottles from my brother in law (who runs a pub in Newcastle) - just getting them cleaned up and ready for (hopefully) some time next week. Great fun!

Keith

 

[morethanworts]

Good luck! I guess you may have seen some of the other Wherry threads recently. Mine is certainly looking promising, 10 days on now.

 

[marksa222]

Sounds like it's going to plan. I plan on doing a wherry sometime soon, the review seem to be the most positive out of all the kits i've seen.

Best of luck mate.

 

[duotwr]

Thanks, I'll keep you posted. It seemed a wee bit slow to start, but looks like it's going ok.

I get the impression from various threads that patience is important, and I shouldn't rush to get it out the FV. So I'll give it at least 10 days and see how it is.

Keith

 

hi good luck with your kit ... :thumb: .
sounds like its going well ...
if you see my tread ignore it as i fooked up big time ..
me not the kit...

ps...

with help from these great people on this forum ...
alls well with my brew now .... ...

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[trikerjim]

Thanks, I'll keep you posted. It seemed a wee bit slow to start, but looks like it's going ok.

I get the impression from various threads that patience is important, and I shouldn't rush to get it out the FV. So I'll give it at least 10 days and see how it is.

Keith

Hi Keith

i did a wherry a couple o months ago and absolutely love it, so much so that i put 2 more brews of it in to my 2 FV's yesterday. i use aquarium heaters to keep temp constant. But.......after the good advise on here, do not follow the instructions. Stir it to death initially then leave it for 2 weeks, evn tho the kit says 10 days. 2 weeks then check with hydrometer.. mine is 24 hrs in in the Fv and its frothing and pushing the lid off, but i dont touch it for 2 weeks. as a new brewer i get all excited and want to rush it all through but patience is a virtue i can tell ya. this is the best beer i ave made, and well recieved by all who try it too.
you will love it, a lovely fruity taste
good luck
jim

 

[duotwr]

Hmmm. Bit concerned about this.

I didn't stir it as much as you suggest. I put the brew on friday evening, by sat afternoon it seemed to have got goingand there was a decent bit of action. When i peaked in on sunday there was a bit of an odd patch of brown stuff on top of what looked like more normal stuff. But other than that seemed ok.

Just peaked at it now and most of the foam has disappeared! Only 3 days in too. Smells ok though. How normal does that sound?

Keith

 

[morethanworts]

Sounds normal. Just trust your hydrometer if you want to check progress.

 

[duotwr]

OK. Thanks for the reassurance! I'll test it tomorrow evening and see what reading i get from the hydrometer.

Keith

 

[duotwr]

Hi there.

Just tested this, after four days in the fv. Reading was around 1018/1019 i think, bit unsure just due to inability to read the hygrometer. Tasted pretty good though.

So, looks like something has been happening which is good. I know some people have had this kit stick so i'll test again in a couple of days and see what's happening then. It's sitting at a fairly steady 20 degrees in the spare room.

Here's hoping!

Keith

 

[duotwr]

Hi there.

So, two days after the last time I tested the sg hasn't changed at around1019 - looks like my wherry has stuck like so many other people's.

We've had the heating on a bit less the last day or two. From looking at some other posts from people with this problem it looks like the suggested course is to try to warm it up a bit, and maybe try to disturb the yeast at the bottom of the fv, taking care not to cause any bubbles and aeration. That sound about right?

Still tasted good though.

Keith

 

[morethanworts]

Hi there.

So, two days after the last time I tested the sg hasn't changed at around1019 - looks like my wherry has stuck like so many other people's.

We've had the heating on a bit less the last day or two. From looking at some other posts from people with this problem it looks like the suggested course is to try to warm it up a bit, and maybe try to disturb the yeast at the bottom of the fv, taking care not to cause any bubbles and aeration. That sound about right?

Still tasted good though.

Keith

Keith, sorry to hear yours has stuck, if that's the case. Rousing and heating seem to be the way forward.

I am reiterating what I've posted elsewhere here, but the puny 6g sachet supplied by Muntons*, the makers of Woodforde's Wherry, is not what Mr Malty for one would say is sufficient. Pitching the yeast without rehydrating it can apparently then lose up to 50% viability the moment the yeast cells hit the sugary wort. Poor temperature control doesn't help either, and nor does a lack of aeration where that's the case, but I suspect a lot is being asked of a dry pitched 6g sachet and it doesn't leave much slack, which is why I guess so many people report it getting stuck. [More broadly, it may also be partly because the Wherry kit is widely available in Wilkos and will be one of the first brews of many inexperienced homebrewers.]

From an initial taste of my unconditioned Wherry, it looks like the stuff in the cans is very good indeed. But I pitched an extra 11g sachet of Gervin Ale yeast (89p), which is the Nottingham strain, the same as I believe the Wherry yeast is likely to be. I rehydrated that very carefully following Danstar's Nottingham instructions, aerated with a hand whisk for 5 mins, put it in a probe-controlled water bath at 20C, and it went off like a rocket and kept going right down to 1.012.

But, perhaps, Muntons should not leave the tolerances so tight with the 6g sachet, and the instructions should implore you to rehydrate, with proper instructions for the strain.

[The other thing is (I would say) to make sure the Best Before date has got at least a year left on it. Even if the extract remains fresh, the yeast loses viability rapidly - even up to 25% per year when stored correctly below 8C!!!]

Good luck, but don't perhaps don't give up on the kit for future use altogether!

*ADDED - I must admit, I don't know what the average weight of a kit sachet for this OG and style is, but this one certainly seems to be on the low side.

 

[duotwr]

Thanks for the reply. I've seen a few other threads with comments on the amount of yeast. Bit of a **** take from Muntons given the tiny cost of upping this in the wherry kit. Anyway i'll know for next time - the beer already tastes pretty good so a shame to run into this.

I'll gently disturb it a bit and report back in a couple of days.

Keith

 

[duotwr]

Just thought i'd post an update on this.

I gave the beer a bit of a poke back on the 18th. Weather picked up a bit so the room got a bit warmer after that. So things got moving again. Now on day 12 it's down to 1014 which is great. But it has taken three days to get there from just over 1015, so it's slowing down.

Is it worth waiting much longer before bottling?

Also I am planning to batch prime it, any suggestions on what is best to use as the fermentable for this?

Ta

Keith

 

[morethanworts]

Just a thought. As this is your first brew, have you tested your hydrometer in tap water (at either 15 or 20C, depending on the model) ? Should be 0.000. I had one that was 0.004 off, which I compared side by side with another one.

 

[PD]

for priming use ordinary household sugar, about 3 gms per liter.
AND STOP KEEP TASTING IT ! there will be none left to bottle.

 

[duotwr]

Er, yeah, the level has dropped noticeably.

I'll check out the hydrometer just to be sure.

Keith

 

[rpt]

Just be sure it's been at the same reading for 3 days and then you can bottle it. I use 100g sucrose in 23L for priming.

Water should read 1.000 not 0.000!

 

[morethanworts]

Just be sure it's been at the same reading for 3 days and then you can bottle it. I use 100g sucrose in 23L for priming.

Water should read 1.000 not 0.000!

Sorry...typo! Yes 1.000 for water, of course (That's what typing on a phone at a bus stop does for you!)