Hi this is my first post on here (well second, I commented on the Foresters Woodland Secret review earlier in the week!), and thought I would share my evening of brewing with you all. I bought a Foresters Amber Citrus Burst today (I will review it as it is bottled and then again as it matures), as I progess through the various beers that Pops Homebrew in Cheltenham have to offer. Im not sure how to add pics on to the post at the moment, but as I find out I will do so.
The description of it from the Foresters website is: a "deep amber colour beer bursting with citrus and fruit aromas, dry biscuit maltiness, with subtle bitterness but a good citrus hop finish."
The process is the same as the rest of this selection of brews (somewhat different to many other brew kits out there, as you have usually two different types of hops to boil up for 40 mins, and two different malts to form the base of the beer - an extract method of brewing). I remember trying this in the shop some time ago, and have already brewed, bottled and finished off the Golden Citrus Blast (it didnt seem to last very long..... I dont think it even got to go past conditioning for more than a couple of weeks! :whistle: )
I have learnt though - if I put them out of my immediate reach, they can mature nicely, and the flavours are so much better - the heavy early hop flavours mellow and develop, and the beer ends up being the talk of the eve! This one I am aiming to start drinking about late summer, early autumn giving it between 6 and 10 months to mature nicely. I will update this with the end results, in particular how the beer changes from first taste (bottling stage), through to final bottle.
So here goes:
Stage 1: Boiled 6 litres of water (I use an old spaghetti pot - holds 8 litres, is tall with a good lid, and there is an inside collander which helps to drain the muslin bags of hops and to squeeze the last bits of juice from them at the end of the boil), and put the first bag of hops in to boil with lid on for 30 mins.
In the meantime, standing the two tins of malt (both Coopers Amber Malt) in hot water to help them soften, go to sterilise the brew bucket, lid, cork and airtrap.
Stage 2: After first 30 mins, add the second (smaller) bag of hops, make sure it is submerged and that the water level is still at about 6 litres (with lid on this isnt an issue), and leave to boil with the first bag for a further 10 minutes.
Stage 3: Empty malt into brew bucket, and at the same time start the yeast going.
Stage 4: Remove collander from pot, allowing hop sacks to drain out in a bowl, whilst pouring the boiled extract into the bucket. Doing each separately, hold the collander above the brew bucket, and pour over the top of the hop sack a good 4 litres of cold water, and then press and squeeze the hop sack to ensure all the goodness is out!
Stage 5: Fill bucket upto 19 litres (the booklet says 23 lt to give an ABV of 3.5% - I like my beers slightly stronger (about 4 - 4.5%), so I have reduced the amount of water in the mix - Pops say this will increase the bitterness of the beer in the leaflet, so I guess that will be another test to report on over time (how the bitterness is, and how it develops over short, medium and long-term conditioning! :drink: )
Stage 6: Take hydrometer reading - 1040
Stage 7: Add yeast, ensuring temp of brew is about 35 degrees and the yeast is between 30 and 35 degrees.
Stage 8: Put lid on and wait for the music to begin.....
.....to be continued (prob in about 10 days to 2 weeks!)
The description of it from the Foresters website is: a "deep amber colour beer bursting with citrus and fruit aromas, dry biscuit maltiness, with subtle bitterness but a good citrus hop finish."
The process is the same as the rest of this selection of brews (somewhat different to many other brew kits out there, as you have usually two different types of hops to boil up for 40 mins, and two different malts to form the base of the beer - an extract method of brewing). I remember trying this in the shop some time ago, and have already brewed, bottled and finished off the Golden Citrus Blast (it didnt seem to last very long..... I dont think it even got to go past conditioning for more than a couple of weeks! :whistle: )
I have learnt though - if I put them out of my immediate reach, they can mature nicely, and the flavours are so much better - the heavy early hop flavours mellow and develop, and the beer ends up being the talk of the eve! This one I am aiming to start drinking about late summer, early autumn giving it between 6 and 10 months to mature nicely. I will update this with the end results, in particular how the beer changes from first taste (bottling stage), through to final bottle.
So here goes:
Stage 1: Boiled 6 litres of water (I use an old spaghetti pot - holds 8 litres, is tall with a good lid, and there is an inside collander which helps to drain the muslin bags of hops and to squeeze the last bits of juice from them at the end of the boil), and put the first bag of hops in to boil with lid on for 30 mins.
In the meantime, standing the two tins of malt (both Coopers Amber Malt) in hot water to help them soften, go to sterilise the brew bucket, lid, cork and airtrap.
Stage 2: After first 30 mins, add the second (smaller) bag of hops, make sure it is submerged and that the water level is still at about 6 litres (with lid on this isnt an issue), and leave to boil with the first bag for a further 10 minutes.
Stage 3: Empty malt into brew bucket, and at the same time start the yeast going.
Stage 4: Remove collander from pot, allowing hop sacks to drain out in a bowl, whilst pouring the boiled extract into the bucket. Doing each separately, hold the collander above the brew bucket, and pour over the top of the hop sack a good 4 litres of cold water, and then press and squeeze the hop sack to ensure all the goodness is out!
Stage 5: Fill bucket upto 19 litres (the booklet says 23 lt to give an ABV of 3.5% - I like my beers slightly stronger (about 4 - 4.5%), so I have reduced the amount of water in the mix - Pops say this will increase the bitterness of the beer in the leaflet, so I guess that will be another test to report on over time (how the bitterness is, and how it develops over short, medium and long-term conditioning! :drink: )
Stage 6: Take hydrometer reading - 1040
Stage 7: Add yeast, ensuring temp of brew is about 35 degrees and the yeast is between 30 and 35 degrees.
Stage 8: Put lid on and wait for the music to begin.....
.....to be continued (prob in about 10 days to 2 weeks!)
If memory serves me right, Amber Citrus Blast is a bit like Tribute. 
