Geordie Winter Warmer

[Lesinge]

Brewed this back in October 2013. Brewed short to 20.5 litres, 500G of Sugar and 500g of Munton's beer enhancer. Pitched at 21degrees and with an OG of 1041. Although I didn't record a final gravity reading I have noted that it would be around the 4% mark which is pretty low in my opinion for a winter warmer.

The results have been a thin beer with little head retention even after 3 months or so in the bottle. Has some hints of spices and is not unpleasant but is the most tasteless and watery beer I have made except for Wilko's Hoppy Copper beer - no hops nor real malt. I wouldn't make this again unless I was using it as a base for one of Cooper's recipes for example.

 

[Ravabelli]

I've got this arriving next week. Did you add sugar or malt?

I'm thinking of adding some dark spray malt and brew short, maybe 30 pints.

 

[soh]

yeah, tried this a year or two back,really disapointed,as you said a very thin bitter

 

[Will12283]

Currently have this conditioning in my pressure barrel. Came out at 4.7%. Will see if it's a bit thin in about 4 weeks time

 

[Lesinge]

I've got this arriving next week. Did you add sugar or malt?

I'm thinking of adding some dark spray malt and brew short, maybe 30 pints.

I brewed short with 500g Muntons enhancer and 500g of brewing sugar.

 

[Lesinge]

yeah, tried this a year or two back,really disapointed,as you said a very thin bitter

Strange really given that the Tom Caxton range makes a good beer at the same sort of price.

 

[YoungJames]

I still have some bottles that i made over a year ago. The last one i tasted was like a beer flavoured soda water. Not good.

 

[Seadog]

In the fermenter now,

 

[soh]

I still have some bottles that i made over a year ago. The last one i tasted was like a beer flavoured soda water. Not good.

perfect discription, caxtons kits are much better,especialy when used with lme or dme

 

[Ravabelli]

Oh dear, think I'll be adding a kilo of dark spray malt and dextrose.

 

[Noah]

Help! I went out yesterday to buy a Cooper's Dark Ale kit as a base for a winter brew and neither of the stockists had it so I bought the Geordie Winter Warmer before consulting the oracle.

I've brewed short to 15 litres and added 1 kg of Munton's beer enhancer to give an S.G. of 1.055. If I'd read the reviews beforehand I wouldn't have bought it. Is there anything I can do to get a decent beer out of this e.g. throw in a ton of hops or would that be throwing good money after bad? All advice welcome.

 

[Ravabelli]

I've still not made mine given the comments, but as well as what you propose try adding black treacle - it's done wonders for my wilko velvet stout I tasted last night.

 

[soh]

15l and beer enhancer,might be ok:pray:.let us know how it turns out

 

[Noah]

Thanks for your replies. Yes, I'll definitely post the results in about 3 months time. I find it frustrating reading posts where folks post on the beer kit reviews to say they've just started xyz brew and never come back with the results.

 

[syzygy]

I've done one of these, I added golden syrup & juniper berries.
Haven't tried it yet as it's still conditioning.

 

[Ravabelli]

I'm seriously considering putting it into over two demijohns ie 9 litres with some dextrose and wine yeast.

 

[syzygy]

Just opened a bottle of mine.
Thought it was a nice pint, wasn't watery at all (I brewed it about 5 pints short & added tin of golden syrup on top of the recommended sugar).
I think I've overdone the junipers a bit, as the flavour is a bit over powering

 

[stueeee]

i started my batch with a muntons beer enhancer, i tin of golden syrup, and i also added 1 small bottle of vanilla essence (the sweet syrup version)
my og was 1060, and its just finished at 1000, giving me 8%

not the strongest of flavours, but definatley a hint of vanilla, and very nice and malty, not too bad at all if i was doing this again id make maybe 30-35 pints instead of doing the full 40 pints, i think this would make a great tasting winter warmer beer doing it this way.

if you like strong beer, but dont like the kick of say barley wine, then i would recommend this, i think it has been developed this way to keep the kick down but still produce a strong beer, maybe its not for some but i like it

i think the flavours will develop after aging in the bottles, ill let you know

maybe next time ill try the same recipe, but ad some hops into the fermenter, i think this would give it that nice hoppy edge, and make it a stonker of an ale ,

enjoy

 

[stueeee]

i started my batch with a muntons beer enhancer, i tin of golden syrup, and i also added 1 small bottle of vanilla essence (the sweet syrup version)
my og was 1060, and its just finished at 1000, giving me 8%

not the strongest of flavours, but definatley a hint of vanilla, and very nice and malty, not too bad at all if i was doing this again id make maybe 30-35 pints instead of doing the full 40 pints, i think this would make a great tasting winter warmer beer doing it this way.

if you like strong beer, but dont like the kick of say barley wine, then i would recommend this, i think it has been developed this way to keep the kick down but still produce a strong beer, maybe its not for some but i like it

i think the flavours will develop after aging in the bottles, ill let you know

maybe next time ill try the same recipe, but ad some hops into the fermenter, i think this would give it that nice hoppy edge, and make it a stonker of an ale ,

enjoy

just bottled 20 pints , and primed with black treacle, gonna quaff the rest out of secondary, as it is, just tried a couple of pints and boy had this got a kick to it , and it tastes like a 5%


sometimes you gotta experiment with these if you wanna get a good brew was a bit thin , but i reckon priming with the treacle will balance it out will let you know

 

[Lesinge]

Just turbo charged the Geordies winter warmer.
Added :
Brown sugar
Star anise
Coriander seeds
Vanilla pod
Cinnamon stick
Simmered these for 15 minutes and left to cool (this was taken from the Coopers recipe site)

Extra mash added with wort made of:
East Kent Goldings (25g) - didn't want to make it too bitter.
Maris Otter (2.2k)
Roasted barley (50g)
crystal Malt (312g)

Originally was over 7% but moved it down to 6.5% to get 20L.

Added both the kit yeast plus a Wilkco Gervin packet to hopefully get it down to 1010.
Taste at pitch was very smooth and sweet with hints of Christmas spice and a small amount of background bitterness.