Going back to kits?

[Oneflewover]

It’s an Apple Cider from Love Brewing. They do a small range but this one is nice, is very easy, and is dependable…

https://www.lovebrewing.co.uk/ciderworks-superior-apple-cider/

Brilliant, thank you

 

[Cheshire Cat]

It £25 how much is the delivery. I don’t like cider but my wife does. They have a shop in Liverpool but that’s £8-10 of diesel.

 

[Wobbly13]

Been a bit short on time recently changing jobs, etc and was getting low on beet so made up a Mangrove Jacks’ Helles. Brewed in fermentation chamber at 18C initially then up to 20C for diacetyl rest. It turned out way better than I could have hoped. Compared it against a commercial beer and the kit brewed one wins hands down. What a great result for considerably less effort.

Will be trying a bit more kit brewing. Attention paid to temperature control during fermentation seems to be the key.

 

[Brewster21]

I decided to go to Kits when we moved to a smaller house and I’ve never regretted the move from AG!


I moved on to SS 10 litre Kegs (from a variety of providers) and now have six of them; usually with three or four on tap at any one time.

I deliberately brew stuff that I can drink without falling over; and get any extra hoppiness using a hop tea when I keg a brew.

Old age must have cured my ability to taste the so called “home brew twang”, (or my brewing is getting better), because modern kits taste like real brews!

I still use the 2+2+2 system and still experiment with taste; but now a “Brew Day” is a lot shorter.

So, whatever you decide, enjoy!
:hat:

What is the 2+2+2 system ?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

What is the 2+2+2 system ?

Its ferment 2 weeks
carbonate 2 weeks
condition 2 weeks

 

[Brewster21]

thank you makes sense I'll try it.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

thank you makes sense I'll try it.

It’s a sensible rule for fermentation and carbonation but for conditioning it’s too short. The best there is based on original gravity OG.
so for an OG of 1040 4 week
1050 5 week
1045 4.5 week
1080 8 weeks
etc
and these are minimums.

 

[Brewster21]

Thanks again, I've just made an American IPA sg 1050 and just tasted after 2 weeks conditioning, it's not ready yet so that all makes sense.

 

[Dutto]

Its ferment 2 weeks
carbonate 2 weeks
condition 2 weeks

Thanks again, I've just made an American IPA sg 1050 and just tasted after 2 weeks conditioning, it's not ready yet so that all makes sense.

The 2+2+2 system is a minimum!

From putting a brew on to actually tasting it should be at least six weeks.

Some low ABV Pale Ales are ready to drink after two weeks Conditioning, whereas a 5% ABV Mild or Bitter will benefit from up to six months and a 10% Barley Wine maybe over a year.

After the six weeks, it’s very much a moveable feast as to when it becomes a “perfect pint”!

I very much like the Conditioning time being linked to the OG and will give it a try next time.

 

[Branny]

Its ferment 2 weeks
carbonate 2 weeks
condition 2 weeks

If pressure fermenting does that impact fermenting and carbonation phases?

I know that pressure is frowned upon in many quarters but I've recently done some pale extract beers with kveik voss and they were kegged in 7 days at 12 psi - ferment complete plus cold crash for 3 days. They were raw for the 1st week in the keg (crap really), the 2nd week was good and 3rd week was bloody lovely! At keg week 4 it was even better but the keg then blew.

 

[Dutto]

Never tried pressure fermenting but I have reduced the 2+2 of Carbonation and Conditioning to 3 weeks when using bottled CO2 to Carbonate.

TBH, even though it was a 3% ABV IPA, it didn’t taste too good until about five weeks after kegging!

 

[Dutto]

Double Post somehow!

 

[GhostShip]

thank you makes sense I'll try it.

2+2+6 (or even 8) is much better!

 

[Brewster21]

It seems the longer you condition the beer the better it is but what's the limit?

 

[Agentgonzo]

It seems the longer you condition the beer the better it is but what's the limit?

If you take care of packaging and do it well, it can be years. My dad just had one of mine that was 16 months old and loved it. There are deminishing returns, so I doubt that it's any better than it was after 2 months.

I think that a bit under 2 years is the longest I've ever had a beer last before it got drunk. It didn't seem to suffer for the extended time a bit

 

[Dutto]

It seems the longer you condition the beer the better it is but what's the limit?

“How long is a piece of string?” as my brother used to ask!

I’ve consumed a Batemans Beer that was many years out of date and it tasted fine!

On the other hand, three years into “Conditioning”, I poured some Barley Wine down the drain ‘cos nothing made it any better.

It all depends on the brew, storage, etc, etc, etc.

Enjoy!

 

[Jim Brewster]

I've gone from all-grain to kits recently, for the convenience and to build stock.

The Wilko artisan one can kits have been OK but I've not seen them in stores for a while, so recently done a Woodforde's Bure Gold which included a few grams of dry hops, which has turned out very good after just 3 weeks. Better value than the Wilko one cans.

Got a St. Peter's Plum Porter to do next, high hopes for that.

 

[AngmoGuy]

Hello all
Recent months have seen me with loads of malt and hops but absolutely zero time to fit in a single AG brew day never mind the multiple I need to get my decimated stocks back on track. Then there's the thought of bottling...potentially a couple of hundred...
I'm at a bit of a crossroads...

I have been buying 25kg bags for a while now, but I do find there are gaps in my brewing schedule due to long travel or bad timing; I bought a vacuum sealer from Kmart ($35), and it saves the grain for ages, and reduces smell and insects.