Hamstead homebrew kits

[soupdragon]

A quick update on this kit. I wanted to brew it exactly to the instructions first time around. I brewed it at 22 degrees. Today is day number 4 of brewing and i just checked the gravity it's already down on 1.015. I had a sneaky taste and it tastes like a delicious real ale. I would say it's less hoppy than Abott ale but still delicious. I'm going to bottle on day 6, as the gravity will be under 1.014. I've never bottled a brew this early on but the guy from hamstead homebrew said he brews this kit for 6 days and bottle, as long as the gravity is under 1.014 on day 6 and it's always delicious. The yeast seems to be flying along. I seen a review of it by dog and partridge homebrew reviews on YouTube and they brewed the mini mash version and said it was horrible and a drain pour. I don't know if it's luck but I'm happy with how mine tasted when I took an hydrometer reading.
Cheers
Pete

Thanks for the update Pete.

It's good to hear that the brew has indeed broken through the dreaded 1.020 barrier that the muntons seem to suffer from all too frequently.
Out of curiosity, did you take a starting gravity reading?

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

@dowden87 Hey Pete, how did bottling go, did you have another sneaky sample?

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

@dowden87 Hey Pete, how did bottling go, did you have another sneaky sample?

Cheers Tom

Hi it tasted like a nice real ale not an abott ale though. The starting gravity was 1.052 finishing gravity 1.014 so if finished at 5% roughly. I will update you in a few weeks. I also got the Cornish ale from hamstead homebrew which I put on today.
I've got a few pinters around the place which I transfer the brew too if low on bottles with 35 g of sugar. It carbonates lovely too.
Cheers Pete

 

[soupdragon]

Hi it tasted like a nice real ale not an abott ale though. The starting gravity was 1.052 finishing gravity 1.014 so if finished at 5% roughly. I will update you in a few weeks. I also got the Cornish ale from hamstead homebrew which I put on today.
I've got a few pinters around the place which I transfer the brew too if low on bottles with 35 g of sugar. It carbonates lovely too.
Cheers Pete

1.052 down to 1.014 is not too bad. Pity it's not shouting Abbot ale to you. Fingers crossed that as it matures it'll come good

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

1.052 down to 1.014 is not too bad. Pity it's not shouting Abbot ale to you. Fingers crossed that as it matures it'll come good

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

its been bottled for six days. Decided to try one. I can see why they said it was an abott ale copy. I'm really impressed with it, I'm going to order another one. I'm going to leave the rest of the bottles to mature for a month.

 

[soupdragon]

View attachment 86031its been bottled for six days. Decided to try one. I can see why they said it was an abott ale copy. I'm really impressed with it, I'm going to order another one. I'm going to leave the rest of the bottles to mature for a month.

That's a lovely colour. Maybe a touch lighter than Abbot, then again it might just be the light.
Don't forget to post in the kit/pub beer taste alike thread thingy
Will definitely be getting one to try myself when my stocks have gone down a bit

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

Coincidentally, I've just had an email from Brew2Bottle. Some new kits from Festival and there's an Abbot version

Https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/...039482465&mc_cid=19c4d4af9b&mc_eid=d764681379
Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

Coincidentally, I've just had an email from Brew2Bottle. Some new kits from Festival and there's an Abbot version

Https://brew2bottle.co.uk/products/...039482465&mc_cid=19c4d4af9b&mc_eid=d764681379
Cheers Tom

I just had the email myself. I see they do a spitfire ale too, which I love. I can see me ordering an abott and spitfire. sounds great

 

[soupdragon]

I just had the email myself. I see they do a spitfire ale too, which I love. I can see me ordering an abott and spitfire. sounds great

All the new ones seem to be out of stock there though

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

All the new ones seem to be out of stock there though

Cheers Tom

Malt Miller has them, cheaper too

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/festival-friars-ale-strong-bitter/?v=79cba1185463
Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

Malt Miller has them, cheaper too

https://www.themaltmiller.co.uk/product/festival-friars-ale-strong-bitter/?v=79cba1185463
Cheers Tom

Amazing thankyou. In about two weeks I will order some. Thinking of getting the abott and spitfire

 

[soupdragon]

Amazing thankyou. In about two weeks I will order some. Thinking of getting the abott and spitfire

Will you be ordering another Hamstead kit before the new Festival ones or will you put the Hamstead on hold until you've tried the new ones?

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

Will you be ordering another Hamstead kit before the new Festival ones or will you put the Hamstead on hold until you've tried the new ones?

Cheers Tom

I will definitely order another hamstead cardinals ale. I'm really enjoying it. I enjoy the process of making it with the grains too.

 

[soupdragon]

I will definitely order another hamstead cardinals ale. I'm really enjoying it. I enjoy the process of making it with the grains too.

So it's drinkable in 2 weeks? That's bl00dy good going
If you're enjoying the extra "fiddling" with the grains it's a very slippery slope towards mini mash and eventually full grain brewing

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

So it's drinkable in 2 weeks? That's bl00dy good going
If you're enjoying the extra "fiddling" with the grains it's a very slippery slope towards mini mash and eventually full grain brewing

Cheers Tom

I used to make small batches of allgrain and I've done a few part grain kits over the years. I enjoy trying all types of kits :-) don't do allgrain anymore though

Cheers
Pete

 

[dowden87]

So it's drinkable in 2 weeks? That's bl00dy good going
If you're enjoying the extra "fiddling" with the grains it's a very slippery slope towards mini mash and eventually full grain brewing

Cheers Tom

I've currently got the Cornish ale fermenting. I thought I'd ferment this at room temperature without my heat mat. It fermented down to 1.020 then stopped. It was stuck on 1.020 for three days. I give it a gentle stir making sure not to introduce any air into the brew. Introduced a bit of heat. It's now dropping down nicely. Tastes good too

 

[soupdragon]

Was the extract for the Cornish ale the same containers as the Abbot or was it in tins/pouches?
I still do the occasional all grain myself, got one of those all in one mashy/boil things. It works well but I'm really getting lazy in my retirement so have been doing more kits this last few years.

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

Amazing thankyou. In about two weeks I will order some. Thinking of getting the abott and spitfire

Just a heads-up. These are listed under the Malt Miller's May bank holiday sale and may/probably will go up come the start of June

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

Yeah same extract, only difference being I didn't use heat. I had a little taste of it when testing the gravity, going to be a tasty brew. Thanks for letting me know. I had one of those too. Got rid of it now though.

Was the extract for the Cornish ale the same containers as the Abbot or was it in tins/pouches?
I still do the occasional all grain myself, got one of those all in one mashy/boil things. It works well but I'm really getting lazy in my retirement so have been doing more kits this last few years.

Cheers Tom

Was the extract for the Cornish ale the same containers as the Abbot or was it in tins/pouches?
I still do the occasional all grain myself, got one of those all in one mashy/boil things. It works well but I'm really getting lazy in my retirement so have been doing more kits this last few years.

Cheers Tom