Hamstead homebrew kits

[dowden87]

Just a quick update on the Cornish ale. I thought I'd try fermenting without any heat. I managed to get it down to 1.016-1.015. This will make it about 3.5%. I don't mind this at all as Itl be nice to be able to enjoy a few pints without getting proper tipsy. The gravity haven't moved for 3-4 days and when botling, the brew was crystal clear you could tell it was done. It tastes good too.
I'm enjoying the cardinals ale 3 pints at 5% is more than enough for me and I always end up well tipsy.

 

[soupdragon]

Would you say there was maybe 2 to 3 ⁰c in ferment temp between the two brews? If that was the only difference between the two brews it just highlights the difference that temp control can make

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

Would you say there was maybe 2 to 3 ⁰c in ferment temp between the two brews? If that was the only difference between the two brews it just highlights the difference that temp control can make

Cheers Tom

Definitely 3 degrees different. From now on I will be using heat for all my brews. Looking at brewing the funky bow wow from hamstead homebrew and either another cardinals or their summer ale next

 

[soupdragon]

I invested in an immersion heater last month. It arrived just in time for a brew that had started to slow down around the 1.020 mark. Using a water bath with the heater set to 20⁰c it managed to get down to 1.011. Hopefully it'll perform as well when the cold weather returns.
I've snagged a couple of the new Festival kits from the Malt Miller before the price goes up but I won't be doing them for a while yet (Nov 24 best by dates). I need to do a bit of stock rotation, hopefully I might be able to slip one of Hamstead's in around August. Fingers crossed anyway

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

I invested in an immersion heater last month. It arrived just in time for a brew that had started to slow down around the 1.020 mark. Using a water bath with the heater set to 20⁰c it managed to get down to 1.011. Hopefully it'll perform as well when the cold weather returns.
I've snagged a couple of the new Festival kits from the Malt Miller before the price goes up but I won't be doing them for a while yet (Nov 24 best by dates). I need to do a bit of stock rotation, hopefully I might be able to slip one of Hamstead's in around August. Fingers crossed anyway

Cheers Tom

Before I had heat, I had so many brews stall at quite high finishing gravities, some of them stalled at 1.020. The festival kits look great! I've been looking at them, and I'm now very tempted to order two at payday instead of the hamstead ones, and get them next month

 

[soupdragon]

Before I had heat, I had so many brews stall at quite high finishing gravities, some of them stalled at 1.020. The festival kits look great! I've been looking at them, and I'm now very tempted to order two at payday instead of the hamstead ones, and get them next month

Don't forget that the price of the festival kits from MM will probably go up tomorrow. Brew2Bottle now have stock too but are a touch more expensive

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

Don't forget that the price of the festival kits from MM will probably go up tomorrow. Brew2Bottle now have stock too but are a touch more expensive

Cheers Tom

Thankyou :-) I had two bottles last night of the cardinals ale, which had been chilling in the fridge for a few days and it just gets better with age. It's absolutely stunning. Lovely malty smooth taste with a slight back taste of the hops I'm really impressed. It's 5% but feels stronger. I'm definitely ordering another. I see on some of the Facebook group hamstead homebrew brews don't get the best of reviews, but for me this is the best homebrew ale I've made to date.
Cheers
Pete

 

[soupdragon]

I'm not on Facetube so can't comment on those comments Elsewhere however, I've only read good things about them. I will definitely be ordering from them once I've made a hole in my brew room stash of still to make stuff. How's the Cornish ale coming along or is it still conditioning?

Cheers Tom

 

[soupdragon]

I invested in an immersion heater last month. It arrived just in time for a brew that had started to slow down around the 1.020 mark. Using a water bath with the heater set to 20⁰c it managed to get down to 1.011. Hopefully it'll perform as well when the cold weather returns.
I've snagged a couple of the new Festival kits from the Malt Miller before the price goes up but I won't be doing them for a while yet (Nov 24 best by dates). I need to do a bit of stock rotation, hopefully I might be able to slip one of Hamstead's in around August. Fingers crossed anyway

Cheers Tom

The new Festival kits have arrived.
The packs of malt are exactly the same and actually have Britfire/Friars printed on them. The Friars yeast is stamped M36 so I presume that's their liberty bell yeast. Included hops are 15g of each of the following Columbus, Admiral, Target and Hallertau Brewer’s Gold
The Britfire yeast is marked M42, presumed identity is their new world strong ale yeast. Included hops are 14g of Progress and 14g of Centennial.
Time will tell if they resemble the target commercial beers.......

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

I'm not on Facetube so can't comment on those comments Elsewhere however, I've only read good things about them. I will definitely be ordering from them once I've made a hole in my brew room stash of still to make stuff. How's the Cornish ale coming along or is it still conditioning?

Cheers Tom

It's condition tasted nice when I bottled and kegged. I will keep you updated :-)

 

[soupdragon]

Hey Pete

Do you remember how many teabags of grain and hops were included in the Cardinals ale kit?
Also (if you don't mind?), how many teabags were there in total in the other kits you've had from Hamstead?
Is it 5 different kits you've had?

Cardinal's ale
Funky bow wow
Surfer's reward
Czech pilsner
Pilgrim's reward

Thanks Pete

Cheers Tom

 

[dowden87]

There was a large bag of grain with the cardinals ale and a hop tea bag.
Funky bow wow just a bag of hops, and hop oil
No grain
Surfers reward, just had hop extract liquid no hops or grains.
Czech pilsner just hop liquid
Pilgrims reward hop pellets and liquid
Cheers
Pete

 

[soupdragon]

Thanks Pete

Cheers Tom