This is the Review for the HBC FULL EXTRACT BLONDE ALE
Well after a bit of a mix up of house number with DPD i finally got to brew my ale.
On first inspection I was a little unsure of the grain having the instructions, hops and tablet all in with them.
Ingredients.
2 x 1.5kg cans of Premium Grade Pale Malt Extract.
Grain: Crystal Malt.
Hops: Willamette hops,
1 Whirlfloc Tablet.
1 x 11g sachet Ale Yeast.
1 Muslin Bag. Full instructions
I gave the instructions a read and having brewed a couple of times found the straight forward but feel someone new to brewing may have struggled as some of the wording was as I can best describe as being a little odd. Just a slight tweak on it would make a world of difference and maybe a little two line key at the start saying a 30 Min mash and 60 Min boil will be done. I got my dad to read them as he has never brewed and although understood it after a few reads he was a little a a loss as to when hops would be added and boil length.
I set my boiler to a little higher temp to compensate the cool grain and pan I was doing my mash in around 72C I maintained it to the 67C needed for the 30 Mins. ( sorry no pic corrupt file)
after 30 Mins I lifted the grains out and then placed them in a strainer and ran the first wort over them. Once the grain had released as much of this as it could I then sparged the grain with a further 2L of water at 80C
As the mash was going on I had the cans of liquid extract in a bowl of boiling water. I raised my boiler temp to 98C and used a few litres to pour the LME in as I didn't fancy it sticking to my element in the boiler.
I set my boiler to temp and waited for the boil to begin at the hop break i got my dad to tip in the hops. HBC.co.uk says they are Willamette hops Ive not used these so looking forward to the taste.
At 15 Mins remaining I added the Whirlfloc.
I don't have a chiller so it was straight in to the fermenter tub and i waited for it to cool with the lid on. I took a reading and got 1040
I pitched the yeast and it has this last day has stopped so will be put in a secondary until I get chance to bottle it up.
All in all I would say this is a good brew. If you are new to brewing it is a good way to move from kits to all grain while brewing safe brews.
A few changes/tweaks on the instructions could be done to make it a little easier to flow.
Before a taste test I would buy this kit as it was a fun simple kit to do.
If the taste test stands up I will more than likely buy another or try the all grain as I am a fan of blonde ales.
finally i guess i have to say thanks to both ManseMasher for the hard work put in for securing this re-viewable kit and of course HBC for supplying it.
Cheers Guys :
Well after a bit of a mix up of house number with DPD i finally got to brew my ale.
On first inspection I was a little unsure of the grain having the instructions, hops and tablet all in with them.
Ingredients.
2 x 1.5kg cans of Premium Grade Pale Malt Extract.
Grain: Crystal Malt.
Hops: Willamette hops,
1 Whirlfloc Tablet.
1 x 11g sachet Ale Yeast.
1 Muslin Bag. Full instructions
I gave the instructions a read and having brewed a couple of times found the straight forward but feel someone new to brewing may have struggled as some of the wording was as I can best describe as being a little odd. Just a slight tweak on it would make a world of difference and maybe a little two line key at the start saying a 30 Min mash and 60 Min boil will be done. I got my dad to read them as he has never brewed and although understood it after a few reads he was a little a a loss as to when hops would be added and boil length.
I set my boiler to a little higher temp to compensate the cool grain and pan I was doing my mash in around 72C I maintained it to the 67C needed for the 30 Mins. ( sorry no pic corrupt file)
after 30 Mins I lifted the grains out and then placed them in a strainer and ran the first wort over them. Once the grain had released as much of this as it could I then sparged the grain with a further 2L of water at 80C
As the mash was going on I had the cans of liquid extract in a bowl of boiling water. I raised my boiler temp to 98C and used a few litres to pour the LME in as I didn't fancy it sticking to my element in the boiler.
I set my boiler to temp and waited for the boil to begin at the hop break i got my dad to tip in the hops. HBC.co.uk says they are Willamette hops Ive not used these so looking forward to the taste.
At 15 Mins remaining I added the Whirlfloc.
I don't have a chiller so it was straight in to the fermenter tub and i waited for it to cool with the lid on. I took a reading and got 1040
I pitched the yeast and it has this last day has stopped so will be put in a secondary until I get chance to bottle it up.
All in all I would say this is a good brew. If you are new to brewing it is a good way to move from kits to all grain while brewing safe brews.
A few changes/tweaks on the instructions could be done to make it a little easier to flow.
Before a taste test I would buy this kit as it was a fun simple kit to do.
If the taste test stands up I will more than likely buy another or try the all grain as I am a fan of blonde ales.
finally i guess i have to say thanks to both ManseMasher for the hard work put in for securing this re-viewable kit and of course HBC for supplying it.
Cheers Guys :
