Intermediate brewer, "Santas Winter Warmer"

[Sparkz]

Always was gagging to try this 1 and the other day at my local phillip morris's they had just 1 on the shelf... priced at £24... bargain since online with added p and p it can be nearly £30.

Since I hadnt used a beer kit for a few months I dug out the FV, barrel, and equipment from the shed. Sadly I must of forgot to wash out the FV before putting it in the shed after last using it and the damn thing was full of a rather pungent mess. Sterilized and cleaned for over an hour, as per usual the same with all equipment, and all ready to go .

I used the FV with the air filter poping out of the top. Sadly the cap of it has been lost so I am just using a washed clean flannel which is slightly damp on top of it, should do the trick.

After filling the FV with both cans and water I checked my bag of tricks and saw that the Beer Enhancer in there had been turned into a solid (probably after the heat in the shed). I dont tend to put much into the FV, just a little which seems to help the fermenting process and luckily there was enough for a few sprinkles (5 or 6 table spoons). I made sure the FV was filled up over the 20.5L (36 pints) to about 24L, since when transferring to keg the left over excess is about 1L and of course some is taken away with the Hydrometer samples. Its worth losing 0.1-0.4% if it means I will have 36 pints to drink, otherwise I will only have less than 30 pints to drink.

Temperature may be an issue because the kitchen in this cold weather is only about 10C or less, but I think it will still be ok. OG is 1044 which is the standard

So far so good, now lets hope I have something drinkable in a few weeks or so :P

 

[Wez]

hope you enjoy your Christmas brew

:thumb:

 

[Dunfie]

Hope it goes well. Keep an eye on the fermentation temps as you don't want those yeasties to go dormant. :thumb:

 

[Sparkz]

Thanks guys,

yea thats my main worry about this kit, temperature now is just freezing. Aparantly this area can expect temperatures of -12C over the next week. Maybe its the time to get out the blankets and hot water bottle to wrap santa up. Im quite cold tonight but the temperature reading seems to be 10C. Perhaps it may already be time to do Hydrometer readings every day just to make sure

 

[Sparkz]

Is this kit a lot slower than other similar kits?

Been 3 days now, nothing happened at all until today. Wrapped it in a load of coats last night, then when checking today the froth has bubbled up in the FV, maybe its about a day or so behind normal progression

 

[Sparkz]

Very good progress so far. The blanket and coat on FV has worked a treat. Yesterday I saw it froth right up in the FV so good news.

Today I took a hydro reading... A very nice reading of .22 (so about 3% ABV), The taste is quite promising, could taste the typical chocolate malts and the dark flavour which is branded christmassy. I noticed brown clumps on the top of the beer so clearly it will continue fermenting for a while yet, so hopefully I can aim for something under .10 reading. I gave the thing a slight shake and put all coats and blankets back on it.


To get it to its 5.6% I think when considering the OG it will need to give a reading of around .05 which is rare if im not mistaken? but of course it will gain some extra .% in the barrel.

Bit slower than a lot of other beer kits but considering the cold weather and the potential ABV % of it, its only to be expected.

Going to do another reading on thursday or friday so hoping that by monday it will of reached under .10 so I can think about transferring it to my barrel so it can condition in time for christmas or just after

 

[Sparkz]

Just updating for those who are thinking of/currently using this kit.


Been a week since I started the kit. 2 days since last reading and it now shows .20. Im hoping its not stuck. Gave it a stir. Added a bit more beer enhancer and probably will get another reading on saturday. Hopefully the reading will go down more otherwise it may be time to bite the bullet and transfer to barrel at just 4% ABV at most :S

 

[Sparkz]

did a reading yesterday, still .19/.20... and did 1 today which was exactly the same reading.

Not good at all, have stirred it, added enhancer, wont shift... so now it looks like its stuck with the ABV % as 3.5

Tomorrow im gonna just cut my losses, If it isnt improving and im not getting a better reading then im gonna barrel it regardless.

 

[captain_dan]

I started brewing this kit on the 2nd December too. This was a bit later than i had planned, but my kit was delivered very late so i brewed in hope of it being ready in time for xmas....and i estimate it should hopefully be ready on the 22nd.

Anyway, my experience with it is as follows:
2nd Dec: Sterilise everything, fill the fermenting bucket up to about 25 liters. Chucked in the yeast, then remembered i should have taken a hydro reading. The reading came out at 1.032. I Put the bucket in the boiler cupboard. Temperature is about 22'C on the outside of the bucket constantly throughout fermentation.

3rd Dec:Nothing happened, but the airlock showed pressure inside the bucket.

4th Dec: Bubbling like mad.

6th Dec: Bubbles slowed down to one an hour or so. Looks like some kind of film on top of the ale i've not seen on previous brews. I put this down to not tried and all malt kit before. Yeast flocks are floating on top too, which look rather weird.

9th Dec: Bubbles have stopped in the airlock. Only a couple pop up tot he surface of the ale every few seconds, so i decide to fill 6 Grolsch-style bottles (to check how it tastes in a few months), and put the rest in a pressure barrel (and got a little worried about the volume of air inside as a consequence of removing some for bottles). Tonnes of yeast at the bottom of the barrel - about 1cm more than i've seen with one-can kits. Hydro reading is now 1.015.

Alcohol content: (1032-1015)/7.6 = ~2.2%
Not the best result ever, but i am not confident with my hydrometer reading skills....mostly because the hydrometer is very cheap and i think it gets stuck to the side of the sampling vial. When i pour my first, i will take a better reading from a pint glass.

Hopefully a combination of secondary fermentation with the priming sugar and the sampling vial issues mean the reading is wrong.

 

[Sparkz]

hmm interesting, thanks for the reply mate

Seems to me that most people who have done this kit have had problems. Havent read about anyone getting the hydro readings down to under .10 with this kit.

mines probably at the same strength as yours now, so hopefully putting it in the barrel will do it some good.

Decissions now because Im away for 2 days as of 4pm today... so either I rush around and get it sorted or I leave it until I get back and risk wasting 2 days priming time while the gravity stays at the same reading in the FV

 

[captain_dan]

I opted to rush and get the bottling/barrel sorted. I was up until half 1 in the morning doing it, and had to get up at 5am......i overslept.

Do you think the strength will increase much more in the run up to xmas?

I'm tempted to get another one on the go in the new year, as i ordered 2 packs (one took far to long to deliver, so i got another one with next day delivery for free).

I'm wondering about adding extra sugar when i'm starting it all to get the % up. Though i'm not very experienced and theres probably some kind of issue with that!

[edit]Something i've just thought about with mine is when i first mixed everything, is there was a fairly thick layer of the malt on the bottom of the bucket when i took the first reading, so this could also have something to do with the lower starting gravity. It was all dissolved by the time i bottled....so i'm wondering if my reading should have been more like 1.042 instead, and in fact the ale is a higher percentage.[/edit]

 

[Sparkz]

I opted to rush and get the bottling/barrel sorted. I was up until half 1 in the morning doing it, and had to get up at 5am......i overslept.

Do you think the strength will increase much more in the run up to xmas?

I'm tempted to get another one on the go in the new year, as i ordered 2 packs (one took far to long to deliver, so i got another one with next day delivery for free).

I'm wondering about adding extra sugar when i'm starting it all to get the % up. Though i'm not very experienced and theres probably some kind of issue with that!

[edit]Something i've just thought about with mine is when i first mixed everything, is there was a fairly thick layer of the malt on the bottom of the bucket when i took the first reading, so this could also have something to do with the lower starting gravity. It was all dissolved by the time i bottled....so i'm wondering if my reading should have been more like 1.042 instead, and in fact the ale is a higher percentage.[/edit]

The strength does increase in the barrel, Some people have reported up to 1% or so increase which may have something to do with when it carbonates and clears the enzymes are still working (not as much but they are still there)

I always make sure I use a bit of brewing sugar/beer enhancer when I start the brew in the FV. I find it helps the yeast do its work and does help with the gravity reading.

It probably should of, ideally all malt must be disolved when you start the kit. I always use the spoon the run along the bottom of the FV before adding the yeast, and check if theres any extract on the spoon. I keep stiring until the extract is next to nothing.

Another factor I thought about could well be that this kit is only a 36 pint kit. So you only fill it up around the 22L mark I think. I filled mine up higher because I know about 4 pints will be lost with gravity samples and there is always a bit left over in the bottom where the yeast cake stands thus that will like a few .% already.

A reading today gave me about a .19 reading still so it seems its not gonna budge from that.

 

[captain_dan]

The strength does increase in the barrel, Some people have reported up to 1% or so increase which may have something to do with when it carbonates and clears the enzymes are still working (not as much but they are still there)

I always make sure I use a bit of brewing sugar/beer enhancer when I start the brew in the FV. I find it helps the yeast do its work and does help with the gravity reading.

It probably should of, ideally all malt must be disolved when you start the kit. I always use the spoon the run along the bottom of the FV before adding the yeast, and check if theres any extract on the spoon. I keep stiring until the extract is next to nothing.

Another factor I thought about could well be that this kit is only a 36 pint kit. So you only fill it up around the 22L mark I think. I filled mine up higher because I know about 4 pints will be lost with gravity samples and there is always a bit left over in the bottom where the yeast cake stands thus that will like a few .% already.

A reading today gave me about a .19 reading still so it seems its not gonna budge from that.

Hopefully yours will sort itself out in time for xmas. Even if its not up to the strength you want, it will still taste nice!

I'll try your tips with the next batch!

 

[Sparkz]

Thanks ,

Im sure yours should be ok too, I would expect it would possibly be drinkable at 3.4% by xmas time. Iv seen ales at the pub at that % so it will still be a nice brew for you


Edit:

Just syphoned over the beer to my barrel. Did notice when doing it some clumps of black stuff was going through the syphon tube... Still I know that the barrel wont be moving so this sediment will just fall to the bottom and wont hurt the beer.

As per usual the syphon stopped when it was near the cake. Once again I used a clear glass to scoop up as much as possible and poured it into the barrel (did that a few times before and its never hurt the beer). Added about 5 or 6 teaspoons of beer enhancer. Now the barrel sits at about 38 pints full and the temperature is set to around the 4C mark. With a bit of luck I should have a nice cool beer to drink just in time for Xmas.

Gonna give it a taste when im back in 2 days time just to see if its getting anywhere

 

[Sparkz]

2 days of it being in the barrel. Poured a few mouthfulls worth and something good must be happening to it. No foamy head (yet) but it tastes better than it did when I sampled it during gravity checks.

Already I think its going to get better and better. It tastes like a potential 5% beer after its fully cleared in a few weeks

 

[Sparkz]

got a question...


is it a bad sign now that after 3 days after pouring a mouthful tester each day to see if its progressing that now the beer simply has no head to it? It is also quite cloudy,

usually by now with other kits.. if I poured a bit at least the tap would pour out a lot of froth

 

[Wez]

What temperature is the keg at buddy?

Also, what sort of keg?

 

[Sparkz]

What temperature is the keg at buddy?

Also, what sort of keg?

its the youngs youbrew 5 gallon pressure barrel.

temperature is at a steady 10C or thereabouts.

Very strange and perhaps its down to this kit being nothing but a problem. Done about 30 or so kits so far n by now there would be a fair amount of froth coming out of the tap.

Its like there is no c02 building up either and pressurising the barrel since when i do pour a tiny bit out it chugs its way out

 

[Wez]

Did you have it at around 20c to build up the co2?

The cooler the beer the more co2 it will absorb, that might mean that the c02 is in the beer but there is no pressure there to force it out?

 

[philip5660]

you can read the carry on i had with this one here:

viewtopic.php?f=36&t=9275

Muntons seem to be aware of the issue as they were very quick to offer a replacement kit - they need to sort this out.