I've seen the dark..

[Halfacrem]

...and there's no going back!

My very first AG brew was a Craftybrew stovetopper Mosaic IPA 1 Gallon kit. It was brewed mid August, spent 4 weeks in the fv and was bottled on 23rd September. I put one bottle in the fridge this morning with a view to a sneaky taster this evening.

What can I say. Every kit I've attempted in the past has just faded from memory. Wow!

I think I made every mistake in the book making this beer, and still it just tastes lovely. Clean, fresh and with a mouth feel I've never experienced with an extract kit.

I'm a very happy chappy :drink:

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[HebridesRob]

Great! Really good to get the first one right. They won't all work as you want but you know it can be done.

 

[clibit]

Excellent! The journey has just begun. :twisted:

 

[Leon103]

Looks really good

 

[Halfacrem]

Great! Really good to get the first one right. They won't all work as you want but you know it can be done.

Small Victories

 

[Halfacrem]

Excellent! The journey has just begun. :twisted:

Absolutely!

 

[Halfacrem]

Looks really good

Cheers! Amazingly, it tastes even better!! I'm hoping this isn't just a fluke!

 

[baggybill]

Looks great and well done

Think your second glass though might be a bit err... 'cloudy', unless the yeast is stuck fast to the bottom of the bottle.

Normally, you need to pour the whole bottle (leaving a little behind) into a big enough glass first tilt of the bottle in order to leave the disturbed sediment behind.

 

[Halfacrem]

Looks great and well done

Think your second glass though might be a bit err... 'cloudy', unless the yeast is stuck fast to the bottom of the bottle.

Normally, you need to pour the whole bottle (leaving a little behind) into a big enough glass first tilt of the bottle in order to leave the disturbed sediment behind.

Yes, it was. Good shout, though I'm not too bothered about a bit of Yeast!

 

[stevej]

...and there's no going back!

My very first AG brew was a Craftybrew stovetopper Mosaic IPA 1 Gallon kit. It was brewed mid August, spent 4 weeks in the fv and was bottled on 23rd September. I put one bottle in the fridge this morning with a view to a sneaky taster this evening.

What can I say. Every kit I've attempted in the past has just faded from memory. Wow!

I think I made every mistake in the book making this beer, and still it just tastes lovely. Clean, fresh and with a mouth feel I've never experienced with an extract kit.

I'm a very happy chappy :drink:

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Nice looking drink:thumb: i brew a few kits now and again for quickness, AG is the way forward though theres so many hop and grain combos to try, theres no going back now:lol:

 

[Spapro]

That looks great Halfacrem, Clibit got me onto partials mashes and now moved onto all grain BIAB after getting the Peco boiler kit off The Home Brew Company. No going back to kits once you have tried beer made with grain.

4 weeks is quite a long time in the FV - did it need that long to finish fermenting ? Not that it will have done your beer any harm but you can probably shave a week or even 10 days off that.

Whats your next one going to be then ?

 

[Halfacrem]

That looks great Halfacrem, Clibit got me onto partials mashes and now moved onto all grain BIAB after getting the Peco boiler kit off The Home Brew Company. No going back to kits once you have tried beer made with grain.

4 weeks is quite a long time in the FV - did it need that long to finish fermenting ? Not that it will have done your beer any harm but you can probably shave a week or even 10 days off that.

Whats your next one going to be then ?

I left it four weeks because it didn't seem to ever really kick off fermenting and because of the small size of the fv, taking a hydrometer reading was impossible (and drawing samples from such a small batch seemed silly). So I left it that long to be as sure as possible it wasn't going to cause bottling issues!

My next brew is already fermenting (Harvest Pale Ale from Greg Hughes Book). Next one after that, I'm not quite sure yet.

 

[Spapro]

I left it four weeks because it didn't seem to ever really kick off fermenting and because of the small size of the fv, taking a hydrometer reading was impossible (and drawing samples from such a small batch seemed silly). So I left it that long to be as sure as possible it wasn't going to cause bottling issues!

My next brew is already fermenting (Harvest Pale Ale from Greg Hughes Book). Next one after that, I'm not quite sure yet.

That makes sense.

The Greg Hughes book is great, not done the Harvest Pale Ale, good luck with that.

 

[Cwrw666]

I can highly recommend the Northern Brown from the Greg Hughes book. Not only tastes great but surprisingly cheap to make as it uses so little hops. Strangely though it's still quite bitter.

 

[Covrich]

Congrats, you're so right its a one way street.. The satisfaction of making it cannot be beaten and teh freshness and quality of the outcome is second to none..