John Bull IPA Review

[Lesinge]

John Bull IPA 26/06/14. Forgot to do temp at pitching due to looking after the children got busy! OG 1042. Very dark wort and mixed with 1kg of muntons beer enhancer. Taste at brew..Pleasant, sweet and medium malty with a high level of bitterness.Tested gravity on 04/07/14 at the moment it is 1012 and I think I will leave it for a wee bit longer. Taste at this point very light not massive taste not much mouth feel, some bitterness, almost aired in that it disappears in the mouth very quickly leaving behind the bitterness. Think this one needs time.

Tasted at 16/08/14. Good head, dark Amber in colour with malty aroma. Taste is quite malty and hoppy although still not long lasting but a very nice pint all the same.

 

[Lesinge]

This is a really nice beer with a nice hoppy profile for a one can kit. Head retention gets better by the day and next time I do it I will dry hop it to give it more aroma to go with the taste. Recommended!

 

[Robert_]

I kicked one of these off yesterday with 1kg enhancer and 1kg dextrose - brewed to 20l, it gave me an SG of 1062. This should make for a nice pokey 7%+ christmas ale in replacement of the (very bad) Bad Cat.

 

[BruinTuns]

Hello everyone
And sorry about the fraudulent - as yet - user name. My daughter came up with it and I couldn't say no to her.. I'm actually about to start my first brew and it's this one, the John Bull IPA.
Robert-, I have exactly the same idea, a nice strong Christmas ale. What I'd like to ask is: instead of spraymalt, could I use Holland and Barrett jars of ordinary extract of malt? Also, if I add a whole 2kg of extra fermentables, will my beer still be ready in time for Xmas? Does fermentation time increase (dis?) proportionately the more one adds? And could Demerara sugar be used instead of dextrose, or is the latter a much better choice?
Sorry if any of this has been asked before. I really have spent weeks doing my homework before posting but time is getting short.
Grateful for any advice.

 

[Robert_]

Hello everyone
And sorry about the fraudulent - as yet - user name. My daughter came up with it and I couldn't say no to her.. I'm actually about to start my first brew and it's this one, the John Bull IPA.
Robert-, I have exactly the same idea, a nice strong Christmas ale. What I'd like to ask is: instead of spraymalt, could I use Holland and Barrett jars of ordinary extract of malt? Also, if I add a whole 2kg of extra fermentables, will my beer still be ready in time for Xmas? Does fermentation time increase (dis?) proportionately the more one adds? And could Demerara sugar be used instead of dextrose, or is the latter a much better choice?
Sorry if any of this has been asked before. I really have spent weeks doing my homework before posting but time is getting short.
Grateful for any advice.

Hello! Welcome.

I believe that H&B malt is not suitable. Tesco will deliver you a bag of "beer enhancer" to your local store for £3.75 (free delivery) - that's 50/50 dextrose/dry malt extract. That's the simplest solution.

The stronger the beer the longer it takes to condition aka taste good. Two months should see something drinkable for sure. I tend to do 2 weeks in the FV, 2 weeks warm to carbonate, 2 weeks cold to condition then find most beers are drinkable.

The beer will still ferment out in roughly the same time.

Yes demerara sugar, or muscovado sugar, or honey or treacle etc can all be used. For your first brews I would stick to dextrose then start playing with it once you have a base-taste.

Hope that's of some help!

 

[Robert_]

The Tesco enhancer - http://www.tesco.com/direct/beer-kit-enhancer/213-6255.prd?pageLevel=&skuId=213-6255

 

[ilikesabeer]

John Bull is the best home brew ale i have made.
1. Jb IPA 2 months old in the barrel def improvement with age
2. Jb traditional ale in the bottle clear as a bell
3. Jb best bitter in the fv 1 day old
All above mixed with young's brew enhancer but I have just used granulated sugar in the past with equal success. This brew does cloud if cooled at too low a temp so i just leave at room temp for several weeks. Like the idea of mixing golden syrup in but saw the post too late so will try next time.

 

[mickthetrick]

Hello! Welcome.

I believe that H&B malt is not suitable. Tesco will deliver you a bag of "beer enhancer" to your local store for £3.75 (free delivery) - that's 50/50 dextrose/dry malt extract. That's the simplest solution.

The stronger the beer the longer it takes to condition aka taste good. Two months should see something drinkable for sure. I tend to do 2 weeks in the FV, 2 weeks warm to carbonate, 2 weeks cold to condition then find most beers are drinkable.

The beer will still ferment out in roughly the same time.

Yes demerara sugar, or muscovado sugar, or honey or treacle etc can all be used. For your first brews I would stick to dextrose then start playing with it once you have a base-taste.

Hope that's of some help!

i've used the malt from holland & barret many times in the past to brew with. mainly in stouts and it ferments out as normal. no off tastes to it.
so yes you can.

 

[BruinTuns]

Robert, thank you for the welcome and yes indeed, your reply is of considerable help. I agree about following Tried & Tested to start with. I bought the H&B malt extract before I realised that it might not be the same stuff as 'LME', but I'll maybe experement with it in a subsequent batch. I was a bit put off buying brew enhacer due to high postage costs and your link solves that at a stroke. Ordered 4kg.
Just so I understand, you're following the kit instructions re adding 1kg dextrose, and tweaking with the addition of an extra 1 kg of enhancer to make a total of 2kg fermentables additional to the supplied kit ingredients?
I'd follow your lead but I don't have any dextrose and LHB shops are scarce here in London. Any downside, apart from slightly higher cost, to adding 2kg of enhancer instead of a kilo of each?

ilikesabeer, thanks for the tip, I'll make sure the primed bottles don't get too cold.

mickthetrick, thanks for posting. I'll try the H&B malt in a later batch.

 

[Robert_]

Robert, thank you for the welcome and yes indeed, your reply is of considerable help. I agree about following Tried & Tested to start with. I bought the H&B malt extract before I realised that it might not be the same stuff as 'LME', but I'll maybe experement with it in a subsequent batch. I was a bit put off buying brew enhacer due to high postage costs and your link solves that at a stroke. Ordered 4kg.
Just so I understand, you're following the kit instructions re adding 1kg dextrose, and tweaking with the addition of an extra 1 kg of enhancer to make a total of 2kg fermentables additional to the supplied kit ingredients?
I'd follow your lead but I don't have any dextrose and LHB shops are scarce here in London. Any downside, apart from slightly higher cost, to adding 2kg of enhancer instead of a kilo of each?

ilikesabeer, thanks for the tip, I'll make sure the primed bottles don't get too cold.

mickthetrick, thanks for posting. I'll try the H&B malt in a later batch.

Yes I am using an extra kg enhancer above the standard 1kg dextrose. There's no issue with using 2kg enhancer. Just means you have en extra 500g DME. This won't fully ferment out like dextrose and will give you a "thicker" beer with more mouth-feel. I've also brewed 3L shorter than kit instructions. I tried a sample yesterday after a week and it's 6.5% and pretty tasty already :)

 

[BruinTuns]

All: Just one Q, do we need to add extra yeast to cope with the extra fermentables?

Robert: That sounds very promising! I've decided to follow your recipe exactly and will make pilgramage to LHB shop on Monday to buy dextrose.. But as I have 2 of these kits I'll also try one with 750g dextrose, 1 kg Young's enhancer, and 450g H&B Extract of Malt.
Keep you posted....

 

[Robert_]

All: Just one Q, do we need to add extra yeast to cope with the extra fermentables?

Robert: That sounds very promising! I've decided to follow your recipe exactly and will make pilgramage to LHB shop on Monday to buy dextrose.. But as I have 2 of these kits I'll also try one with 750g dextrose, 1 kg Young's enhancer, and 450g H&B Extract of Malt.
Keep you posted....

The standard yeast sachet should cope just fine. I bottled mine after two weeks in the FV and it had a lovely fruity aroma - can't wait to see what it's like in a few months.

 

[BruinTuns]

Thanks Robert.

"Can't wait to see what it's like in a few months."

So you're not expecting it to be ready for Christmas? In that case mine definitely won't be as my delivery of dextrose, airlocks etc only came yesterday. Going to start within the next day or so, as soon as I get a free moment.
Also ordered an Evil Dog kit that I want to get going. NEARLY added a Bad Cat kit to the order but when I googled reviews of it your thread here came up as the first hit! I suspect we have very similar taste in beer :drink:
Reminds me to check on your Bad Cat thread..

EDIT
I found this elsewhere in reply to a yeast question. I'll follow your advice but I thought this might be of interest..

"A kit will most likely come with just enough yeast for its recipe. It's normally safe (recommended even) to pitch a lot of yeast (howtobrew.com). 100 billion yeast cells is almost the minimum for your average 6% abv brews - and 200 billion for 8% plus. Every brewer I know aiming for 7% abv or more will add yeast nutrients to ensure healthy yeast reproduction. Making a proper starter will greatly increase the cell count of your yeast, so instead of buying another yeast packet, make a starter instead".

 

[ilikesabeer]

I have left John bull best bitter in the ft for 2 weeks and 4 days. Just put in bottles it's very dark and there was a bitter taste from the gob full I got when siphoning. Not what I would call horrid but have I naffed up.? Only ever left for 2 weeks before anyone ever left for longer. No doubt i will know for sure after second fermentation

 

[Robert_]

Thanks Robert.

"Can't wait to see what it's like in a few months."

So you're not expecting it to be ready for Christmas? In that case mine definitely won't be as my delivery of dextrose, airlocks etc only came yesterday. Going to start within the next day or so, as soon as I get a free moment.
Also ordered an Evil Dog kit that I want to get going. NEARLY added a Bad Cat kit to the order but when I googled reviews of it your thread here came up as the first hit! I suspect we have very similar taste in beer :drink:
Reminds me to check on your Bad Cat thread..

EDIT
I found this elsewhere in reply to a yeast question. I'll follow your advice but I thought this might be of interest..

"A kit will most likely come with just enough yeast for its recipe. It's normally safe (recommended even) to pitch a lot of yeast (howtobrew.com). 100 billion yeast cells is almost the minimum for your average 6% abv brews - and 200 billion for 8% plus. Every brewer I know aiming for 7% abv or more will add yeast nutrients to ensure healthy yeast reproduction. Making a proper starter will greatly increase the cell count of your yeast, so instead of buying another yeast packet, make a starter instead".

I didn't get round to counting yeast cells, but I can say this was a tremendous success! Easily the best beer I've brewed, absolutely lovely, creamy, no hint of the ABV at all. Could not be any happier with it. How's yours?

 

[Robert_]

I have left John bull best bitter in the ft for 2 weeks and 4 days. Just put in bottles it's very dark and there was a bitter taste from the gob full I got when siphoning. Not what I would call horrid but have I naffed up.? Only ever left for 2 weeks before anyone ever left for longer. No doubt i will know for sure after second fermentation

That's similar to the experience I had. How is it now?

 

[BruinTuns]

"Easily the best beer I've brewed, absolutely lovely, creamy, no hint of the ABV at all. Could not be any happier with it. How's yours?"

I'll let you know but it won't be for a while. I only bottled yesterday because mine took ages to ferment out. But I stuck pretty closely to your recipe so I'm greatly encouraged by your results!
If this is the best you've brewed then I'd be silly not to order 4 more kits in the Tesco sale; currently they're a bargain £9.50.
It'll be very interesting to compare this brew to the Evil Dog that should be ready about the same time...
Btw Robert, any update on your Evil Cat lab report?

 

[Robert_]

"Easily the best beer I've brewed, absolutely lovely, creamy, no hint of the ABV at all. Could not be any happier with it. How's yours?"

I'll let you know but it won't be for a while. I only bottled yesterday because mine took ages to ferment out. But I stuck pretty closely to your recipe so I'm greatly encouraged by your results!
If this is the best you've brewed then I'd be silly not to order 4 more kits in the Tesco sale; currently they're a bargain £9.50.
It'll be very interesting to compare this brew to the Evil Dog that should be ready about the same time...
Btw Robert, any update on your Evil Cat lab report?

Haha yeah you definitely should order some whislt they're on sale. The first thing I also did after tasting it was check the price on Tesco :) I gave my dad some to sample - he knows his beer and first computerised the brewing process at Bass - he was very impressed by this kit. He also said he lost 12 hours after drinking 2 pints but hey ho!

The bad Cat had a yeast infection apparently. I'm yet to get the replacement on. In fact I've had 3 beers all in primary for almost a month. The joys of being far too busy!

 

[BruinTuns]

"He also said he lost 12 hours after drinking 2 pints but hey ho!"

I hope he was suitably appreciative! :-)

I'm guessing a yeast infection is a rare issue, so I'll add a Bad Cat to my next order. Be very interesting to compare with my Evil Dog which was finally bottled today after fermentation malingered for 3.5 weeks..

 

[Robert_]

"He also said he lost 12 hours after drinking 2 pints but hey ho!"

I hope he was suitably appreciative! :-)

I'm guessing a yeast infection is a rare issue, so I'll add a Bad Cat to my next order. Be very interesting to compare with my Evil Dog which was finally bottled today after fermentation malingered for 3.5 weeks..

That seems par for the course in my experiences of Evil Dog. There's another long wait now before it's palatable; but then there's a fruity sledgehammer waiting for you at the end! Haha yes the old man said "normal beers don't cut it anymore".