Raja's Reward kit

jackbrew · Feb 14, 2015

My first post here, joined the forum today to ask about the Raja's Reward kit.

I have brewed a couple of the Bulldog kits with some very nice results, specially the 4 fingered jack IPA, so I bought the Raja's Reward kit expecting a similar outcome but it's one of the first kits that have not gone along smoothly.

Prepared a starter to SG1010 and put into and aerated worth which was at SG1048 added the boiled tea and bag of Fuggles & golding. Put into PF with airlock @ 23degrees with an immersion heater, after 20 long days and a few slow stirs it eventually reached SG1011.5.
Took it off the trub and into a keg without adding any priming sugar and stored indoors for another 10 days at 20 degrees.

I have today put it out int he cold shed and the SG is still 1011.5 and it's still rather cloudy,,, tastes a little 'yeasty' and lacks aroma , I am hoping its going to clear and taste better, has anyone had the same slow ferment issue, cloudiness ?

Spapro · Feb 14, 2015

I did this kit and it has developed into one of my best ever brews, all be it a bit darker than I expected for an IPA - I did dry hop just before bottling with some Galaxy hops to give it a tropical fruity aroma.

Mine did take a long time to ferment out - was about 5 weeks in total I think at a steady 18Â°C.

If yours ended at final gravity of 1011 then thats pretty good but I think you should have used some priming sugar. Have you tried running some out the keg ? Is it carbonated ?

If its not carbed well I would prime with 150g of sugar and back in the warm for 2 weeks before putting back into the cold to condition. It will clear with a bit of time.

Persevere with it I think you will be rewarded with a fine pint if you can leave it alone for a while, but do check its carbed at this stage and prime if not.

jackbrew · Feb 14, 2015

Spapro, thank you for the advice. It wasn't carbed much, just slightly, so I have now added 150 grammes of dissolved Dextrose and stuck the keg back in the airing cupboard.

I'll be back to to report in a couple of weeks.

Spapro · Feb 15, 2015

Nice one,

keep an eye on the keg for leaks, as the pressure increases during secondary ferment its not uncommon to get some leaking around the tap seal on the keg - could make a mess in the airing cupboard !

Best to put your keg on a drip tray of some kind to catch any leaks.

Good luck with it.

jackbrew · Mar 27, 2015

Follow up on this is positive.

Left the keg in the airing cupboard for two week as suggested, I had to let some pressure out a couple of times as the barrel was lifting as the bottom bulged with the pressure, but thankfully no leaks. Then quickly tested whilst transferring outside and it was still as fowl as the bottom of my fish tank !!

Not really holding any hope I put it out in the garage and forgot about it, whilst polishing off another nice brew in another keg. I was surprised yesterday to go to the keg and find it was not bad but not totally cleared and a bit of tang of yeast,, after drawing off a couple of pints ( I did drink them) it became totally clear and as lovely a pint you could wish for, I guess the surface layer in the barrel had the off flavours floating in it ?

Glad I persevered with this, it's one that takes it time.

Joski · Jan 23, 2017

Thnx a lot for the information! I am also (as we speak) brewing this kit. First of all i am not going to use the yeast and hops that are with this one. I bitterhopped 60 minutes boil with 35 gr cascade (not realy a bittering hop i know but just to add flavour and little more bittering) , i used 2 x 11gr bry-97 yeast , i also added 500 gr beer enhancer (dextrose and maltextract that is). Going to dry hop with cascade (25 gr pellets) , mosaic (25 gr pellets) and 30 gr citra hopflowers :-P . Started 3 days ago @ 1052 gravity reading. After 1.5 hours the airlock had activity and is now not shutting up anymore :-) . I'll keep you posted guys! ;-)

Joski · Mar 6, 2017

It went bad .. stupid yeast :-\ ( smelly wet dungeon like) , got into my brew also far 2 much and put the 23 liters down the drain. Now i am fermenting one again!! With the yeast from the kit! Added 250 gr light dry malt and 450 gr of sugar , the hops from the kit i boiled again @ 60 min. (Going to be around 75 ibu) . Keep you posted guys! ;-)