Re: Festival Razorback IPA Review

[BooBrewer]

I made a batch of this for Xmas last year, it was so good I thought it was a lucky one off!!

Just started drinking second brew, started 8/3/14 & barreled/bottled 24/3/14. Totally awesome once again, done a blind tasting with 2 CAMRA members & it f****d them up big time ha ha ha

 

[DaveM]

Hi all

I have had my first batch of Razorback brewing for 8 days now. I checked the gravity for the first time yesterday and it was down to 1.018 (from an OG of 1.052).

There was lots of quite thick foamy stuff on top of the liquid in the FV. Because of this I decided not to dry hop at this point. If I leave it until next weekend (so it would have been in my primary FV for 2 weeks), is it likely that the foamy stuff will have gone (sunk, dissolved?), or will still be there? If its still there, will it affect the dry hopping?

Alternatively I could siphon into another FV (which I use for batch priming/bottling) and hop in there. This would then give me an issue when it comes to bottling as I would have to transfer to another FV (back to the one it is currently in), however this one doesn't have a tap so I wouldn't be able to attach my little bottler.

I hope that makes sense! Any thoughts on the best way to proceed?

Cheers

Dave

 

[louis macneice]

Hello Dave - I've done this kit 3 times and the hop pellets sink through any foam on top of the FV; so I'd say just chuck them in.

Cheers - Louis MacNeice

 

[Vallyred]

I've had a bottle of this each of the last 3 weekends and I reckon if I did this again I wouldn't use the provided hops. Unless of course they mellow out over the next month or so.

 

[DaveM]

Hi Louis

Thanks for your reply.

I think I'm going to leave it alone until next weekend, and then chuck the hops in and leave for another week. Hopefully this will allow the hops to do their thing, and also give the yeast a bit more time to sink. I bottled my Festival Landlord after 2 weeks (the gravity had stabilised by this point), and its really cloudy, with loads of sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

Cheers

Dave

 

[Monte Cristo]

Hi Louis

Thanks for your reply.

I think I'm going to leave it alone until next weekend, and then chuck the hops in and leave for another week. Hopefully this will allow the hops to do their thing, and also give the yeast a bit more time to sink. I bottled my Festival Landlord after 2 weeks (the gravity had stabilised by this point), and its really cloudy, with loads of sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

Cheers

Dave

I would add the hop pellets after it has fermented out and leave them in for the length of time it states on the instructions to avoid them being in the brew too long and adding extra bitterness.
I syphoned mine to a second fv and left it to settle on a cold floor for a few days before bottling and it really reduced the sediment. :hat:

 

[DaveM]

Hi All

Hopped this on Sunday, with the plan to bottle next Saturday.

I checked the gravity last Thursday and it was down to 1.008 and it still had a big foamy head. That foam had dropped by the time I hopped on Sunday, so I guess the fermentation had finished.

Cheers

Dave

 

[DaveM]

Checked the gravity again last night - now down to about 1.006. Hopefully will be the same tonight so I can bottle on Saturday (20 days).

Had a taste of the trial jar. Someone earlier in the thread said theirs tasted of grapefruit - mine tasted of really cheap orange and pineapple squash (maybe with a bit of tropical fruit in there for good measure)! Hopefully it will mellow once in the bottle!

Cheers

Dave

 

[ady]

Hi All my first post here! Got a razorback in Primary for about 5 days now gravity reading is about 1020. Just wondering when is best to put the hop pellets in? Now like the kit suggests or wait until fermentation is done and then add it for 5 days?

 

[DaveM]

Hi Ady

I left mine for 2 weeks before adding (all) the hops. Bottled 6 days later.

Tried a bottle on Saturday (3 weeks since bottling) and its pretty good already. Good citrus hit, followed by a nice bitter aftertaste. Still quite cloudy but showing definite promise.

Good luck with yours.

Dave

 

[ady]

Thanks Dave

I reckon that is what I am going to do. Did a gravity test yesterday and it is down to 1.011 so moving in the right direction :)

 

[jphil123]

Thought to share my ****-up in the hope it will prevent someone else making the same mistake. Here's the mistake I made: contrary to the instructions for bottling to add the provided dextrose after syphoning into the bottling bucket, I decided to syphon the beer onto the dextrose assuming it would gradually dissolve and spread evenly with the beer.
Well, by the end of the bottling the residue at the bottom already gave me a clue this had not happened completely; there was some dextrose left at the bottom. So, as you can imagine, the first bottles are under-primed, which means.....the last bottles are over-primed! To date, I have opened one gusher and had one bottle bomb.
As a safety precaution I put them all into the fridge to stop any further bottle conditioning. Just opened another one, that is under-carbonated. Sadly, I have no clue which bottles were first and which ones last.
So, as an advice, follow the instructions on this one to stir in the dextrose and not, like me, worry about oxidation this may cause (or better still, do the usual routine to dissolve the dextrose in boiling water first and syphon the beer onto that).

Other than that (even without the carbonation), this is great stuff!

 

[Elliottman]

Hi

Hi,

Fairly new to brewing, I’ve just bottled my third batch but I’m pretty I’ve messed it up. I’ll ask the question, but I’m pretty sure I’ll know what the answer will be

While doing the Razorback, post fermentation I mis-read the instructions and for some reason thought it said add sugar then leave for x amount of days before bottling.

Of course didn’t say this, it said add sugar and bottle right away.

Well, after adding the sugar I didn’t bottle the beer until 24 hours later. Question is, because it wasn’t bottled immediately, will carbonation fail? I popped one around 10 days after bottling and it was flat.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Jimbolala]

Ok like some others before me, I am quite new to this lark and this is my 7th brew. My last brew I stepped it up with the Youngs Amber Ale kit and am really excited about this one.
It started at 1050 and after reading the previous pages I will wait until it settles before I add the hops. Looks like it could be a long wait though. Thirsty thinking about it!
......ok 5days later it's down to 1020, still gonna wait a while before adding the hops.

 

[Jimbolala]

Ok bottled this today and managed to lose 5litres through being a dunce. Was transferring it into a different container and didn't check the tap was closed , between that and the amount of gack at the bottom, I am down 5litres!!!
Anyhow, another lesson learned. Will try and add a photo of it, the colour looks nearly orange!
https://twitter.com/jw39ish/status/496361685725487104

 

[Chris2304]

Looks like a great colour - would love to see another photo once it's cleared a little.

I definitely need to do this kit....

 

[Jimbolala]

https://twitter.com/jw39ish/status/503289465335709696
Tastes lovely and smooth. There is a strong hoppy smell but it doesn't cut across the taste.

 

[Chris2304]

Looks like a good head to that beer - thanks for posting. I've got the kit ready to go later this week.

Is it really that dark, or is it just the photo? It looks darker than I expected.

 

[Jimbolala]

It's a bit lighter but not by much.

 

[Chris2304]

So the first post on this thread shows one 50gm packet of hops and one 25gm packet of hops in the pack.

But my pack only has one 50gm packet.

Have they changed the kit, or am I missing one packet of hops?