St. Peters, India Pale Ale

[muddy90]

This was my first beer brew. I chose it because I like Ipa & it was a 2 can kit.
I had no probs at all following the instructions even for a first timer. The beer fermented fully & I got 36x500ml bottles.
I left it in the fermenter for maybe 3 weeks & the trub was nicely compacted.
I'd had some probs getting my ginger beer & strawberry cider fizzy so I left this IPA for much longer in the warm (if you can call our house warm!) after adding sugar.
They've been maturing for about 4 weeks in the cold & I've been drinking for about 2.
I have to say that it's not like any IPA I've ever had! :shock: Not that it's horrible....
It's a fair bit darker than expected & quite 'malty'. I think it's getting better... or growing on me. :whistle:

 

[BIGJIM72]

Mine took 8 weeks to mature before it came good,so be patient!

 

[SE10PAT]

I brewed this as one of my first kits last year and I have to agree with Big Jim in that you have to leave it for a good long time before it tastes decent. I think the last bottle I had was about 4 months old and only then was it getting spot on. Was lovely when it was matured but had a bit of a 'zippy' kind of aftertaste when drank too soon.

I have brewed another St Peter Kit, the Golden Ale, this has been bottled for quite some time yet I still dont think its ready for mass consumption. Might just be a trait of St Peters kits

 

[BrewDan]

I have not brewed this kit , I have bought a couple of bottles from a shop though... The write ups on the kit did seem to be really good, and on the craigtube channel he posted a video saying it was his favourite brew... However when I tried them I thought they tasted like Burnt toast , wasn't my sort of thing. Anyone else found this to he the case, or are my taste buds broken

 

[BIGJIM72]

The bottled ruby red is very strongly flavoured-I got a mini keg from the brewery (really nice as it goes) & the kit is pretty much a match for that. It's much less harsh than the bottled stuff & really rather nice.

 

[Spanish_brewer]

I am making this kit at the moment. it looks quite pale to me and it tastes nice (very hopy). I have a question though.

It has been in the FV for 7 days (the instruction recommend 4-6) at a constant temperature of 20c. From day five the gravity is 1016 and it hasn't moved since then. this give the beer a strength of 4% (starting gravity 1046). the instructions say that the gravity should be under 1014 and the strength of this beer is 5.5%. I am happy with 4% but do you thing I should leave it in the FV for a couple of days more? or in the contrary I should bottle it?

Thanks

 

[BIGJIM72]

It would be fine to leave for another couple of days-I would leave a 2 can kit like this alone for 10-14 days before bottling (but no longer). Kit instructions are often hopelessly optimistic regarding time.

 

[Spanish_brewer]

BIGJIM72, Thank you for the advice. I will check again on Monday happy Easter :

 

[bottler]

I am making this kit at the moment. it looks quite pale to me and it tastes nice (very hopy). I have a question though.

It has been in the FV for 7 days (the instruction recommend 4-6) at a constant temperature of 20c. From day five the gravity is 1016 and it hasn't moved since then. this give the beer a strength of 4% (starting gravity 1046). the instructions say that the gravity should be under 1014 and the strength of this beer is 5.5%. I am happy with 4% but do you thing I should leave it in the FV for a couple of days more? or in the contrary I should bottle it?

Thanks

Big jim is right, try to get it down to 1012 or 1010. The st peters ruby red is well worth a try, as ive found it one of my favourite brews :thumb:

 

[Brewbob]

Just about to put one of these on tomorrow..... Looking forward to it

 

[serum]

This was the first kit I tried. I like IPA and bought it because it was a 2 can kit and the box looked nice (poor reason I know!) I did it as per the instructions but left it in the FV for 2 weeks which is a bit longer than it recommended. I bulk primed in a secondary FV before bottling.

When I came to test the gravity I realised I'd thrown the box away after making it up, forgetting that the instructions were on it so I don't know how close the finishing gravity was to the target.

After 2 weeks the flavour was fairly good but it had a really overpowering bitter aftertaste. I left it another few weeks and it improved a lot so I got stuck in.

Having not tried the bottled version before, I bought a few from Ocado and found that the kit version was much smoother after about 2 months. The bottled one was much more bitter but lacked the depth or any of the floral taste I got from the kit.

I saved the last five bottles for another three months and cracked one open this weekend and it was superb, miles better than the bottled version. I was gutted I'd drank it all. I'll definitely get this one on again. I'm also keen to have a go at the ruby red kit they do as well.

 

[Brewbob]

Try the stout as well. Mines been in the bottle a couple of months and it's just coming good now. Good depth of flavour with a liquorice burnt after taste

 

[serum]

I tried one of my final bottles after 5 months and it just keeps getting better. It's almost like a strong Belgian beer. I have to do this one again very soon! It stands up against my favourite bottled beers.

If you think of making this definitely store it for 4 months or more. It's well worth it.

 

[MikeK117]

Can anyone suggest an amount of sugar for batch priming this? Instructions say 1/2 teaspooon per pint but I am batch priming. Note that this is a 32 pint (19L) kit so I imagine I'd need less than the 85g I've seen elsewhere.

Cheers! :

 

[tricky_dicky]

All down to preference really I guess, but you can't go wrong with somewhere between 4 and 5g per litre for my taste.

 

[Fore]

Krausen's can somtimes be amazing. This my first IPA; 24 hours after pitching. OG 1.052.

 

[serum]

I just tasted my second batch of this and it's even better than the first after just one month. I could drink this stuff all day.

I know it's a bit too late for the question about carbonation but I used 120g in this batch and it has a really nice head on it.

 

[SomersetBrewer]

I have started started my first Beer. I choose St Peters IPA because it seemed to have some good reviews. Once this beer is ready i will be putting it into a cider barrel and using CO2 gas.

Has anyone tried this with this beer?

Most on here bottled there beer.

Thanks

 

[SomersetBrewer]

I have now put this is a barrel and is ready to drink.

I put in 16 Tsps on Sugar.

I went to pour my first pint and when i opened the tap it ran for about half a pint and then stops. Would this be the sugar blocking the tap?

It happens every time.

Anyone help me?

 

[Fore]

Possibly a yeast plug. Have you never managed to clear the block to see what flows through?

I tried a sample of my own St Peters IPA tonight.

10 days primary; 10 days cold secondary; 16 days kegged; FG 1.012; ABV 5.4%. A little cloudy yet, simply as it's the first drawn. Still a bit early, but this I like a lot, and I know it's only going to improve as it clears.

Over the last 7 months or so I have worked through several well known two can "English Bitter" kits. This is the first of my second round of kit purchases, which are primarily IPA's and Golden Ales. This is the first IPA I have ever brewed and my first brew I would actually call "smooth". Most of the others have had quite a sharp bitter bite, almost metallic like. This is very well balanced, only the alcohol being very very slightly too hot, but too early to judge that yet.

I think what I have come to discover is that I simply prefer the IPA style to the darker maltier ales I've been brewing to this point. Today I find a beer I could consider a favourite regular tipple and be comfortable to share, as I know it would go down well.

This is good; really good. Now eagerly looking forward to my other IPAs and Golden Ales.