St Peters Ruby Red Ale review

[dagovenor]

bottled this today, had a quick sample as you do! looking forward to this one. took an age to brew though! :

 

[doyley]

Having read the positive comments abou this kit I thought I would give it a go. Fermented at 19/20 C for eight days and then kegged. I thought perhaps it should have been left a bit longer as it was completely murky with no sign of clearing at the top, but the taste was very promising. A week later i thought I would have a crafty taster. I was amazed to see that it had dropped bright, perfectly clear and with a great flavour and mouthfeel. I shall be going down to Morrisons to get a couple of bottles of the commercial brew and have a comparison test in a week or so. I normally swear by Coopers kits brewed using DME instead of sugar, but I think I have been converted. I shall be ordering this one again and will also give their IPA a try.

 

[Markus]

RRA brewers, I'm partial to a ruby ale and thinking of trying this one based on all the feedback. Wondering if anyone added anything extra to this 2-can kit? I was thinking of possibly adding some medium spraymalt since I have a load of it. Wondering if it would improve it at all?

I say medium, I really only have a load of light and load of dark and was like "Half and half that sh*t!".

 

[bottler]

RRA brewers, I'm partial to a ruby ale and thinking of trying this one based on all the feedback. Wondering if anyone added anything extra to this 2-can kit? I was thinking of possibly adding some medium spraymalt since I have a load of it. Wondering if it would improve it at all?

I say medium, I really only have a load of light and load of dark and was like "Half and half that sh*t!".

I made the ruby red and added nothing, and i think it has been my favourite brew to date. It takes a while to clear, so it would help if you used the secondary fv to help this. Up to you mate, but i would brew it straight and add nothing first time round and see what you think. :thumb:

 

[steb]

brewed as per instructions . nothing added.put the fv on a heating tray which was controlled by a timer which was set to go on/off every 15 mins to keep the temperature steady.2 weeks brewing .syphoned into another bucket left for 2 days to settle then bottled. bottles were stored in the same room for 2 weeks. tried a bottle to check carbonation before moving to the shed what a lovely pint .it had a nice head on it as well.i will now leave it for 2 months to mature .really looking forward to trying this in a few months

 

[PD]

:thumb: :thumb: well done.
The red ruby has one fault. It really does take 4-6 weeks to reach its best.

Well two faults actually...its too nice a tasting beer to last long.

 

[Monkeybrew]

RRA brewers, I'm partial to a ruby ale and thinking of trying this one based on all the feedback. Wondering if anyone added anything extra to this 2-can kit? I was thinking of possibly adding some medium spraymalt since I have a load of it. Wondering if it would improve it at all?

I say medium, I really only have a load of light and load of dark and was like "Half and half that sh*t!".

Had some Whitebread Goldings in the freezer so dry hopped with them, tastes good to me :)

 

[Drayman151]

I seeking advice please :hat: I have read this somewhere that you add fugue hops to the brew Please can anyone advice me on this please. On the instructions. Of adding these hops. I have brewed this beer on many occasions and its been a great success. Thanks.

 

[Jez Graves]

Hi There
Another question please. I have a kit of rra waiting on the shelf. Is there any benefit to kegging it for a couple of weeks before bottling? I have a mate coming round may bank holiday weekend which we intend to make bottling weekend so do I wait two weeks before that, brew it up and ferment ready for that weekend, or do it now, keg it when ready and then bottle on bank holiday?
Still a bit new at this - just had to bottle a wherry because (old) keg wasn't holding pressure and have a coopers stout just finishing fermenting to go into (updated) Keg.
Loving the process but still feeling out of my depth. :shock:
All suggestions gratefully accepted.
Thanks
Jez

 

[steb]

a quick update. my RRA has been in the shed for 4 weeks now so i decided to try one last night. little fizz when i opened it .plenty of carbonation but virtually no head is it too young ? has it been too cold ? quite a nice pint though. purely for a comparison test i tried one tonight. i poured it into a glass straight down as opposed to my usual way of tilting the glass and i got the acquired head so yeah a nice beer which in time i hope is going to be a corker

 

[Graham]

I have just finished the last drop of my St Peters RRA kit and I must say I was disappointed after reading good things on here. Like Steb mine had no head unless you poured it quickly. Also the taste was a bit sweet like cough syrup or something similar. The taste improved if you let it warm up to room temp, mine was stored in the garage so it was cold when I brought it in. The later bottles I drank were over 2 months in the bottle, so I didn't drink it too early. They were perfectly clear but the taste was disappointing.

 

[bottler]

I suppose its a question of taste my friend, im a lager man but still loved it. No way can you predict how your favorite will be enjoyed by others. I like coopers european lager, and mexican cerveza, but others on here think the're watery and lack body. Horses for courses... good luck with the grand national tommorow , i backed TREACLE at 33/1 as i added treacle to my coopers stout :thumb:

 

[Russ146]

Ive just started on a barrel of Ruby that i made last Decemeber. Its been conditioning for 4 MONTHS

As i expected its my best ever, i also made 2 barrels of Wherry at the same time and drunk them after they conditioned for two and three months and were very good, the last pint of Wherry was drunk today and was awesome.

Which just goes to prove that Proper conditioning is as important as sterilisation and brewing techniques to make top quality beer

Cheers :drink:

 

[PD]

I am just looking longingly at my last bottle of St Peters Red Ruby Ale. brewed on the 1st July 2012.......

bottled 10 days later ( oh the impetuosity of youth ) and on the shelf for over 9 months........ Its brothers and sisters have all been drunk and well appreciated....

hmmmm tough decision to be made..

 

[PD]

Ok so I lasted an hour !

It was gorgeous....

 

[brewtim]

How did you chaps store your bottles, I've got a load of just bottled St Peters Ruby, 10 days in the warm, now in the cool 10-12 degrees for a couple of weeks, but where after that for storage? I sampled a bottle and it tastes very young at this stage, a good head all the way to the bottom of the glass, can taste the familiar hops but also has a homebrew tang to it in equal measure which I'm hoping will disappear in time, drinkable, but not really enjoyable just yet.

My method for this ale was following some of Graham Wheelers technique:

• 1 week in Primary
  Racked to Secondary Wilko barrel for 10 days (released pressure to purge within 48 hours)
  Loosened PB cap 48 hours before bottling (maybe a bit to early, I reckon 24 hours would be sufficient)
  Racked to bottling bucket primed with 110g of boiled dextrose for 23l
  Bottled with little bottler.

 

[PD]

from my notes this beer took 4 weeks to come good. Stored in bottles on a shelf in garage

 

[steb]

my RRA has now matured into a lovely pint.nice carbonation, crystal clear
and a lovely head on it. most importantly it is a really nice beer.3/4 of the way down the glass and it still retains a good head really pleased.waiting nearly 2 months has certainly been worth it. i would recommend this kit

 

[steb]

sorry forgot to say its stored on a shelf in the shed

 

[Drunken Horse]

I was thinking of splittiing this as a base to make a banana beer like the wells one and a maple syrup beer. would this work or would it be disgusting. thoughts.