Supply and brewing of Colne Valley Bitter

[ALANJOHN70]

I have been a home brewer for 30 years and been brewing Colne Valley Bitter for at least 8 years. I have had trouble obtaining the kit recently from my usual suppliers ( Colchester Homebrew and Brupak ), but in September was able to find the kit on the Homebrew Shop's website. I bought 3 kits ( 5 were in stock ), but the results of the 2 brews that I have made are bad. I first noticed that the fermentation the day following starting the brew was very anaemic ( it is usually quite violent ) but it reached the appropriate reading on the hydrometer after a week when I syphoned the beer into the barrels. When they were both ready for drinking I noticed that the beer looked more like lager than bitter and it had an unpleasant slightly vinegar taste.
Of course, this kind of thing can be put down to poor hygiene, except that after all these years I am very strict on sterilizing all equipment, and to mess up twice is too much to believe.

Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[RichardM]

I can't help with your question, but people should be aware that if you get an infection in your fermenter or bottling equipment it can be very hard to get rid of, so it is possible to get two infected batches in a row.
I'm not saying that is what happened to you, but people should be aware of it.

 

[ALANJOHN70]

Thanks Richard. I have since spoken to the Homebrew Shop and they believe it is probably an infection. They say that the infection can live in a scratch in the brewing equipment. Think I will have to replace the equipment before the next brew.

 

[JockyBrewer]

How do you mean it looked more like lager than bitter?

Vinegar taste is usually a sign of infection, but I’d be surprised if it affected how the beer looked.

 

[ALANJOHN70]

After brewing the 2 kits I decided to throw out all of my equipment ( excluding the 2 king keg barrels as both can't be infected ) and obtained new kit ( bucket, thermometer, hydrometer, paddle, syphon tubing ). I then brewed the 3rd kit being even more careful with regards to hygiene, but obtained the same result- undrinkable beer.
I am trying to get Brupaks to check the batch numbers as the only thing I can think of is that there is something amiss with that batch of kits. So far I have had no response

 

[Banbeer]

Sorry to here of your very bad luck, I've been lucky in that I have only had one infection in many years. What I suggest is you get a very cheap kit and make that and see if it turns out the same? Good luck for the future.

 

[Sandimas]

Was there a "best before" date on the kits? I'm wondering if the yeast was old and got stressed.

I brewed that kit many moons ago, maybe 10 years ago, it hardly gets mentioned on here or other homebrew forums so I can't help thinking they don't sell many of them, which suggests they may be hanging around on the shelf a long time.

Sounds like you have 1 of the 3 kits left to do? As they're 2-can kits, just make up one can to half volume and use some fresh yeast, Wilko Gervin will do, to see how that turns out.

 

[ALANJOHN70]

There is no best before date on the kits. I do now wonder if the kits were old and the yeast was off. One characteristic of the brews was that the initial fermentation was quite weak as I usually get quite a fierce reaction with the yeast bubbling up to the lid of the bucket before settling down. Despite trying to get to the bottom of the problem, I have received no help from Brupaks.

I am going to try again and with a new kit and will keep you posted. Thanks to all who have tried to help!

 

[Sandimas]

Also worth weighing the yeast: some of those older kits used to come with insufficient yeast, 6g rather than a standard 12g packet. My memory is hazy about Colne Valley Bitter but I seem to remember it didn't brew correctly.

I do this it's the yeast that's the issue, get a fresh packet and try that.

 

[chris-s]

Brupaks Colne Valley Bitter was one of my real favourites many years ago.

Creamy flat Yorkshire bitter reminiscent of my youth.

None of my preferred suppliers do it now. I wonder why.

 

[ChrisM]

Brupaks Colne Valley Bitter was one of my real favourites many years ago.

Creamy flat Yorkshire bitter reminiscent of my youth.

None of my preferred suppliers do it now. I wonder why.

Best selection of Brupaks kits I know of at: Brupaks Pride Of Yorkshire Beer Kit - Colne Valley Bitter

P&P a bit pricey so I wait until I'm needing a decent sized batch.

 

[chris-s]

Thank you very much.

I notice that the stock quantities are quite small for a selection I looked at. Not sure whether that's a good thing or bad thing.

P&P a bit pricey

As long as there is a free delivery option (over £70) that's fine for me.

Cheers