The Home Brew Company Full Extract Golden Pale Ale

[Pearlfisher]

This is my second attempt at an Extract kit and this kit ,but the first one I used dry ME and I must have done something wrong as it never cleared and tasted strange ,it ended up on the rhubarb patch . My mistake I think was boiling the hops and wort with the lid on and just sieving the hops into my FV without cooling it first. I didn't have a hop filter or wort cooler.

This time I steeped the grain in a 6L pot on the gas hop ,I still hadn't got a hop filter. I boiled the wort and the hops in separate muslin bags for the required time and then drained into my FV and added the two cans of liquid ME then topped up to 23L with West Malvern Spring water.Pitched the S-04 yeast at the required temperature.

I was a bit concerned after about 4 days when small dumpling like balls appeared floating on the top ,but I was reassured it was just the Protofloc doing it's fining and clearing up job.

I pressure barrelled it last Monday and it cleared very quickly ,despite having problems with a leaking tap washer. Had a couple of halves the last 2 evenings , it's very lively ,only primed with 80gms sugar , but added more CO2 because of fixing the leak.
It has the best head retention I've achieved so far , lasting all the way down the glass , it's not too hoppy or bitter ,just as I prefer , it fact it's quite sweet ,reminds me of Bathams best bitter and Holdens Golden Glow and is as good if not better although it is quite young and it's taste will change , not too much though I hope.

 

[Pearlfisher]

This has turned out to be my best attempt at homebrewing so far , the head retention on it is fantastic ,it clings to the glass all the way down.
There's not too much hop taste to it ,so if you want something hoppier I suggest their Discover APA or APA , which also , although they're younger, have the same basic taste and head retention qualities , but the hops are much more in your face and have more aroma.

 

[Sandimas]

Impressed with this kit: 2 x pouches of liquid malt extract, grains for steeping, hops vacuum-packed and labelled for 60min, 20min and 5min additions, US-05 yeast and even a Whirfloc tablet. I got it in their sale for an unbelievable 14.40 but see it's back up to 18.00 now, still great value for an all-in 23L Extract kit - my LHBS sells similar for over 30 quid.

I've done a lot of Extract over the last 5 years but didn't agree with the instructions, which suggested a full-volume 26L boil. This just isn't necessary, in fact one of the key advantages of Extract is doing a reduced-volume boil and then topping up with cold water in the FV so that you don't need a hefty cooling stage. Did it in a 12L stock pot on the hob, which I dunked afterwards in 3 sinkfulls of cold water for 15min each (it's summer at a hot 25C in the house at the mo), then added this to the FV and topped up with cold water. Made it up to 20L rather than the suggested 23L as hoping to get a bit more flavour out of it after Pearlfisher's comments above.

The only thing that went wrong was that I tipped the LME into the stockpot that was on the boil with the liquid from the grain steeping stage, and it sank straight to the bottom and a little burnt on the bottom - usually use DME so wasn't used to liquid, need to remember to stir it in as you tip it next time.

OG 1044, let's see how it does.

 

[Sandimas]

Just bottled it and had a crafty sample, as you do. :whistle:

It's exactly what I was after, a golden English ale of the style that was popular on the real ale scene about 10 years ago, nice balance of hops and malt but definately not a bold American hoppy beer. Can't wait to have the first pint, I'm going to enjoy this one.

 

[Jon75]

Edit: Double post

 

[Jon75]

I got their blonde ale extract kit for £14.40 and have just started drinking it. Although the head retention isn't great it smells and tastes just like I would expect for a blonde ale and I am very impressed with it. Fermentation was 2 weeks at a constant 18C I think it was and it has been in bottles for just over 3 weeks now.

I only used a 5l stockpot too. I would happily try more of these kits.

 

[Sandimas]

Hmm, so 3 weeks later and the first proper pint. After so much promise I'm a bit disappointed, it's not bad just very average and any hop flavour seems to have gone - I had such high expectations given the quality of the ingredients. I'm used to doing Extract brews and pimping kits, this should have been so good - only thing I can think of is that it should have had more hops, or maybe the hops were old (which was why it was in the sale).

Here it is, a good-looking pint but more dark amber than golden in my book, and seems to have that home-brew twang.

Going to leave it a few more weeks and re-appraise, maybe my move to AG has made me impatient, you can normally drink them as soon as they've carbed up.

 

[Sandimas]

Well, the homebrew twang developed into a full-blown infection and it's now undrinkable :sick: so hold off on my opinions for now. I half-bottled and half-kegged, the kegged brew is infected so I'm hoping the bottles are OK.

I recently did the HBC Full Extract American Brown, bottled the lot, and I have to say that it's one of the finest brews I've made out of 100+ kits, Extract and AG. I really think something went wrong with my process for the Golden Pale Ale.

 

[Sandimas]

Further update - just the keg is infected, the bottles are fine.

I think Pearlfisher's description is spot on " it's not too hoppy or bitter", it's an inoffensive pint but not one to rave about. Tastes a bit like Wherry but smoother. Prefer my beers a bit hoppier and more bitter, it's not bad just doesn't stand out as anything special.

 

[Personal91]

Further update - just the keg is infected, the bottles are fine.

I think Pearlfisher's description is spot on " it's not too hoppy or bitter", it's an inoffensive pint but not one to rave about. Tastes a bit like Wherry but smoother. Prefer my beers a bit hoppier and more bitter, it's not bad just doesn't stand out as anything special.

what caused the infection ?

 

[Sandimas]

what caused the infection ?

No idea.I sanitised the keg as usual.

I was plagued with infections last year (wild yeast I think) but this is the first this year, and only in the keg. As well as sanitising, I now use a kettle full of just-boiled water in my FVs because sanitisers don't get rid of everything, but it's hard to do that in a round keg with a narrow neck, so that could be the cause. Probably a bit of wild yeast around.

 

[Personal91]

No idea.I sanitised the keg as usual.

I was plagued with infections last year (wild yeast I think) but this is the first this year, and only in the keg. As well as sanitising, I now use a kettle full of just-boiled water in my FVs because sanitisers don't get rid of everything, but it's hard to do that in a round keg with a narrow neck, so that could be the cause. Probably a bit of wild yeast around.

how do you transfer your brew from primary fermenter to the pressure keg ?

+ how long do you leave your brew in the primary fermenter ?