Tom Caxton Real Ale Review.

[coolhandluke]

My Tom Caxton Real Ale kit came with a hop sachet, but it did not come with any patience so I am testing one now after less than 3 weeks! And I am over the moon with it.
( Bought from Wilkinsons for £14 plus 1kg beer enhancer on sale at £3).

Brewed on 3rd April, I made up just half of the kit (the other half of the can of extract is in a sealed jar in the fridge).
I halved all the ingredients so that I could adjust the recipe if I didn't like the first attempt:

1/2 the can of extract,
500g Beer Kit Enhancer (Muntons)
4g hops (just over quarter of the supplied sachet)
17.5 pints of water
and yes, only half the sachet of the supplied yeast.

After just 6 days it had dropped from OG 1.045 to 1.012, and stayed there for the next three days. So just about 4.4% or so after priming.

As I said, it came without any patience included in the kit, and I didn't have any to spare, so I bottled it (17 x 500ml bottles) after 9 days.
(Primed with 0.75 tsp brewing sugar).

I had a crafty sip when I bottled it and I could have happily drunk a pint right then, but I waited for a whole 2 weeks 5 days and am testing one now. I'm really pleased with it. It's very clear, bubbling throughout the glass, with a good head staying on it. It's a lovely dark amber, tastes very slightly on the bitter side which may well mellow if it ever gets chance to age. It's certainly not strong tasting, but somewhere around a Marston Pedigree I would say.

Not sure I will change anything for the second half of the kit, and there will definitely be more of these being brewed.

 

[dad_of_jon]

tom caxton was my first brew, I chucked all the hops sachet in and did a hop tea, and loved it. never looked back :thumb:

 

[coolhandluke]

tom caxton was my first brew, I chucked all the hops sachet in and did a hop tea, and loved it. never looked back :thumb:

Yes, this is definitely going to be one of my regulars. I've had a couple more since and I couldn't be happier with it. What a great result in such a short time.

 

[RichieBeer]

I've not tried the Real Ale. I am, however, halfway through drinking a Tom Caxton Best Bitter which I'm very pleased with too. I only put half the hop sachet in and sort of wish I'd added it all, but it's a real nice drink and get's better with age. It's now about 10 weeks in the bottle.

Am doing a John Bull IPA next but will definitely have a go at the TC Real Ale following your reports. I've had much better results with the 1.8kg kits than the 1.5kg ones (e.g. Geordie & Wilko), certainly worth the extra couple of pounds anyway.

 

[Frogbrew]

My first brew was a Tom Caxton best bitter and got me hooked on this. The john bull IPA is a great kit brewed as is IMO, but I have only done it as is with 500g DME and 500g brewing sugar. You've made me think of doing one of these again soon.