Tweaked Wilko's Mexican Cerveza

[AdeDunn]

I just put another tweaked kit on.... I did this one for my wife pretty much (she loves the Coopers Mexican Cerveza I did).

This time around, it's a Wilko's Mexican Cerveza single can kit tweak.

Fermentables:-

1 tin Wilko's Mexican Cerveza
1kg Richies beer kit enhancer
504g (couldn't be bothered to remove the 4g... lol) dextrose

Hops:-
25g tea-bag Hallertau
25g tea-bag Saaz

Yeast: 2 packets Wilko's kit yeast

I mixed the fermentables with water at 78 degrees C rather than the usual boiling water, then topped up to 21 litres with tap water treated with 1/2 a campden tablet. Thoroughly aerated the must.

Made a hop tea with the hops, then pitched this, and the hop tea-bags, into the must and gave it a stir. I then pitched the yeast at 22 degrees Celsius.

OG: 1.051. :whistle: So this COULD turn into something rather strong (I reckon it should easily hit 5%, or go horribly wrong depending upon the whim of the brewing gods..).... :lol: Little chance of it been as weak as the Coopers cerveza (OG of that was 1.040) I made was that's for sure...

Oh well, here's hoping it comes out at least drinkable.....:whistle:

Only the Youngs US IPA kit left now, then I can start having a go at the AG brews I've been preparing to do.:thumb:

 

[AdeDunn]

Just took the first sample, and it's now down to an SG of 1.006, so not a session-able one then.... :lol: Worked it out as 5.9% ABV according to the beersmith 2 calculator.

Tasted the sample, absolutely delicious! Lots of clean flavour, with a decent level of bitterness. No hints of anything that doesn't belong like I had with the Coopers kit, a winner for me and my wife for sure. :thumb:

 

[Spike101uk]

Reckon could that recipe for bumping abv and adding citra to make it like a desperados as that's quite lemony

 

[LarryF]

I've got one of these that will have been in the bottle two weeks on Tuesday. I brewed mine to 4.8% and added 50g of UK Cascade as a 5 day dry hop. My Beloved asked me to do it so "we're" quite looking forward to trying it. The problem with brewing for the wife is that I end up liking the beers too much and don't want to part with them.

 

[AdeDunn]

Reckon could that recipe for bumping abv and adding citra to make it like a desperados as that's quite lemony

Pretty certain I've seen posts somewhere where somebody dry hopped this kit with Citra, and yeah they said it tasted good.

I've got one of these that will have been in the bottle two weeks on Tuesday. I brewed mine to 4.8% and added 50g of UK Cascade as a 5 day dry hop. My Beloved asked me to do it so "we're" quite looking forward to trying it. The problem with brewing for the wife is that I end up liking the beers too much and don't want to part with them.

I can imagine Cascade working well, with the hop profile saying spicy as well as citrus, best of both worlds so to speak. Opposite problem here though, my wife is more likely to drink it all before I can. :lol: I'm not a big drinker overly, so sort of works out. I brew, she drinks, teamwork. :lol:

Funny thing though, usually anything over 5% seems to have an alcohol twang to it to me early on. This is 5.9% though with no detectable twang at all! The Headcracker kit I brewed is only a little higher (6.04%) and that takes my head off to the point I can't drink it yet still. :lol: This though is one of those that if you didn't know would sneak up on you and put you on your rear end.:twisted:

Oh and a big lesson I have learned, if you don't have temp control for fermentation DON'T brew Cerveza in the summer, unless you like a liquorice/black treacle flavour in your beer. :lol: Also I reckon mixing the fermentables at a lower temp (78 degrees as opposed to 100 degrees) helped with a cleaner profile too. ALL of the kits I made up with boiling water, even ones fermented during cooler weather, have had that black treacle/liquorice twang detectable in them (is this the home brew twang people talk about?).

I'm transitioning to AG brewing, but I have to be honest this kit tweak, and the Wilko's Golden Ale tweak I did before, are 2 kit brews I'd still be happy to make. ALL of the other kits I have made up (Headcracker, Wherry, Coopers Mexican Cerveza, Bulldog Bad Cat) have been a bit dissapointing in one way or another (Youngs AIPA is still fermenting, so can't judge that yet). The 2 cheapo Wilko's kits, with tweaks, have produced considerably nicer beer than even the more expensive kits.:thumb: