Wanted: Saison yeast near south London

[essexjim]

Morning all,

I’ve just kicked off Muntons Belian style ale kit.

But the yeast (only 6g) is DOA, absolutely no life in it.

Anyone have a pack of Saison yeast near south London and I’ll pop around to collect today.
Cheers.

 

[essexjim]

Got some now, thanks

 

[Satellitemark]

Hi Jim,

I have the same kit , next one to do , can I ask do you intend to use two fermentation vessels as per the instructions or do it in one ?

I've not come across this two vessel method and can't figure out why it's required.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[essexjim]

Hi Mark,
the yeast kicked off after 24 hours. I’m not used to that ( not even so much as a bubble when I rehydrated it) so assumed it was totally dead.

I’m guessing the reason for the second FV is to allow the dry malt extract powder to mix with the wort. It’s the only reason I can think of.

Im too lazy for that so am planning on stirring up the trub then adding DME after it’s mixed with 1L of boiling water.

I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

[Satellitemark]

Thanks Jim, I appreciate it.


Mark

 

[Satellitemark]

Hi Jim,
I started mine off today and like you not a peep fermentation wise!

How is yours going , have you added the spray malt to yours yet ?

Mark

 

[terrym]

Hi Jim,
I started mine off today and like you not a peep fermentation wise!

How is yours going , have you added the spray malt to yours yet ?

Mark

Did you give it a good thrashing to get plenty of air into the wort. If not now's the time to do it so that you help build the yeast that came in the packet. Do these kits still come with 6g of yeast?

 

[Satellitemark]

Did you give it a good thrashing to get plenty of air into the wort. If not now's the time to do it so that you help build the yeast that came in the packet. Do these kits still come with 6g of yeast?

Hi Terry,
Yes mate I beat the **** out of it !
Yes they still come with 6g of Belgian seasion yeast, I'm not expecting any activity for a while as Jim had to wait 24hours for signs of life .

Mark

 

[Satellitemark]

Well I went to check on it this morning and it's kicked off big time, so much that I had to change the air lock due to it being full of foam .

Mark

 

[Satellitemark]

Today I mixed the 500g light spray malt included in the kit with 500ml of boiling water , let it cool a little and poured it into the FV I've resealed the lid and the airlock is bubbling away.

Mark

 

[essexjim]

I’ve put mine in the pressure barrel a few days ago.

Didn’t transfer to a secondary, just added the malt direct to the primary.

That 6g packet of yeast is a beast! Had it fermenting at 26C, was bubbling like a mofo for days.

Had a quick taste after barrelling it, initially sour/citrusy, finishes with caramel, dry and STRONG. Quite fresh actually.

Because you add the bag of malt after starting, it’s not really possible to calculate the alcohol at the end if you’re using a refractometer.

I don’t doubt it’s the 7-7.5% though.

Will leave it for about two weeks to condition in the cask but I’m expecting to really enjoy this (it’s just my type of beer).

I would imagine if you had the patience then conditioning it for a month would really help.

Will let you know when I start tucking into it.

 

[essexjim]

I have to ask though, why wait to add the spray malt and not just do at the beginning?

I’m confident this yeast could handle it.

 

[Satellitemark]

Nice one Jim, thanks for the update.
Mine is still in the FV , I mixed the spray malt into 500ml of boiling water and added to the FV on day 6 , it's only just slowed down and bubbling once every few minutes.
I intend to bottle mine next week end into large leffe bottles.

I also have high hopes for this one.

Mark

 

[essexjim]

Right, after a lot of **** dealing with leaks in my pressure barrel I’ve started tucking into this properly.

It’s a very belgiany ale, sweet, a bit sour. Just my type.

Pretty strong, been getting nicely sloshed the last week.

Would I recommend again?

Yes, as long as you like Belgian ales.

Don’t think the faff with with transferring adds anything or waiting to add the extra malt.

 

[Satellitemark]

Cheers Jim,

I've got mine bottled in leffe bottles and conditioning.
I haven't tried it yet.

Thanks for the update.

Enjoy your brew

Mark

 

[Satellitemark]

Hi Jim,

I put a couple of bottles of Muntons Belgian ale in the fridge this morning by mistake thinking it was my older Hammer of Thor !
As it was the only beer I had cold I went for it and can happily report I am very happy with it despite it being fairly young.
It's only going to get better and i'm happy with it now !

Mark

 

[Satellitemark]

Well bloody hell !

Two weeks later and I've opened up the Muntons Belgian Ale as its my beer in rotation and it is brilliant, if I was served this elsewhere there is no way I would know it is home brew from a kit.

I would be proud to serve this to my family, it's gone straight up to the top favourite kits list.

I've drunk beer in Belgium and love Belgian and German beers and can honestly say it's as good as anything I've had on my tours.

Well done Muntons, great kit.


Mark