Wilko's Own Brand Cerveza.

[pauljohnmorris]

I've just bought my second lager kit ever which just happens to be this one. Haven't put it on just yet and was wondering if you guys had a optimum recipie for this kit?

What I have at the moment is
- wilko kit
- muntons spray malt
- wilkos brewing sugar
- youngs yeast nutrient

Does bottled water have any benefit over tap water?
Should I used the yeast provided or use a different type?
Is it worth using less water?

Thanks for reading, any tips welcome. Looking forward to reviewing it when its done

 

[redhousebrewing]

I've done several of the Wilkos lager/pilsner kits (but not the cerveza) - IME with the others about 1.5kg of fermentables (1kg brewers sugar 500g spraymalt), a little yeast nutrient, rehydrate the yeast that comes in the kit, tap water with 1/2 campden tablet, brew to 21-22 litres works pretty well and gives 4.5% ABV.
I also tend to dry hop with Saaz for the lager and pilsner.
Bottling with 4-5oz of sugar dissolved in the bottling bucket works for priming.

Hope that helps
Stuart

 

[pauljohnmorris]

Thanks for your reply, I read your post just after I finished putting the kit together. I followed the kit instructions most of the way changing only the amount of water used to 19 litres and adding youngs yeast nutrient as per the pot instructions. First comments I have, based on my very newbie experience, from the previous kit, a Coopers Australian kit, is that this kit smells really fruity. The kit got going in 12 hours when kept in my kitchen cupboard in the dark at about 19 -20 degrees and has been bubbling away quite happily compared to the 24 - 32 hours the last kit took. Not much more to report other than I plan to leave it in the FV for about 10 to 14 days, change to a secondary for 7 days then bottle up. On my first kit I bottled by just putting 1 level teaspoon of normal granulated sugar in each bottle, forgive my ignorance but how does the bottling bucket method work?

Will update soon if anything changes.

 

[redhousebrewing]

...how does the bottling bucket method work?

Here is my bottling bucket method...
1. Use your original FV to sanitise the bottles & a jug, transfer bottles to bottle tree to drain
2. Rinse out the FV, dissolve 5oz sugar in 200ml of recently boiled water in the jug, empty jug into the FV.
3. Syphon the beer from the SV into the FV, the syphoning flow will mix in the priming solution.
4. Fill bottles from the FV.

If you happened to have a tap and little bottler for the FV that would be ideal but I'm still filling bottles by syphon and that works ok too.

Sounds like you are off to a good start - good luck with the rest of it!

RHB

 

[Lesinge]

...how does the bottling bucket method work?

Here is my bottling bucket method...
1. Use your original FV to sanitise the bottles & a jug, transfer bottles to bottle tree to drain
2. Rinse out the FV, dissolve 5oz sugar in 200ml of recently boiled water in the jug, empty jug into the FV.
3. Syphon the beer from the SV into the FV, the syphoning flow will mix in the priming solution.
4. Fill bottles from the FV.

If you happened to have a tap and little bottler for the FV that would be ideal but I'm still filling bottles by syphon and that works ok too.

Sounds like you are off to a good start - good luck with the rest of it!

RHB

Hi there, what Sanitiser are you using? I used to use the powder but got some Star San instead and my life has been made a whole lot easier. No rinsing has saved me so many hours so far!

 

[redhousebrewing]

Hi there, what Sanitiser are you using? I used to use the powder but got some Star San instead and my life has been made a whole lot easier. No rinsing has saved me so many hours so far!

Same here - have now done 2 brews using Starsan - lots easier than powder!

 

[pauljohnmorris]

Just a quick update on the brew: its stopped bubbling yesterday. I hope its not stuck but the quick fermentation could be something to do with the yeast nutrient. Should I open it to check gravity or should I leave it until the 10 days I planned to leave it has passed? It was started 29th September so I think its a little early to start messing about with it.

I was looking at the star san for bottling. Whats the process with this stuff, do you just chick a bit in the bottle and shake it about a bit without rinsing? Seem a bit too good to be true.

 

[Brewbob]

So this kit is on offer at £8 at the moment so I thought I'd give it a go, I got some Light Spray Malt to do it with, do I also need to use sugar? If so I'll hold on and do it next week when I can get to the shop again

 

[pauljohnmorris]

Hi brewbob, I went with 500g brewing sugar and the 500g light spraymalt. I'm not sure yet but I think it may have fermented out after 5 days. I chucked a bit of yeast nutrient in mine which I think might be the reason its fermented so quick but on the other hand it may have stalled. Good luck with it

 

[Grotzilla]

Well my batch has had its 2 week primary fermentation in the warm and has now been moved to the garage floor for a week before bottling...

I couldn't resist a cheeky pint in the process! :p Unfortunately not 2 impressed with this brew, taste isnt too bad but just feels a bit watery and weak. Hopefully a month conditioning will sort this

 

[Brewbob]

Well I put this on tonight with 500g LSM and 1kg brewing sugar. I'm really glad I read this forum first and dissolved the spray malt in some cold water first, its really cleggy. It came in at 1045, so we'll see how it goes. £8 for the kit, £2 for the brew sugar and £4.50 for the LSM, wish I'd just got another Wherry.... Oh, wait I did :) Oh well, we'll see how it goes

 

[hodor]

Is it true that the wilko kits are made by muntons? my local wilko's didnt have their own brand cerveza so ended up springing £13 for the muntons. I used 1kg of brewing sugar and just under half a kilo of beer kit enhancer brewed to just under 22l. It is now bubbling away nicely in my cupboard under the stairs at around 22 degrees.

 

[pauljohnmorris]

Two weeks have passed so tonight I thought about checking too see how my brew had gone and move it too a clean secondary for another 10 days. At first opening got a hit of a strange wiff from it but that cleared and as I put in into the trial jar I thought that it looked very good and actually looked finished. Dropped in the hydrometer... 1010 so no not finished? Ive moved the secondary now to the shed as I have read that cooler and longer secondary ferm will produce a better result. I will keep an eye on this again for another week or so to make sure it goes the whole way which I am expecting now that ive moved it and stirred it up a little.

I did taste it from the trial jar and it tasted quite sweet which I guess in the result of the fermentation stopping at 1010 just hope it finishes or I might have to re pitch the yeast.

hodor - I have read numerous posts on here that these kits are muntons kits but never seen wilkos confirm this.

 

[Robbo]

Still haven't got round to trying Wilko's Cerveza yet......it's my birthday soon, so I'm sure the family will chip in for a Wilko's and Coopers Cerveza's. I'll run them side by side and see which one takes the title if I don't cock it up first.
Still new to beer/ale/lager brewing.

 

[pauljohnmorris]

Just bottled mine this weekend. Tested a bit from the trial jar tasted good! The spray malt makes a massive difference from normal brewing sugar and gives it a deeper flavour. Leave them in the shed now for two weeks to carb up and condition. I also started on the wilkinsons pilsner on the same day

 

[Diggerg]

Has anyone added something like Roses lime cordial to this at the ferment stage?

 

[1morebru]

First brew done & finally bottled today. Started off at 1044 and took fulll two weeks to get down to 1006.Used the recommendations on this thread of using 500g of spraymalt and 1kg of brewing sugar.The trial jar samples have tasted very impressive so far. Brewed short to 21 litres , working out a 5% ABV, looks pretty dark though almost like tizer ! Will try and resist for a couple of weeks and hope it gets a bit lighter.
Will add photo once my post count is up

 

[pauljohnmorris]

Hope it comes out well for you mate. Bottled mine Saturday so just a waiting game now for me.

 

[itbrvilla]

Planning to do one of the Wilko lager kits but am unsure which one to go for. Does anyone e have experience with all 3 and ncould recommend any over the others?

 

[Wilfy]

Just checked my spreadsheet to see when I bottled mine. It was the 22nd September so shall be sampling a few at the weekend.