Wilko's Own Brand Cerveza.

[Frogbrew]

Was at 1008 this morning so bottled up this afternoon, was still rather cloudy and didn't look too good I must say, smelt quite strong too.
I will leave at room temp and hope it clears and looks better soon..
Just had my last two bottles of wilko hoppy copper so it'll be quite a wait for this cerveza I think..

 

[Lesinge]

Having left this in the garage for a couple of weeks after brewing it with just brewing sugar, it has turned out to be a very drinkable lager. Head retention is good, taste is smooth and slightly sweetish. This will definitely go down well with the anti real ale brigade in my family...and with me to be honest!

 

[Rossco01]

Got this on as my second brew as it was so cheap in Wilkos. Used muttons brew enhancer rather than sugar. Brewed as per instructions really although taking into account what I've learned from previous brews. Reviews seem to be quite mixed so will be interesting to see how it turns out. Started it last Sunday and it's been bubbling away since although activity has now slowed. Planning to leave it for another week whilst I'm away on holiday, then rack off to a second FV leave for 4-5 days in the garage before batch priming and bottling. Should then be ready for drinking over the gorgeous summer I'm sure we're going to have :-)

 

[drago-mir]

ive just brewed this i added 1.5kg of brewing suger and brewed short to 21L my O.G. was 1044 and it's come down to 1002 which means a delightful 5.6% just letting it bubble away for a few days more then at the finnings before sticking it in the pressure barrel. Cant wait to taste this one.

 

[Bowl sprayer]

I am brewing this with brewferm bottom fermenting lager yeast. So far so good. I thought summer would be the ideal time as we rarely get weather warmer than the ideal working range for this yeast which is 11 - 15 oC.

 

[Rossco01]

Mmmm beautiful brew this. Took it from the second Fv last Saturday (added 100g silver spoon dissolved in 100ml water). It's been sat in the warm all this week, bottles nice and firm so decided to chill and crack a bottle tonight. Here it is! Not much head but tastes lovely and lots of fizz.

 

[jonpolley]

Brewed this as my first ever brew... Bottled it yesterday.

Not sure how its going to turn out. I followed the instructions on the packet pretty closely. So brewed to 23l. Added 1kg of brewing sugar nothing else.

OG was 1.036 and FG is 1.006 so pretty much spot on 4%. Slightly weak but not a massive problem.

I kept it in primary for 17 days. I think fermentation was more or less over after 5 days. But a quick sample seemed to have lots of off flavours.

The fermenting temp was between 21 and 23 C which I know is too high for a lager. But I don't have a brew fridge.. How is this likely to affect the outcomes?

These seemed to disappear by the time I bottled. And it tastes pretty much like warm flat lager.. so not very nice, but its encouraging that its on par with what I would expect.

I made up a priming solution with 85g of brewers sugar. Poured this into my secondary and then siphoned in the beer. I left it for about an hour and then bottled.
Having read the other comments I am wondering if thats enough? Am I going to end up with a flat beer? Or should I leave it to condition for longer?

The bottles are now sitting in boxes in a cupboard. Its about 19c in there. Planning to leave for about two weeks and then whack in the fridge. Should I leave it in the fridge for a week or so? or will it be ok to drink once chilled?

I used a range of different bottles mostly glass bottles with crown caps. But a few 500ml PET bottles and a two 2l PET bottles.
It seems that the PET bottles are firming up already and sediment is starting to form at the bottom of the bottles.. so I think its all looking good.

I have learned a lot from my first brew and have already cleaned out my FV and have another beer brewing in there.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

 

[ClownPrince]

Brewed this as my first ever brew... Bottled it yesterday.

Not sure how its going to turn out. I followed the instructions on the packet pretty closely. So brewed to 23l. Added 1kg of brewing sugar nothing else.

OG was 1.036 and FG is 1.006 so pretty much spot on 4%. Slightly weak but not a massive problem.

I kept it in primary for 17 days. I think fermentation was more or less over after 5 days. But a quick sample seemed to have lots of off flavours.

The fermenting temp was between 21 and 23 C which I know is too high for a lager. But I don't have a brew fridge.. How is this likely to affect the outcomes?

These seemed to disappear by the time I bottled. And it tastes pretty much like warm flat lager.. so not very nice, but its encouraging that its on par with what I would expect.

I made up a priming solution with 85g of brewers sugar. Poured this into my secondary and then siphoned in the beer. I left it for about an hour and then bottled.
Having read the other comments I am wondering if thats enough? Am I going to end up with a flat beer? Or should I leave it to condition for longer?

The bottles are now sitting in boxes in a cupboard. Its about 19c in there. Planning to leave for about two weeks and then whack in the fridge. Should I leave it in the fridge for a week or so? or will it be ok to drink once chilled?

I used a range of different bottles mostly glass bottles with crown caps. But a few 500ml PET bottles and a two 2l PET bottles.
It seems that the PET bottles are firming up already and sediment is starting to form at the bottom of the bottles.. so I think its all looking good.

I have learned a lot from my first brew and have already cleaned out my FV and have another beer brewing in there.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

To quote John Palmer Use Pale (light) malt extract instead of brewing sugar and buy fresh yeast.

If you're following the advice from a brew kit too I'd advise looking into re-hydrating your yeast, which is something that no instructions i've read has told me to do, but has improved my beer no end.

Hope it all goes well, and happy brewing. :)

 

[Rossco01]

Brewed this as my first ever brew... Bottled it yesterday.

Not sure how its going to turn out. I followed the instructions on the packet pretty closely. So brewed to 23l. Added 1kg of brewing sugar nothing else.

OG was 1.036 and FG is 1.006 so pretty much spot on 4%. Slightly weak but not a massive problem.

I kept it in primary for 17 days. I think fermentation was more or less over after 5 days. But a quick sample seemed to have lots of off flavours.

The fermenting temp was between 21 and 23 C which I know is too high for a lager. But I don't have a brew fridge.. How is this likely to affect the outcomes?

These seemed to disappear by the time I bottled. And it tastes pretty much like warm flat lager.. so not very nice, but its encouraging that its on par with what I would expect.

I made up a priming solution with 85g of brewers sugar. Poured this into my secondary and then siphoned in the beer. I left it for about an hour and then bottled.
Having read the other comments I am wondering if thats enough? Am I going to end up with a flat beer? Or should I leave it to condition for longer?

The bottles are now sitting in boxes in a cupboard. Its about 19c in there. Planning to leave for about two weeks and then whack in the fridge. Should I leave it in the fridge for a week or so? or will it be ok to drink once chilled?

I used a range of different bottles mostly glass bottles with crown caps. But a few 500ml PET bottles and a two 2l PET bottles.
It seems that the PET bottles are firming up already and sediment is starting to form at the bottom of the bottles.. so I think its all looking good.

I have learned a lot from my first brew and have already cleaned out my FV and have another beer brewing in there.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Mine started out at 1036 and I reckon only got to about 1008 so we're broadly the same. In terms of the fermenting temp I don't think you have to worry. I have limited knowledge in this area (this is only my second brew) but reading everything on this site (and indeed the reviews of this kit) indicates that whilst you're right that brewing lager USING a lager yeast is done at lower temperatures the yeast in this kit is not lager yeast but Ale yeast and therefore ideally 18-20c (but I'm guessing your range wont cause too many issues).

I've used about 100-110g of sugar in my brews so far and that's seemed about right. 85g sounds a little low but then again you may find it's spot on.

Again mine has been sitting in the warm for a week, are firm and therefore I popped one into the fridge to try and it was lovely. Advice on here seems to be to allow 2 weeks in the warm (to get CO2 going) then a minimum of 2 weeks in a cooler place (doesn't need to be the fridge - so garage ideal) for conditioning. General opinion seems to be 4 weeks plus in garage or similar (after 2 weeks warm) is best.

 

[Frogbrew]

I started drinking my second batch of this yesterday and must say probably my best. I used bottled water this time and it's much better, no hint of homebrew taste.
I tried a couple with some pure lime ice as in the pic and was superb. Bought from b&m if you have one.
Can't beat it on a summers day:-D
The floating bits in the pic is the lime by the way.

 

[Lengie10]

Hi all. Put my first batch on at the weekend. First lager I have done having made a St. Peter's ale and a home made cider (which was amazing). Having kept a close eye on the FV over the last couple of days it went off well but does seem to have died a little today? There was a great crust forming Sunday into Monday but this has disappeared leaving a very cloudy...unhappy looking FV. It's currently in my garage which due to the warm weather has been around 22deg C. Thinking this might be a little to warm. If nothing happens over the next 24hrs can anyone suggest anything? I have some yeast nutrient...can give it a gentle stir....or just cheat and swap it for 20 cans of fosters and tell the wife how good I am at brewing!?

 

[Lesinge]

Hi all. Put my first batch on at the weekend. First lager I have done having made a St. Peter's ale and a home made cider (which was amazing). Having kept a close eye on the FV over the last couple of days it went off well but does seem to have died a little today? There was a great crust forming Sunday into Monday but this has disappeared leaving a very cloudy...unhappy looking FV. It's currently in my garage which due to the warm weather has been around 22deg C. Thinking this might be a little to warm. If nothing happens over the next 24hrs can anyone suggest anything? I have some yeast nutrient...can give it a gentle stir....or just cheat and swap it for 20 cans of fosters and tell the wife how good I am at brewing!?

I have found that the Wilko Lager kits do not appear to undertake much activity with the foam being less prominent and shorter lasting than those of the ale kits. They can also be quite cloudy at first. My last delicate pilsner looked like scrumpy when I racked it and was still cloudy when bottled. However, a few days later it was crystal clear. Therefore, don't rely on looks, rather use your hydrometer readings instead.

 

[ilikepeas]

I started drinking my second batch of this yesterday and must say probably my best. I used bottled water this time and it's much better, no hint of homebrew taste.
I tried a couple with some pure lime ice as in the pic and was superb. Bought from b&m if you have one.
Can't beat it on a summers day:-D
The floating bits in the pic is the lime by the way.

I did this kit the same way (with lime and bottled water) and was really happy with the results. Kind of wish I'd done it again but tried Cooper's Lager instead to compare. I'll have the results on that brew in about 4 weeks.

 

[Lesinge]

I did this kit the same way (with lime and bottled water) and was really happy with the results. Kind of wish I'd done it again but tried Cooper's Lager instead to compare. I'll have the results on that brew in about 4 weeks.

I will be interested in the comparison!

 

[supersonicphil]

Hi All
first post here!
just got into home brewing. Did it a little bit last year, but now hoping to do alot of it!
anyway, i started fermenting the cerveza last monday (11th august) and by saturday it seemed to have stopped bubbling, so i bottled it in 2litre plastic bottles with a large tsp of sugar.
on wednesday (only 9 days after i started the fermentation) i got a bit curious to see how it was coming along and had a pint. wanted to make sure it was indeed alcohol (lol) and that the taste was half decent, and it was on route to a good carbination.
well the pint wasnt that clear, but there was a head and tasted half decent. then i bunged it in the fridge and had another pint last night. Again this is now 10 days after i started the process off. well it was a completley different pint. bubbles coming up from the bottom, very clear and a good (ish) head. it tasted gorgeous. My gf even said she was very impressed (she is a carling lover lol). i know it could do with more conditioning but this stuff imo is ready now. probably would taste better iin a few more weeks if i left it but its too nice not to drink tonight lol. i will leave my wilko golden ale though for a few months i think.
btw, i only used brewing sugar. do people recommend i use brewing sugar + spray malt next time? or even a bre enhancer 1 or 2? thanks :drink:

 

[Slid]

Spray malt and sugar is the better way, for sure and brew enhancers are just that. I would just add 500g DME to the kit recipie of Kit and Kilo.

 

[Ashley]

Spray malt and sugar is the better way, for sure and brew enhancers are just that. I would just add 500g DME to the kit recipie of Kit and Kilo.

By chance i have done just that today. Won some love to shop vouchers at work so bought the cerveza kit. Got a kilo of BS and 500g of light SM. bunged it all in. Got an OG of 1.042 (only gone to 22l) Found this thread as wanted to know what potential FG would be. If it finishes at 1.000 that will make it 5.51%... im hoping this will be o.k. to drink by 1st of november as im having a home brew party. Not all of it, just some samples to pass around...

I have not used SM before... will it all ferment out? If i can get to 5% i'll be really happy but 5.5 would be cracking!

 

[Robert_]

By chance i have done just that today. Won some love to shop vouchers at work so bought the cerveza kit. Got a kilo of BS and 500g of light SM. bunged it all in. Got an OG of 1.042 (only gone to 22l) Found this thread as wanted to know what potential FG would be. If it finishes at 1.000 that will make it 5.51%... im hoping this will be o.k. to drink by 1st of november as im having a home brew party. Not all of it, just some samples to pass around...

I have not used SM before... will it all ferment out? If i can get to 5% i'll be really happy but 5.5 would be cracking!

I've made 7 Wilko kits (Pilsners, golden lagers, and one newkie one copper bitter) - brewed them all with 1kg dextrose 500g spray malt and they all end up at 1006 like clockwork. So I would expect a FG of 4.7%. I usually brew them to 20 litres and end up with something between 5.5 and 6% - yours would probably be a more appropriate percentage. Had a little gathering for the Barca PSG match last week (and to let my mates try the fruits of my new hobby) - one declared themself wasted after 5 pints

 

[DoctorMick]

I kicked one of these off last week using half light SME and half brewing sugar. The airlock only bubbled for a day but it had a nice head so I'm hoping it'll have done ok, will take a reading in the next couple of days and see how it's got on.

 

[Ashley]

I've made 7 Wilko kits (Pilsners, golden lagers, and one newkie one copper bitter) - brewed them all with 1kg dextrose 500g spray malt and they all end up at 1006 like clockwork. So I would expect a FG of 4.7%. I usually brew them to 20 litres and end up with something between 5.5 and 6% - yours would probably be a more appropriate percentage. Had a little gathering for the Barca PSG match last week (and to let my mates try the fruits of my new hobby) - one declared themself wasted after 5 pints

I would be very happy at 4.7% as that's still the premium lager strength ball park. I shall keep you posted on end results