Wilko's Winter Ale

[Bort]

My current homebrew in the fermentation vessel is 16 litres of Wilko's Winter Ale, brewed on 12/12/20 with an O.G. of 1.058 as per the two-can kit's instructions. Target final gravity is below 1.014 according to the leaflet.

The fermentation vessel is in our utility room and so to keep a constant temperature I have purchased a heat belt from Brew2Bottle which is holding the brew at a constant 22degC with quite an active fermentation being sustained since the first day. On day 3 I added the sachet of spiced apple flavouring.

I have brewed to 16 litres as per the kit's instructions although reading the Wilko website reviews and also comments on these forums it appear that it should actually be brewed to 18 litres so not sure if I can 'top-up' at this stage to the full amount or whether I should leave it brewing short.

I'll keep an eye on fermentation progress as I have read a few comments on here about stuck fermentations although the overwhelming comments about this kit seem to be of the high quality and delicious results it obtains... something I am very much hoping for come the real winter!

 

[parpot]

I brewed one recently to 15ltrs and a starting ABV of 1.060 and it has turned out fine at 5.4%, I added my apple after day 5 !

 

[The Baron]

yes you can dilute it to 18 ltrs without too much loss of body nor strength as you are only adding 2 litres of water. Make sure if you are adding while fermenting it is boiled cooled water to the same temp as the wort is at

 

[Bort]

So after 12 days at a constant 22degC with the help of the heat belt in the fermentation bucket all signs of fermentation had ceased so I decided to bottle the beer today at a F.G. of 1.020. From my O.G. of 1.058 this should give a strength of 5.0%.

I had a sample whilst bottling and already the signs of a heavy, well-bodied ale are there so hopefully a few weeks maturing in the 500ml PET bottles will improve this further. I primed each bottle with a quarter of a teaspoon of medium spray malt having heard this can be used as an alternative to sugar to help enhance deepness further.

I’ll be back in the colder months to let you know how this Wilko Winter Warmer works out!

 

[Bort]

Oh my word... this beer is just superb, sorry 'was' superb as it's all gone now and didn't last long once I started enjoying the bottles late-January. The F.G was 1.020 and the strength I achieved was 5.0% with a very drinkable, strong winter ale achieved. Definitely a kit I would recommend and one that I will be looking out for again in Wilkos as this was most rateable!