Woodfordes, Sundew Review

[jobby]

yep not the best brew in my opinion but at least the mrs likes it dont think ill be doing it again

 

[darren64]

I'm calling in the home brew shop again shortly,for another couple of kits,but sundew won't be one of em,definately getting nog and maybe nelsons.

 

[Russ146]

my Sundew improved greatly once past the 4 week stage. I finished the barrel after 6 weeks and it was a pleasant fruity drink.

It wont be a favourite but its worth a try as you might just like it.

 

[Pipey]

I have done the sundew and head cracker, I'm going to chuck them both, they both have that twang, been in the bottle for months and getting no better. Surprising really as the other woodfordes I have done are really nice. My opinion don't do it !!

 

[eddie66]

Hi all,
Got one of these in the fv at the moment. After listening to the reviews i added 150g of med spraymalt & brewed it to 21l. The og was 1048 so see how it turns out.

Brewing : Sundew
Conditioning : Wherry
Drinking : BB IPA, Nelsons Revenge, Fiery ginger beer,Wilco golden ale.
Planning : another wherry [£15 from wilco :thumb: ]

 

[Russ146]

I have done the sundew and head cracker, I'm going to chuck them both, they both have that twang, been in the bottle for months and getting no better. Surprising really as the other woodfordes I have done are really nice. My opinion don't do it !!

If they have "that twang" then you have contaminated the brews

Its so easy to contaminate a brew i really dont understand all those that transfer brews into secondary fermenters/ give it stir/take test samples and so on.

Every time you expose the brew to air you risk contamination, even causing splashing during syphoning can do it.

Air carries microbes/bacteria/dirt/dust particles and microscopic things all ready to spoil a good brew.

If you want good beer LEAVE IT ALONE.

Leave it two weeks in the fermenter, dont look at it, dont stir it, dont do anything just leave it well alone. I use a heater belt, this ensures the correct temperature so i dont need to bother checking the sg or anything whatsoever its all unnessessary

After 2 weeks carefully place the FV so its ready to syphon ensuring the water in the air lock dosnt get sucked back into the brew.

Syphon keeping both ends of the tube BELOW the level and dosnt splash, splashing puts air into the brew and the risks above.

I have now made 15+ barrels of beer including Sundew and everyone has been perfect, its because i do as little as possible that is a risk of contamination thats why, not luck

Two weeks untouched fermenting, syphon into barrel, 4 weeks conditioning = perfect Pub quality beer everytime

The recipe is that simple forget everything else

 

[ianh82]

i have this in my stock pile of kits, this will be brewed after the coopers cervexa.

any tips, should i ramp the alc up of leave as a 4% session beer?

use enhancer instead of brewers sugar?

 

[Slate Miner]

Brewed this kit back in July, slightly short at 21 lts. OG 1044, FG 1011 approx ABV 4.2%.

As the name would suggest it's more of a summer ale and quite refreshing if served on the cool side.

As the packaging describes there are certainly citrus flavours coming through although probaly a bit too much orange flowery sweetness for my pallet, not unpleasant, but one pint at a time is enough for me, however Mrs Slate Miner likes it! :hmm:

Of the two can kits that I've brewed I'd place Woodforde's Wherry and St.Peter's Ruby Red a notch or two higher. :

 

[eddie66]

Hi all,
Got one of these in the fv at the moment. After listening to the reviews i added 150g of med spraymalt & brewed it to 21l. The og was 1048 so see how it turns out.

Brewing : Sundew
Conditioning : Wherry
Drinking : BB IPA, Nelsons Revenge, Fiery ginger beer,Wilco golden ale.
Planning : another wherry [£15 from wilco :thumb: ]

Been kegged for 3 weeks now & is just clearing. Had a small sample tonight & tastes pretty good.Might try a full pint at the weekend.

 

[eddie66]

Hi all,
Got one of these in the fv at the moment. After listening to the reviews i added 150g of med spraymalt & brewed it to 21l. The og was 1048 so see how it turns out.

Brewing : Sundew
Conditioning : Wherry
Drinking : BB IPA, Nelsons Revenge, Fiery ginger beer,Wilco golden ale.
Planning : another wherry [£15 from wilco :thumb: ]

Been kegged for 3 weeks now & is just clearing. Had a small sample tonight & tastes pretty good.Might try a full pint at the weekend.

Tried a few at the weekend & must say it is superb. The neighbour tried one and he said it is close to doombar which is praise indeed ! Maybe it was the extra spraymalt i added at the start & the primed with 100g more.It ended up at around 4.5%. I will definatly do this one again. : :

 

[King Rattus]

Didn't think it was too bad myself I prefer the Wherry and the Nog. I'm about to try Headcracker

 

[daf]

I have done the sundew and head cracker, I'm going to chuck them both, they both have that twang, been in the bottle for months and getting no better. Surprising really as the other woodfordes I have done are really nice. My opinion don't do it !!

If they have "that twang" then you have contaminated the brews

Its so easy to contaminate a brew i really dont understand all those that transfer brews into secondary fermenters/ give it stir/take test samples and so on.

Every time you expose the brew to air you risk contamination, even causing splashing during syphoning can do it.

Air carries microbes/bacteria/dirt/dust particles and microscopic things all ready to spoil a good brew.

If you want good beer LEAVE IT ALONE.

Leave it two weeks in the fermenter, dont look at it, dont stir it, dont do anything just leave it well alone. I use a heater belt, this ensures the correct temperature so i dont need to bother checking the sg or anything whatsoever its all unnessessary

After 2 weeks carefully place the FV so its ready to syphon ensuring the water in the air lock dosnt get sucked back into the brew.

Syphon keeping both ends of the tube BELOW the level and dosnt splash, splashing puts air into the brew and the risks above.

I have now made 15+ barrels of beer including Sundew and everyone has been perfect, its because i do as little as possible that is a risk of contamination thats why, not luck

Two weeks untouched fermenting, syphon into barrel, 4 weeks conditioning = perfect Pub quality beer everytime

The recipe is that simple forget everything else

Sound advice. I can't be arsed even taking hydrometer readings. Ferment, leave alone for 2-3 weeks after it finishes. Then into keg. Simple.

I'll be kegging this Sundew today once I've cleaned out my second barrel. How much sugar for 40 pints priming?

 

[Russ146]

I have done the sundew and head cracker, I'm going to chuck them both, they both have that twang, been in the bottle for months and getting no better. Surprising really as the other woodfordes I have done are really nice. My opinion don't do it !!

If they have "that twang" then you have contaminated the brews

Its so easy to contaminate a brew i really dont understand all those that transfer brews into secondary fermenters/ give it stir/take test samples and so on.

Every time you expose the brew to air you risk contamination, even causing splashing during syphoning can do it.

Air carries microbes/bacteria/dirt/dust particles and microscopic things all ready to spoil a good brew.

If you want good beer LEAVE IT ALONE.

Leave it two weeks in the fermenter, dont look at it, dont stir it, dont do anything just leave it well alone. I use a heater belt, this ensures the correct temperature so i dont need to bother checking the sg or anything whatsoever its all unnessessary

After 2 weeks carefully place the FV so its ready to syphon ensuring the water in the air lock dosnt get sucked back into the brew.

Syphon keeping both ends of the tube BELOW the level and dosnt splash, splashing puts air into the brew and the risks above.

I have now made 15+ barrels of beer including Sundew and everyone has been perfect, its because i do as little as possible that is a risk of contamination thats why, not luck

Two weeks untouched fermenting, syphon into barrel, 4 weeks conditioning = perfect Pub quality beer everytime

The recipe is that simple forget everything else

Sound advice. I can't be arsed even taking hydrometer readings. Ferment, leave alone for 2-3 weeks after it finishes. Then into keg. Simple.

I'll be kegging this Sundew today once I've cleaned out my second barrel. How much sugar for 40 pints priming?

I always add 100 grams of plain white sugar to the barrel, put the heater band around the barrel for 2/3 days then remove and leave for at least 4 weeks, 6 weeks is better and longer if you can if you have other beer to drink.

I now have a 3 barrel rota, as soon as i empty the FV into a barrel i start the next kit going. This ensures i have a constant supply of 4/5 week conditioned premium beer to drink. I love it! no faffing or farting about just easy good beer every time

Cheers

 

[olivercollings]

I've just started this in my FV. This is my very first attempt at home brewing.

I used Tesco Ashbeck Spring Water (23 ltrs), and pitched the yeast supplied at 24°c. It's all sealed up and being stored in the lounge to keep it around 20° for the next 10 - 14 days.

I shall be filling 20 bottles and putting the rest into a top feeding king keg primed with 65grms of demerara sugar.

I will keep you updated as to the results. Here's hoping it turns out nice.

 

[Scott]

This has been in the FV for a week now and has finished fermenting at 1.014. I did brew short to 20l due to other reviews saying it was watery.

Taste test does confirm it lacks a lot of body, however, I imagine after 8 weeks in the bottle it will be a very nice session ale.

 

[Mockery]

I brewed several Sundews last year. The first one I brewed strictly per instructions which turned out watery, but ok for hot summer evenings. The flavour was sooo good I had to try again.

In order to increase strength and enhance the flavour even further, the next time round I bought 3 Sundew kits to make two brews. That is, 1 & 1/2 kits comprising 3 cans giving an initial SG of 1.050 with total volume in FV of 27.5 litres.

FG was quite high @ 1.013, but it wouldn't go any further.

I kegged 23 litres and bottled 4 litres (8 bottles). Operation successful and tasted delicious, if a little too sweet.

This is my favourite brew to date and I'll be brewing the second batch soon.

 

[RobWalker]

i will say in this beer's defense, although I didn't particularly enjoy it, everybody else did, quite a lot too, and ale drinkers at that. maybe just personal taste. wherry is certainly the benchmark, but you won't go wrong with this, unless you're good at confusing people like I am.

 

[Flyer4u]

I brewed a Sundew in January and put it in a 5 gallon keg. The first few pints were sweet and had a flowery taste. Now 2 months later it has lost a lot of sweetness and all the flowery taste. It is my favourite at the moment. I have also a keg of Wherry which is very nice, and bottled Admirals revenge. I find the Wherry a bit too bitter and prefer the AdmiralsbRevenge over the Wherry.
The thing is, if I bought any one of them in the pub I would be completely satisfied. I don't care about the alcohol content, what I am after is the taste.
All great kits and really only down to personal taste.
Have a spare Sundew and Admirals Revenge to brew when I have space.will certainly brew the Sundew for the summer when I accumulate enough bottles.
FV 1: Kenridge Classic Chateau du Roi
FV 2: nil
Keg 1: Woodefordes Sundew
Keg 2: woodefordes Wherry
Bottled: Admirals Reserve - Wherry - Kenridge classic Sauvignon Blanc . - muntons Cabernet Sauvignon.
Drinking: everything

 

[thermalhound]

I've got this kit stashed and have empty fermenters at the moment so now looks like a good time to get it on the go. I am thinking of adding a hop tea to the kit though, made with cascade hops, and wondered if anyone else had done the same / similar?

 

[ianh82]

not sure if mines ok, i put an extra 300 g of brewers sugar so 1.3kg, and OG was 1048 and its now after 2 wks at 1020.

does that sound fine to you? about to keg it.