woodfordes wherry beer kit approx abv 4.5%

[orlando]

ill give it 24 more hrs then if its not kicked in ...
its down the bog with it ...
eather way ill never do this kit again ...

regards mick....

You might be being a little hard on the kit. Have another go with the rehydration technique, it makes a big difference. One thing missing from it though was the need to bring the yeast to within a couple of degrees c of the wort temperature, up to 5c you might get away with, but the closer it is the better. Make sure whatever you use to transfer a few drops of wort to the successfully rehydrated yeast is sanitised and you will be close to 100% rehydration of the viable yeast, using the cooled to fermentation temp wort will help acclimate the yeast into its new environment, bit like holding its hand at the school gate.

Also remember that a fast start to fermentation is not necessarily the "good" sign it is passed off as. The yeast needs to absorb all the oxygen first, as it is at this stage replicating like mad to provide sufficient yeast to get the job done. It will do this until the oxygen is depleted, if there is insufficient oxygen it will start very quickly often leading to too rapid cell growth that leaves the cells in less than optimum condition for the rest of the fermentation.

 

[Maffa]

Talk about timing, I have just picked up the wherry kit from Wilkinsons and plan to start this tomorrow. Thanks for the link on re-hydrating, definately will give this a go. :clap:

 

ill give it 24 more hrs then if its not kicked in ...
its down the bog with it ...
eather way ill never do this kit again ...

regards mick....

You might be being a little hard on the kit. Have another go with the rehydration technique, it makes a big difference. One thing missing from it though was the need to bring the yeast to within a couple of degrees c of the wort temperature, up to 5c you might get away with, but the closer it is the better. Make sure whatever you use to transfer a few drops of wort to the successfully rehydrated yeast is sanitised and you will be close to 100% rehydration of the viable yeast, using the cooled to fermentation temp wort will help acclimate the yeast into its new environment, bit like holding its hand at the school gate.

Also remember that a fast start to fermentation is not necessarily the "good" sign it is passed off as. The yeast needs to absorb all the oxygen first, as it is at this stage replicating like mad to provide sufficient yeast to get the job done. It will do this until the oxygen is depleted, if there is insufficient oxygen it will start very quickly often leading to too rapid cell growth that leaves the cells in less than optimum condition for the rest of the fermentation.

ok thanks... :thumb: .
ill go and get another yeast ....
then rehydrate it in some of my wort...
in a sanitised cup...

that way its the same temp...
and give that a go...

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[orlando]

[quote="mick may":3rzpwpnj]ill give it 24 more hrs then if its not kicked in ...
its down the bog with it ...
eather way ill never do this kit again ...

regards mick....

You might be being a little hard on the kit. Have another go with the rehydration technique, it makes a big difference. One thing missing from it though was the need to bring the yeast to within a couple of degrees c of the wort temperature, up to 5c you might get away with, but the closer it is the better. Make sure whatever you use to transfer a few drops of wort to the successfully rehydrated yeast is sanitised and you will be close to 100% rehydration of the viable yeast, using the cooled to fermentation temp wort will help acclimate the yeast into its new environment, bit like holding its hand at the school gate.

Also remember that a fast start to fermentation is not necessarily the "good" sign it is passed off as. The yeast needs to absorb all the oxygen first, as it is at this stage replicating like mad to provide sufficient yeast to get the job done. It will do this until the oxygen is depleted, if there is insufficient oxygen it will start very quickly often leading to too rapid cell growth that leaves the cells in less than optimum condition for the rest of the fermentation.

ok thanks... :thumb: .
ill go and get another yeast ....
then rehydrate it in some of my wort...
in a sanitised cup...

that way its the same temp...
and give that a go...

regards mick... :hat: .[/quote:3rzpwpnj]

Whoa, no! Use ordinary tap water to rehydrate, you need the hardness of the water in the first instance. Only use wort (cooled to pitching temp, 20c) to bring the warmer yeast down to the same temp. Do it in stages as well. You want to be bringing it down in approx steps of 2c. You need to do this within 1/2 hour of finishing hydration. The reason for this is the yeast have had their glycogen and trehalose boosted by the manufacturers to ensure a quick boost when hydrated, this doesn't last long.

One final tip, the yeast is not inert, just dormant. Keep it refrigerated until you need it BUT, get it up to room temperature before you rehydrate it. When you write it all down it looks like a terrible faff I know, but once you have done it a few times it's dead simple and the results will justify it. You want to make the best beer you can, don't you? :thumb:

 

ok water it is .... :thumb: ..

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[morethanworts]

Mick, sorry to hear it's stalled.

The (Wilkos) 11g Gervin carefully rehydrated to Danstar's Nottingham instructions, plus the kit yeast I'd already pitched, has really done the job for me. 1.044 to 1.016 in 3.5 days at 20C, and 1.012 after a week, now in secondary.

As was said, I believe the kit yeast is Nottingham strain, same as Gervin Ale yeast, but the 6g kit sachet is an under-pitch according to the online calculator I use.

The beer tastes really promising, so I wouldn't blame the Wherry tins as such, perhaps just the small yeast sachet.

Best of luck!

 

ok thanks orlando ... :thumb: .
i have rehydrated the yeast that going ok ...
and its now the same temp as the wort 21c...
i have just put it in so its just wait and see time again...

fingers x...
regards mick... :hat: .

 

Mick, sorry to hear it's stalled.

The (Wilkos) 11g Gervin carefully rehydrated to Danstar's Nottingham instructions, plus the kit yeast I'd already pitched, has really done the job for me. 1.044 to 1.016 in 3.5 days at 20C, and 1.012 after a week, now in secondary.

As was said, I believe the kit yeast is Nottingham strain, same as Gervin Ale yeast, but the 6g kit sachet is an under-pitch according to the online calculator I use.

The beer tastes really promising, so I wouldn't blame the Wherry tins as such, perhaps just the small yeast sachet.

Best of luck!

cheers bud mine is the same 1.044...and my yeast rehydration has gone well...

so its just a waiting game now...
this is my 3rd attempt at getting this kit going ...

lets hope its 3rd time lucky...
time will tell... :thumb:

regards mick... :hat: .

 

[Brewbob]

As I said earlier it takes patience does this Wherry. I had a problem with my PB, the top was warped and wouldn't seal, so all the gas leaked out, I've had to shore it up with Blu-tak, and use up the best part of a Hambletons CO2 injector. Now I'm down to my last gallon it has come good, and tastes OK. I've got a second Wherry though that is tasting a bit special. It still has a couple of weeks maturing, and already my missus says if I bought her one in a pub she wouldn't think twice. So if you can get it going stick with it, it will come good....

 

As I said earlier it takes patience does this Wherry. I had a problem with my PB, the top was warped and wouldn't seal, so all the gas leaked out, I've had to shore it up with Blu-tak, and use up the best part of a Hambletons CO2 injector. Now I'm down to my last gallon it has come good, and tastes OK. I've got a second Wherry though that is tasting a bit special. It still has a couple of weeks maturing, and already my missus says if I bought her one in a pub she wouldn't think twice. So if you can get it going stick with it, it will come good....

well its still sat there nothing going on...
even with the rehydrated yeast ...

ill give it till monday if nothing its defo going in the bog ...

what ever ill never do this kit again ...
this is five days plus 3 lots of yeast ...
ok i fecked up the first one ...

i did hear these can be trubble i should have stayed clear...
ill give them a very Wide Berth in future...

regards mick... :hat: .

im glade you have a good one .

 

[Maffa]

Well l've just done mine, a very dissapointing 1035 on the reading (at about 25C) before throwing in the yeast which was re-hydrated at 35C for 20 mins before a stir and another 5 mins wait before adding to the wort. I kept it fairly lean at about 21 litres so was definately hoping for more. If this works I'll be lucky to scrape close to 4% :pray:

Hope yours has eventually started Mick.

 

Well l've just done mine, a very dissapointing 1035 on the reading (at about 25C) before throwing in the yeast which was re-hydrated at 35C for 20 mins before a stir and another 5 mins wait before adding to the wort. I kept it fairly lean at about 21 litres so was definately hoping for more. If this works I'll be lucky to scrape close to 4% :pray:

Hope yours has eventually started Mick.

well iv just took the lid off to have a look...

as theres no air lock activity at all and thats with the top seald down...
heres what it looks like now ...


but it looked like this last night as well ...
theres no change at all from last night... :x

im very close to bunging it down the bog...
its got till dinner time 2moro then that it .. :twisted: .


regards mick... :evil: .

 

[morethanworts]

Take a hydrometer reading Mick. It looks like it's produced a nice yeast head and then calmed down, leaving the residue on the sides as you'd expect.

 

Take a hydrometer reading Mick. It looks like it's produced a nice yeast head and then calmed down, leaving the residue on the sides as you'd expect.

well if it did it done it without any air lock movment at all not one single bubble ...
but that around the side does look like what you would expect after ...

so i will do a reading now ... :thumb: .

regards mick... :hat: .

 

well i dont no when it did it but its down to 1.016
i feel such a **** now but very glad ...
well that has cheered me up ...
how far should it go before its finished ...

it started at 1.044 ...
regards mick ....

im so glad i posted that pic now .. :grin: .
other wise it would have been put down the bog 2moro ...

regards mick... :hat:

 

[morethanworts]

That's why this forum is so useful! I've learnt loads too.

Just keep it there until you're around 1.012 and stable for three days. I'd guess it will be another 3 or 4 days if you keep the same temperature, but you just have to see. I'd take a reading every two days now, and then every day when it falls below 1.014, so you'll know when you've had three days unchanged. It may not end up at 1.012, that's just a rough guide here.

However, if you're not using a secondary vessel afterwards, it's probably best to leave it (still 18-20C) a couple more days after that before moving to the cool and certainly before kegging/bottling.

 

[morethanworts]

Well l've just done mine, a very dissapointing 1035 on the reading (at about 25C) before throwing in the yeast which was re-hydrated at 35C for 20 mins before a stir and another 5 mins wait before adding to the wort. I kept it fairly lean at about 21 litres so was definately hoping for more. If this works I'll be lucky to scrape close to 4% :pray:

Hope yours has eventually started Mick.

Not sure what you did, but markings on fermenting buckets are notoriously inaccurate, as are measuring jugs. In any case, I tested mine as I was topping up, because I didn't want lower than 1.044, even if brewing short can affect the balance of bitterness and malt very slightly...

The other thing is if you didn't mix the extract in really well - That can give a false low-reading. In that case, the true OG might be higher.

 

That's why this forum is so useful! I've learnt loads too.

Just keep it there until you're around 1.012 and stable for three days. I'd guess it will be another 3 or 4 days if you keep the same temperature, but you just have to see. I'd take a reading every two days now, and then every day when it falls below 1.014, so you'll know when you've had three days unchanged. It may not end up at 1.012, that's just a rough guide here.

However, if you're not using a secondary vessel afterwards, it's probably best to leave it (still 18-20C) a couple more days after that before moving to the cool and certainly before kegging/bottling.

all i can say is thank you very much indeed....
and im dam stupid i didnt notice any activity ...
from now on its hydrometers all the way ...

wow what a wolly...
if there's a prize for the stupidest forum member i win it hands down ...

regards mick... :hat: .

 

Well l've just done mine, a very dissapointing 1035 on the reading (at about 25C) before throwing in the yeast which was re-hydrated at 35C for 20 mins before a stir and another 5 mins wait before adding to the wort. I kept it fairly lean at about 21 litres so was definately hoping for more. If this works I'll be lucky to scrape close to 4% :pray:

Hope yours has eventually started Mick.

Not sure what you did, but markings on fermenting buckets are notoriously inaccurate, as are measuring jugs. In any case, I tested mine as I was topping up, because I didn't want lower than 1.044, even if brewing short can affect the balance of bitterness and malt very slightly...

The other thing is if you didn't mix the extract in really well - That can give a false low-reading. In that case, the true OG might be higher.

to be fair i did give it a dam good mix with my big spoon...
but...
normaly i give it a dam good whisk as well...

but as i didnt add anything els i thought i didnt need it ...
but i will do it every time from now on..just in case ...
regards mick... :hat: .

 

[trikerjim]

hi all. I read this all with interest. The Woodfordes Wherry was my second brew a couple o months back. i too didnt notice a lot of activity but kept taking hydrometer readings and this confirmed that something was happening. Now it has been in bottles a while and it is the best of any of the brews i have done. Funny thing is , all my mates are lager drinkers and they all prefer this to the numerous types of lager i have made, and so do i, it has a wonderful taste, if as someone mentioned, a little thin.
i too used a airlock on my FV and this was a big mistake to rely on. As someone on this great forum advised me, the gasses still escape, even when the lid is snapped shut as they are never 100% airtight. That is why the hydrometer is your best friend, as is time. I left mine 2 weeks in FV with a aquarium heater set at 20degrees, then bottled with sugar and left in airing cupboard for 2 weeks then out into the cold garage. It is now a lovely tasting pint, with a good head that clings to the side of the glass right down to the last sip.
I am actually off to wilcos in the morning for another one of these J
Jim