Woodfordes Wherry Review
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Ho Ho Ho, 2 pints left in Jeg! jeg, what`s a jeg, I meant to say KEG!!!! On the bottles now for a Quality Control test. Mmmm just as nice but not such a nice glass-hugging head. Oh well, these things must be done for the benefit of other Forum readers! My Mrs just said that I`m a beer pig! Oink Oink!
FC
FC
This is my first beer brew. The so was 1040 and fg 1012, but that fg was my first measurement after ferment seems to have stopped, and that's after 51/2 days, so I think I will leave it in the fermenter for a while longer to see how it goes. It already tastes respectable but is still a little cloudy. Planning to bottle some and keg some, just to see how both turn out. Quite happy so far with the result. Only issue I had was warmth. My house is quite cold, no central heating to speak of, so it's been in a room at about 15c on a heat mat bringing it up to about 18c, would have liked it to be at about 20c ideally.
Looking at the fermenting activity, it was quiet for the first half day, then quite vigorous for about 2 days, then it quietend down as we approached where we are now. No idea how typical any of this is?
Looking at the fermenting activity, it was quiet for the first half day, then quite vigorous for about 2 days, then it quietend down as we approached where we are now. No idea how typical any of this is?
Your doing great mate, sometimes the wherry sticks at 1020 and needs work to get ot going again. 1012 is not too bad after 5 1/2 days. I would leave it another few days and test again, and see if it gets lower. :thumb:
My brew seems to have settled at 1.011, that's the reading over the past three tests. Had a taste and it's pretty ok, bit cloudy still and no fizz to speak of. Thinking of bottling half and kegging the rest. Wondering about trying Headcracker next? All in all quite happy with my first go at this. :thumb:
Bluebottle
Active Member
I recently had some Wherry in bottles that I'd left hidden in the garage for 12 months, it was beautiful. It's amazing how much it had changed from the ones I tried at 3 and 6 months. Smooth, clear, delicate and an amazing head that stayed until the bottom of the glass. I'm gutted they're gone actually.
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It's had two weeks in the FV and two weeks in secondary under the stairs.
Taken it into the shed to condition and its a bit murky!!
Don't plan on drinking this for a while so hopefully a month or so will do a good clearing job.
Also the sediment is much looser than the Coopers and Wilko kits I've done in the past.
Taken it into the shed to condition and its a bit murky!!
Don't plan on drinking this for a while so hopefully a month or so will do a good clearing job.
Also the sediment is much looser than the Coopers and Wilko kits I've done in the past.
Wilfy
Junior Member
My second Wherry kit is in the barrel next to a radiator for secondary. I added 1lb of golden syrup when setting the kit away. Smelled and tasted lovely when it was being barrelled. Can't wait till I start drinking it in about a month.
Cracked open my tester bottle and it was ok, so I thought I'd open a full bottle it was very nice, so I thought I'd open another and it's bloody awful, flat, malty, home-brewy everything the previous bottle wasn't.
It's not very clear which I put down to the shed temp and a bit of haze - but the jury's still out. :?
It's not very clear which I put down to the shed temp and a bit of haze - but the jury's still out. :?
warnie
Active Member
Kinleycat said:
Same here more or less, kept mine in fv for two weeks and it tasted lovely. I used the carbonation drops like I did with my IPA and have 24 bottles still in warm for 9 days now. The other 20 I kept in the warm for 5 days and then put them in the garage for so far 5 dsys .
By this point my Cooper's IPA was very fizzy and very drinkable, but the wherry I tried tonight was completely flat and very cloudy. Now I know its too early to judge and I really should have left them in the warm for longer, but I need the bottles for my Cooper's stout in the Fv now :grin: and to be honest I'm quite worried about this one now. Do any of you think I should move them back in the warm for a bit, or will they carb up eventually in the garage after a few weeks?
One minute I think I've got this thing licked then it bites me on my arse so to speak!
:
I totally concur.warnie said:Kinleycat said:
Same here more or less, kept mine in fv for two weeks and it tasted lovely. I used the carbonation drops like I did with my IPA and have 24 bottles still in warm for 9 days now. The other 20 I kept in the warm for 5 days and then put them in the garage for so far 5 dsys .
By this point my Cooper's IPA was very fizzy and very drinkable, but the wherry I tried tonight was completely flat and very cloudy. Now I know its too early to judge and I really should have left them in the warm for longer, but I need the bottles for my Cooper's stout in the Fv now :grin: and to be honest I'm quite worried about this one now. Do any of you think I should move them back in the warm for a bit, or will they carb up eventually in the garage after a few weeks?
One minute I think I've got this thing licked then it bites me on my arse so to speak!
:
It's had 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary and three days in conditioning (as has the TC which is amazing) so I didn't expect too much, it's the difference in quality between bottles I'm conserned with.
If the Wherry has only had a few days in the bottle I wouldn't expect much at all. It requires at least 4 weeks to be near drinkable.
I've also had issues with the carb drops in 500ml bottles. I bottles a John Bull Best Bitter on New Year's Day and its only now showing the signs of carbonation which I like in a beer.
Have patience guys, go and get some more bottles and get another brew on.
:thumb:
I've also had issues with the carb drops in 500ml bottles. I bottles a John Bull Best Bitter on New Year's Day and its only now showing the signs of carbonation which I like in a beer.
Have patience guys, go and get some more bottles and get another brew on.
:thumb:
Well, I kegged the lot save three bottles. I wanted to test the progress gradually, so all the goods are in the same room and I'm monitoring how the bottles are doing by observing how slowly they are clearing. Currently, after being in the bottles for just over a day, I'm noticing clearing around a 5th of the bottles from the top, no idea how normal this is. The room is not particularly warm, so I'm wondering if final conditioning is taking place or not? I plan to leave the bottles for about 2 weeks at least, then give them a go, before I even think about taking a drink from the keg.
Brewbob
Regular.
So I've got my John Bull IPA in the PB. It's OK, it's a bit like the first burger on the BBQ, the first pancake, the first notch on the bedpost...
The John Bull will see me through until my next brew, a Wherry, I've read so much about it I have to give it a go. I got it with a Muntons enhancer and bottles of 10p/l water as the water here is very chloriny. Reading the previous posts I'll probably leave the enhancer out of this brew and brew it spec. I quite like Stodges idea and putting a couple of pints in a bottle to have as a tester and leaving the rest of the brew in the PB as long as I can...Well until the JB IPA runs out...
The John Bull will see me through until my next brew, a Wherry, I've read so much about it I have to give it a go. I got it with a Muntons enhancer and bottles of 10p/l water as the water here is very chloriny. Reading the previous posts I'll probably leave the enhancer out of this brew and brew it spec. I quite like Stodges idea and putting a couple of pints in a bottle to have as a tester and leaving the rest of the brew in the PB as long as I can...Well until the JB IPA runs out...
ryanshelton
Landlord.
just had my first taste of my bottled wherry. Bottled 8 days ago, tastes very yeasty and very gassy. Not cleared and no head......everything id expect from tasting a beer thats only been bottled 8 days!
Hope it improves over the next few weeks, really dont want to wait to long
Hope it improves over the next few weeks, really dont want to wait to long
warnie
Active Member
warnie said:Kinleycat said:
Same here more or less, kept mine in fv for two weeks and it tasted lovely. I used the carbonation drops like I did with my IPA and have 24 bottles still in warm for 9 days now. The other 20 I kept in the warm for 5 days and then put them in the garage for so far 5 dsys .
By this point my Cooper's IPA was very fizzy and very drinkable, but the wherry I tried tonight was completely flat and very cloudy. Now I know its too early to judge and I really should have left them in the warm for longer, but I need the bottles for my Cooper's stout in the Fv now :grin: and to be honest I'm quite worried about this one now. Do any of you think I should move them back in the warm for a bit, or will they carb up eventually in the garage after a few weeks?
One minute I think I've got this thing licked then it bites me on my arse so to speak!
:
Well the 24 will have been in the cold for 2 weeks this sunday, after 2 in the warm, and i must say its getting better after sampling one last night.
The initial taste to me me is still very week and then once in the mouth the flavour starts to come through, but it's not as instant and seems quite bland compared to my coopers IPA. I'm hoping this will improve by the weekend when it will have had it minimum time conditioning. Has anyone else tried there's early and also found it to be a bit week in the taste department?? Don't get me wrong it's still a decent pint and hopefully it will be a great one in a few weeks time :) but after the great reviews it gets on hear i think I may be expecting too much!
:
I finished my first keg of Wherry on Sunday. Really nice pint that started to peak around the 3 month mark. Before that it was very drinkable, but after about 12 weeks it was excellent and had lost all signs of it being a homebrew kit.
I agree that it lacks a bit of body and flavour, though it might have been down to me not mixing the kit up very well. The Nelsons Revenge has more body.
I agree that it lacks a bit of body and flavour, though it might have been down to me not mixing the kit up very well. The Nelsons Revenge has more body.
rpt
Brewing without a hat
The other night I was drinking a beer and thinking to myself how lovely it was and how happy I'd be to brew something like this at home. I then realised I was drinking some of my Wherry. It took 4 weeks to be drinkable but after 8 weeks it's excellent. All the homebrew tang has gone.
Brewed this last October and started drink this at Christmas and finished it by February. This was a fantastic pint and well worth the small hassle of a stick during fermentation. Tasted great and the yeast seemed like it was practically glued to the bottom of the bottle, making poring very easy. I have another 2 of these to do later in the year and will try dry hopping them.
My Wherry is officially ready on the 7th March, but I had a little drinky today, just to see how things were going. A half glass taken from the keg, and my word, lovely. Good head, those nice genuine small bubbles, not the big soap Sud kind.
Texture is smooth, bit like a cream flow, and taste is quite weak initially, but a decent after taste. Suspect this will improve with age.
I have three bottles too, each collecting respectable amounts of sediment, so something is going on there. Bottles are looking nice and clear.
The only deviation in the recipe was the use of brown muscavado sugar for the conditioning.
Texture is smooth, bit like a cream flow, and taste is quite weak initially, but a decent after taste. Suspect this will improve with age.
I have three bottles too, each collecting respectable amounts of sediment, so something is going on there. Bottles are looking nice and clear.
The only deviation in the recipe was the use of brown muscavado sugar for the conditioning.
