Woodfordes Wherry Review

[serum]

I brew all kits to 20l including wherry. Enjoying it now. Very nice :

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll get this on the go later in the week in that case.

 

[Cornish Knocker]

Got my very first Wherry in the FV at the mo, using a brew tub, also for the first time which has been great. Have been easily able to keep a constant temperature of 19 degs using an aquarium heater.

Anyway my question........... My Wherry has been in the FV for 9 days now (SG 1040) and for the past 2 days has been showing 1011.

Any advice on whether I should bottle now or give it a stir and see if it comes down another point or two?

I'm sort of okay with a 3.9% strength beer, but ideally would have preferred a little stronger.

BTW the sample on the T Jar was really tasty, so looking forward to this one. ANy advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

C. K

 

[beechwood]

I would probably leave it a couple more days just to make sure, if it stays the same after two more days then barrel it.
Mine went down to 1010 which makes it about 4% which like you say its not very strong, flavour should still be nice though,
next time I'll brew it short to 20 lts and I might throw in the odd 100g of sugar.

 

[IOMMick]

First Wherry has been in the PB now for a 4 days conditioning after kicking it off on 22/01/2014, had a little sneak preview taste tonight at room temperature and I can tell already that this is going to be excellent (the taste, body and head are superb already). I'm delighted that I bulk ordered and have another 2 of these kits hid away in the cupboard for future reference.

 

[brewtim]

I think there maybe a classic kit mistake being made here, regarding %ABV. LME manufacturers produce malt to exact, repeatable standards (within a small tolerance) which means that every kit's OG will be exactly the same.

The Wherry instructions say that at an SG of 1.014 or less the beer will be (could be) finished, on the box it states the beer will be 4.5% ABV. Using the calculator on this forum indicates that the kit would have an OG of 1.048 when manufactured (1.048 to 1.014 gives 4.5%).

It is well known that mixing a kit to achieve the original OG is very difficult and is probably the reason why the OG is often not provided in instructions, therefore the OG becomes irrelevant for the purposes of homebrewing other than for monitoring fermentation, everybodies kit OG will be the same, it is the FG that really matters.

The variance of the degree of yeast attenuation is down to the conditions that the homebrewer provides and other factors and is outside the control of the LME manufacturer, but as long as the LME is mixed well initially, the yeast should not have too many problems reaching the FG in the instructions.

So the point I am trying to make is that the %ABV that folks are calculating (and in some cases being disappointed with) is not necessarily correct because they are basing this on an OG reading that was most likely incorrect. If the beer has attenuated below 1.014 then it is likely that it is going to be a 4.5% (approx) strength ale and shouldn't be disappointed that it will be lower strength.

Also remember that if you brew it short, add sugar etc, this will have an effect on the OG and probably the FG, however the manufacturers OG would still be valid, measuring would be invalid, you would just need to calculate what the OG should be, based on the changes you have made. Changing the yeast strain or quantity may have an effect of the FG.

 

[GavH]

if you brew it short, add sugar etc, this will have an effect on the OG and probably the FG, however the manufacturers OG would still be valid, measuring would be invalid, you would just need to calculate what the OG should be, based on the changes you have made. Changing the yeast strain or quantity may have an effect of the FG.

Why is measuring "invalid" if you amend the recipe? What's wrong with using a hydrometer?

 

[brewtim]

if you brew it short, add sugar etc, this will have an effect on the OG and probably the FG, however the manufacturers OG would still be valid, measuring would be invalid, you would just need to calculate what the OG should be, based on the changes you have made. Changing the yeast strain or quantity may have an effect of the FG.

Why is measuring "invalid" if you amend the recipe?

I should change the wording....measuring the OG would provide an invalid result because the result is based on incomplete mixing regardless of the amendments you may have made.

Ideally you should calculate your amendments based on the manufacturers OG (which is unpublished and therefore I have guessed is 1.048), you could use a calculation to work out the effect of adding sugar or brewing short (or long) on the OG, you don't need an [invalid] hydrometer reading for that calculation.

What's wrong with using a hydrometer?

There is nothing wrong with using a hydrometer and I encourage its use! It is not essential for measuring kit OG, but is essential for accurate FG measurements.

Note that all-grain/extract brewing is different, in all-grain brewing you are the manufacturer [of the wort], you need to know the OG of the wort you have produced to determine %ABV, this is a key difference from brewing with kits (where the manufacturer has fixed the OG).

Remember I said "It is well known that mixing a kit to achieve the original OG is very difficult and is probably the reason why the OG is often not provided in instructions, therefore the OG becomes irrelevant for the purposes of homebrewing other than for monitoring fermentation, everybodies kit OG will be the same, it is the FG that really matters."

 

[GavH]

Makes sense - thanks! :thumb:

 

[Cornish Knocker]

I would probably leave it a couple more days just to make sure, if it stays the same after two more days then barrel it.
Mine went down to 1010 which makes it about 4% which like you say its not very strong, flavour should still be nice though,
next time I'll brew it short to 20 lts and I might throw in the odd 100g of sugar.

Thanks. Has been steady at 1011 for 3 days now, so I'll bottle it in the next couple of days. The sample I tried today was really good, really tasty, quite bitter at the moment which I like, so really looking forward to this one, if it gets better than this, then I'm in for a treat.

 

[Colin]

Am I the only person who really doesn't like the Wherry kit ? I have brewed it 4 times now as I believe that everyone else can't have such different taste to me but I have realised I just don't like it! Too fruity and what I think of as estery but I may be misusing the word. Initially I put it down to too high a fermentation temperature as it was last summer I brewed my 1st one but the last 3 have been done under strict temperature control.
Any Wherry lovers near Leigh have a spare bottle or glass I can taste just to make sure I have not gone mad :-)

 

[krazypara3165]

Mines 14 days in now and I am due to bottle it tomorrow. However, ive heard that leaving it in a cold shed for a day or two prior to bottling can aid with clearing. Has anyone else found this to be the case?

 

[Slid]

I myself suspect that you only get to 4.5% by allowing for the priming sugar, as 200g added at this stage will boost the ABV from 4.1% up to 4.5% and if the yeast ferments it down to 1009 or 1010, then 4.1% out of the primary FV sounds reasonable.

Most FG hydrometer readings will be made by taking a sample, putting it in a narrow tube and dropping the hydrometer straight in. This is likely to give a false reading because CO2 bubbles form on the outside of the hydrometer (a process known as "cavitation") which gives the hydrometer added buoyancy, lifting it up in the tube and causing the homebrewer to believe the reading is 1014 (say) when a reading made without the bubbles could easily be as low as 1010.

A more reliable FG measure can be got by shaking up the sample to remove much of the dissolved gas before taking the reading. This does not have to be a totally sanitised process, because the sample is NOT going back in the main beer for bottling / kegging anyway. Most homebrewers will drink this sample as a first indication of how the brew has gone. If there is no taste of sugary sweetness, this will re-inforce the expectation that fermentation is in fact completed sufficiently to allow bottling or kegging to take place.

 

[Oakers73]

Bottled my Wherry tweak tonight and the hydro sample tasted ace...really looking forward to this one.

 

[Markdon]

Forgot i had this kit so put it on tonight with a bag of 500g medium spray malt, og was 1.048, plan to let it ferment out, leave for an extra week, rack, leave for a week, then dry hop with 50g of stryian goldings for 4-5 days then keg.

 

[brewtim]

Mines 14 days in now and I am due to bottle it tomorrow. However, ive heard that leaving it in a cold shed for a day or two prior to bottling can aid with clearing. Has anyone else found this to be the case?

Most beers benefit from a period of cooling post fermentation. When yeast is cooled it goes to sleep and drops out of suspension faster, clearing your beer quicker. The longer and colder, the clearer the beer will get. Ideally cool in the FV or secondary before priming and bottling.

If you are moving the beer to a shed or racking to a secondary before cooling then you will need to extend the time slightly because the action of moving the beer or racking will re-suspend yeast particles and so if this happens and you cool for only a couple of days you may not see much benefit, try cooling for at least four days minimum.

Ideally the temperature needs to be 12 C and below for this to work, if you can get it to -2 C even better, but not much colder as the beer may start to freeze, the colder the faster it will clear!

 

[krazypara3165]

Once again superb advice! I can keep it in the shed for as long as it needs. At the moment the temp is between 3-7 degrees. Am I right to assume this is the same for cider too then, as im also due to bottle a batch of richies on the rocks.

 

[brewtim]

Once again superb advice! I can keep it in the shed for as long as it needs. At the moment the temp is between 3-7 degrees. Am I right to assume this is the same for cider too then, as im also due to bottle a batch of richies on the rocks.

I've never made cider but assume the yeast works in the same way, so worth a try.

Only thing to watch out for is any infection, so either rack to a very clean & sanitised secondary or minimize sloshing in the primary when moving because of the ring of crud around the FV, it's usually not a problem at this stage because everything should be under lid and airlock, just something to be aware of. When doing it this way, 1-2 weeks max in the cold would be my preference as most of the yeast will have dropped and getting the beer packaged will minimise the chance of infection.

 

[krazypara3165]

Cheers! They will both be getting racked to a secondary tomorrow and then ill put them in the shed for a week and bottle it next weekend.

 

[gazkilla]

Mines been in bottles for 3 weeks now,2 in the warm and a week in the garage. Had a taste of one yesterday and its coming along nicely. Bottles are starting to clear completely now. Got FG @ 1014 from 1041 OG couldn't get it any lower after rousing it. Not gonna try anymore until end of Feb :sulk:

 

[ian808]

I started this kit on 31st Dec and bottled it on 12th Jan SG 1050 FG 1010

I tried a bottle on 2nd of Feb and then another on the 16th which was a lot better

I would say that it's a good beer now but leaving for another couple of weeks to see if I can get it even better

I had brewed this short about 18 litres and batch primed with 80 grams of sugar

I have started another on the 15th of Feb but added 300 grams of beer enhancer which has started of at 1054

Going to leave this longer in FV this time