Youngs American IPA

[pms67]

Mines tastes shockingly close to Brewdog Punk IPA,a beer i thought i would never be able to make? I compared the two last week and not much between them,except the price!

 

[Pgale307]

Only done this twice so far, but each batch was the same, ie, SG = 1056, FG = 1004, took 17 days to ferment and tasted amazing before I but the hops in and on bottling day.

This is a beer for real 'hop heads', if you don't like strong hop aroma and flavour, I would say you will hate this brew.

 

[Daza1604]

You say yours was amazing before botteling. Mine defo had problems. It was awful. I'll come back in another week when I do my first taste test.

 

[boost]

I bottled my first batch of this last week and of course had a bit left over to sample. I've never had a flat beer taste so good so it's very promising. My favourite commercial beer at the minute is devil's backbone ipa in spoons. This has the same hops and seems darned close even at bottling stage. Trying to hold off a bit longer before further sampling. My only gripe with the kit is that I prefer the hops in a teabag type arrangement like in the bulldog brews.

 

[Ragnar]

Damn, reading all this makes me worried. So it should taste quite nice even right after fermentation. Mine sadly tasted horrible. It had this awkward yeasty-ness and extremely nasty bitterness. I can't quite explain it but it wasn't nice. Mind you, I'm quite fond of bitter IPAs.

 

[Wolfracer]

Damn, reading all this makes me worried. So it should taste quite nice even right after fermentation. Mine sadly tasted horrible. It had this awkward yeasty-ness and extremely nasty bitterness. I can't quite explain it but it wasn't nice. Mind you, I'm quite fond of bitter IPAs.

Bitter sour flavour?

So were both of mine- apa and ipa
I tried an ipa today after maybe 3 weeks in the bottle... it was fair to middling. Strong hops flavour. Quite flat, bitterness had gone though. Strong homebrew flavours...
But, compared to what it was it shows potential. I will leave another 2 weeks and try again.
The apa on the other hand has not cleared and is showing no signs of clearing. Will crack a bottle open when im feeling brave...

 

[ClarenceBoddicker]

I tried mine over the weekend after 2 weeks in the bottle and a night in the fridge. Really impressed. It has cleared perfectly has a massive floral hop aroma and bitter taste. Good carbonation but not too much makes it quite creamy and not thin as I expected given it isn't as strong as predicted. I think this will be spot on by Christmas. I had a pint if devils backbone in Friday and much prefer the youngs IPA.

 

[boost]

Tried a bottle again tonight. Really, really nice. This is what I want from a beer, some flavour. Off to crack another :)

 

[Daza1604]

Tried my 1st bottle last night....
Although very cloudy the taste was really good

hoping a little longer in the bottle will sort the cloudy issue.

Does the beer get any fizzier the longer its left... it had a fizz dont get me wrong but a bit more would have been even nicer... taste is definitely there tho :drink:

 

[LordVauban]

I brewed this a few months ago. After a couple of weeks, it was nice. But I set aide a dozen bottles for Xmas, and this week opended one up. It w fantastic - the best I've ever brewed. Certainly hoppy,mbut with a crisp clear bite to it too. Really top notch. I had a devil of a job with this brew (as the hops suspension made bottling a real pain). But it was definitely worth it!

 

[Russ146]

Go to Weatherspoons and try a pint of Their Devil's Backbone American IPA @£2.89 a pint.

Its identical to the kit @57p a pint.

heres the secret to premium home made beer (kits)

Obviously freshly cleaned and sterilised fermenter,

make up kit as instructed,

Place a heater belt around FV to maintain a constant temperature, Now.

LEAVE IT ALONE! that's the first tip, for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Do not open it, take out samples, anything. Just leave it bubbling and then when its stopped leave it still.

The reason i say dont touch it is by disturbing the layer of co2 on the top, air can get to the brew and introduce bacteria or dust or anything and its really, really important to maintain that sterile environment. This is where so many go wrong and ruin brew after brew and then give up having never ever experienced decent pub quality home made beer.

After 4 weeks, freshly sterilise your pressure barrel, personally i find bottles are just a pain. Carefully syphon the brew into the barrel (or bottles) running the beer down the side so as not to splash. Splashing again introduces air into the brew and any bacteria in the air is now in the brew.

Add the priming sugar as per instructions and fit the heater belt on the barrel and leave for 4 days.

After that remove the belt and forget it for at least 3 months to condition.

Ok have a sneaky taste to check its presurised ok and it will taste ok but fresh.

After 3 months it will be amazing.

beer will keep for months as long as it is pressurised and no air can get to it. I am currently drinking a barrel of Sundew (not my favourite) hence its been in the barrel for at least 6 months and that has improved dramatically to a very smooth beer and is much better than when it was only 3 months old.

Hope that helps

 

[DoctorMick]

Kicked this off today, really looking forward to trying it. SG was 1058, does that seem about right?

 

[Covrich]

Kicked this off today, really looking forward to trying it. SG was 1058, does that seem about right?

Going to be starting mine soon, but that SG sounds about right since it is supposed to be a strong one at about 6.5%

 

[ian808]

Mine was 1060 at 22 litres so think your all good. Day 11 1010 day 22 1002 added hops and bottled day 26 1002

 

[Covrich]

Mine was 1060 at 22 litres so think your all good. Day 11 1010 day 22 1002 added hops and bottled day 26 1002

I know you brewed it slightly short but that sounds incredibly strong if it went all the way to 1002?

By the time that is primed you will be getting close to 8%

 

[ian808]

Yeah 7.7% but really tasty very much like the evil dog which was 8.2%

 

[Yeastmaster]

Go to Weatherspoons and try a pint of Their Devil's Backbone American IPA @£2.89 a pint.

Its identical to the kit @57p a pint.

heres the secret to premium home made beer (kits)

Obviously freshly cleaned and sterilised fermenter,

make up kit as instructed,

Place a heater belt around FV to maintain a constant temperature, Now.

LEAVE IT ALONE! that's the first tip, for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Do not open it, take out samples, anything. Just leave it bubbling and then when its stopped leave it still.

The reason i say dont touch it is by disturbing the layer of co2 on the top, air can get to the brew and introduce bacteria or dust or anything and its really, really important to maintain that sterile environment. This is where so many go wrong and ruin brew after brew and then give up having never ever experienced decent pub quality home made beer.

After 4 weeks, freshly sterilise your pressure barrel, personally i find bottles are just a pain. Carefully syphon the brew into the barrel (or bottles) running the beer down the side so as not to splash. Splashing again introduces air into the brew and any bacteria in the air is now in the brew.

Add the priming sugar as per instructions and fit the heater belt on the barrel and leave for 4 days.

After that remove the belt and forget it for at least 3 months to condition.

Ok have a sneaky taste to check its presurised ok and it will taste ok but fresh.

After 3 months it will be amazing.

beer will keep for months as long as it is pressurised and no air can get to it. I am currently drinking a barrel of Sundew (not my favourite) hence its been in the barrel for at least 6 months and that has improved dramatically to a very smooth beer and is much better than when it was only 3 months old.

Hope that helps

What a fantastic post. These instructions are spot on and should be included with any beer kit in my view (instead of the ones that come with the kit at the moment)!

 

[DoctorMick]

Go to Weatherspoons and try a pint of Their Devil's Backbone American IPA @£2.89 a pint.

Its identical to the kit @57p a pint.

heres the secret to premium home made beer (kits)

Obviously freshly cleaned and sterilised fermenter,

make up kit as instructed,

Place a heater belt around FV to maintain a constant temperature, Now.

LEAVE IT ALONE! that's the first tip, for at least 3 or 4 weeks. Do not open it, take out samples, anything. Just leave it bubbling and then when its stopped leave it still.

The reason i say dont touch it is by disturbing the layer of co2 on the top, air can get to the brew and introduce bacteria or dust or anything and its really, really important to maintain that sterile environment. This is where so many go wrong and ruin brew after brew and then give up having never ever experienced decent pub quality home made beer.

After 4 weeks, freshly sterilise your pressure barrel, personally i find bottles are just a pain. Carefully syphon the brew into the barrel (or bottles) running the beer down the side so as not to splash. Splashing again introduces air into the brew and any bacteria in the air is now in the brew.

Add the priming sugar as per instructions and fit the heater belt on the barrel and leave for 4 days.

After that remove the belt and forget it for at least 3 months to condition.

Ok have a sneaky taste to check its presurised ok and it will taste ok but fresh.

After 3 months it will be amazing.

beer will keep for months as long as it is pressurised and no air can get to it. I am currently drinking a barrel of Sundew (not my favourite) hence its been in the barrel for at least 6 months and that has improved dramatically to a very smooth beer and is much better than when it was only 3 months old.

Hope that helps

That's great advice, except the bit in bold in this case IMO. I'm expecting a big hoppy flavour from this brew which will fade over time so there is a balance to be had so I think 6-8 weeks conditioning could well be the prime tasting time for this one (I think the instructions say similar). I'll be trying mine every week to see how it changes so I'll let you all know how it gets on.

 

[clibit]

Maybe this is why I don't do kits. I have found that my favourite beers are my own AG pale beers when they are really fresh, often 3- 4 weeks after brew day.

There is some great advice there though, to leave the brew alone and to keep air out at all stages as much as you possibly can.

 

[Ragnar]

I decided to bin it and do an extract recipe IPA instead. I had high hopes but after 3-4 weeks in primary and 2 in secondary, it still tasted absolutely horrible. I'm not sure where I went wrong, really.