Youngs American IPA

[Badseed1974]

Hopefully you're right dude, It's in the boiler cupboard now, I'll let you know in a few weeks.

Even if it does turn out rotten I'm not put off, big pot and a go at AG next

 

[HisDudeness]

Best of luck with it mate! Loving the ambition going straight to AG brew afterwards

 

[terrym]

Badseed1974
Hope the AIPA turns out as you would want it.
I think this is a tricky kit to kick start your home brewing and as I said earlier I have brewed a lot of beer over the years both from a can base, and using grain and ME and hops.
You could try a one can kit with DME/brewing sugar 'supplements' to get yourself up to speed and experiment a bit, with or without dry hopping using a bag, before you go to AG.
I have recently used the Coopers IPA and Brewmaker IPA kits and they produce more than acceptable results. And there are plenty more out there to have a go at.
Anyway best of luck.

 

[Badseed1974]

Cheers Terry

Not given up hope on it just yet, had a look this morning and it's already a bit clearer in the bottle, with some sediment setting at the bottom. Fingers crossed!

I've got 2 fermenters so I think I'll try one of the Coopers kits next and also have a try at a simple SMaSH next, I'm sure I'll be able to make something drinkable

 

[Covrich]

Cheers Terry

Not given up hope on it just yet, had a look this morning and it's already a bit clearer in the bottle, with some sediment setting at the bottom. Fingers crossed!

I've got 2 fermenters so I think I'll try one of the Coopers kits next and also have a try at a simple SMaSH next, I'm sure I'll be able to make something drinkable

My first brew had a definate off flavour but I learnt so much, in my case I think brewing on the hottest day in July was probably one of the biggest mistakes and something to learn from.

It is good you have a desire to step up to using grain. getting a few kits under your belt might not be a bad thing if you want to just nail down the fermenting and brewing / bottling processes.

I would suggest for AG try a small batch first. again just to get your head around the process and I guess at worst if you cock up badly for whatever reason you have only lost a little.. Or try an extract first, again just to get used to the boil process.

The harsh flavour you taste might well be the overpowering dry hop at the early stages.. it will mellow and blend in a few weeks.

 

[Badseed1974]

Yeah, I done it all by the book (I think) so hopefully it'll mellow out nicely.

As for AG, I'll dip my toe in with a 5l brew first, I'll be on the stove anyway so 10l is pretty much my limit I reckon :)

 

[terrym]

I just thought I would share that the 21 litres or so in the FV (I had to remove some due to krausen overload early on) have now completed a full 14 days at around 20degC. My 'handy airlock' is still burbling away at about 10 burps per minute and hasn't come down much in the last few days, so there is some way to go yet.
And the liquor I took out in my emergency 6 pint former milk container FV under airlock is still active too.
This is uncharted territory for me. All my previous brews have been finished in about 7 days or so. Looking through the posts it seems that the primary for this kit can take anywhere between 14 to 21 days or even longer (no doubt influenced by temperature) and the kit instructions suggest 15 days.
So for those of you who have been through this before with this kit and others like it, does the fermentation rate suddenly drop at the end, or is it a continuing steady decline as seems to have been happening so far? I know it won't bring the end any further forward but at least I will know what to expect!!
Ta

 

[Badseed1974]

Fermentation was just over 3 weeks for me, hardly any airlock activity for the last week but still had a big yeasty head at week 2.

 

[Garymcconnell]

So started this kit on Wednesday and have this going on already...... Is this normal? Air lock has been clogged 3 times today already so now have a blow off pipe into a bottle instead.

 

[terrym]

Mine was bubbling through the lock after 48 hours.

 

[ProjectBeer]

I just bottled this yesterday after a 7 day dry hop. I severely underestimated the number of bottles I'd need as I think I was getting US answers when I googled how many bottles I'd need per batch and accounted for ~48 bottles.

I ended up with 59 x 330ml bottles and 2 x 500ml bottles and I had to ditch a small bit of beer at the end as I had no more bottles left! I could have necked some of the beer in my fridge to give myself some more bottles, but I'd have been pretty out of it!

Anyway - things I've learned:

- I'll be using a hop bag for dry hopping from now on. I tried using a sanitised muslin bag over the input end of the auto-siphon, but it still kept clogging with hop material, resulting in lots of bubbling in the siphon. Without the muslin bag, some hop material was pulling into the bottling bucket.

- I'll be looking to acquire 500ml bottles instead of 330ml ones to make life easier.

 

[terrym]

ProjectBeer
I am currently using two litre bottles (ex cheap supermarket fizzy water), with a 1 litre plus glass serving pitcher.
Bottle numbers are then manageable at bottling time.
If bottles have been conditioned/stored for a few weeks, I find that the yeast will quickly settle down back again after the initial opening and can be re-opened and remaining contents consumed possibly within one day if clear enough but certainly on day two. I would not go beyond three days since the beer would have probably started to spoil due to air getting in when first opened. Carbonation on the second opening is fine, provided bottle is resealed immediately after the initial opening.

 

[HarrowBrewer]

I am very impressed with this kit. I left it in the FV for just over three weeks, its been in the bottle for 12 days, and I thought I'd have a test one to see how its coming on. Really good, great burst of hop flavours, no discernible homebrew twang, and as good as many commercial IPAs I've tried. I'm looking forward to seeing what its like in a few more weeks...

 

[d_jsr]

Dry hopped this morning after 22days, sg was 1055 & currently 1003. Can anyone confirm what kind of temperatures I need to store bottles in following the bottling? & also the clearing? The instructions just say warm & cool. Don't want to screw this up at the last hurdle!

 

[DoctorMick]

I am very impressed with this kit. I left it in the FV for just over three weeks, its been in the bottle for 12 days, and I thought I'd have a test one to see how its coming on. Really good, great burst of hop flavours, no discernible homebrew twang, and as good as many commercial IPAs I've tried. I'm looking forward to seeing what its like in a few more weeks...

Mine was at its best after only 2-3 weeks in the bottle so I'd get stuck in, doesn't improve much with longer conditioning imo.

 

[sausagefingers]

Agree with DoctorMick, no need to hang around with this one.
Get stuck in :

 

[HarrowBrewer]

I shall take your advice...

 

[bobby_d1978]

Just cracked open a bottle after 1 week and I must say it's really nice. Very hoppy and very little bitterness. Looking forward to the next few weeks. Very close too brewdog punk IPA.

 

[Twostage]

Dry hopped this morning after 22days, sg was 1055 & currently 1003. Can anyone confirm what kind of temperatures I need to store bottles in following the bottling? & also the clearing? The instructions just say warm & cool. Don't want to screw this up at the last hurdle!

After bottling they need to be somewhere warm until carbonated, roughly the same temp as when you did the first fermentation. Not sure what kind of bottles you intend to use but if you do a few in plastic bottles you can tell when they are carbonated by squeezing them.

Once carbonated store them somewhere cool, around 10 (cool garage for instance) and they should clear nicely.

 

[d_jsr]

Cheers twostage, that's ace. Planning to bottle tomorrow!