Youngs American IPA

[BarryC]

To be honest, it’s difficult to tell once the beer’s in the FV. I’ll measure the OG, but that’s about it. I certainly wasn’t aware of any ‘off’ smells. I’m so disappointed as I sit here. 9 weeks of primary and secondary fermentation, cold conditioning and then back to room temperature, for nothing.

I’ve emailed Young’s.

Mine turned out very similar ! Purchased from The Brew Store in Edinburgh. I thought it looked a bit dark in the FV but let it ferment out. Approx 3-4 weeks later bottled a very Dark strange brew - On opening the first bottle it was like Guinness but with a horrible fruity twang !
I e-mailed Youngs who were very surprised when I sent the attached photo ! They explained that it may have been due to incorrect storage during production and agreed to send a replacement AIPA kit !
Just finished the second kit and it tastes very good !
However I'm very disappointed that I now have 40 pints of ..... well YUK ! - But the second brew tastes Great :-) !

 

[GhostShip]

Had an e-mail from Young's first thing this morning asking for a photo of the beer, which I sent them. They came straight back and said they'd sent out a replacement kit which should be with me tomorrow. Brilliant customer service!

Barry - mine looked just like yours, but without the head. It was as flat as a pancake and tasted revolting!

 

[stephen1546]

I have a batch conditioning just now, had a bottle at the weekend and i was impressed. Are you bottling or putting it in a keg?

 

[GhostShip]

I have a batch conditioning just now, had a bottle at the weekend and i was impressed. Are you bottling or putting it in a keg?

Bottling. As Barry says above, I think there was clearly something very wrong with the kit extract.

 

[stephen1546]

Bottling. As Barry says above, I think there was clearly something very wrong with the kit extract.

I did a batch which was flat, put it down to the keg being faulty. Just bottle now.

 

[Scaggs]

I brewed the Youngs American IPA back in August and the colour surprised me.

I was expecting it to be a light colour, like on the box. Took a long time to carbonate too but once it did it was quite nice. I thought they had sent the wrong malt extract in the pack at the time but didn't complain as the taste was good in the end.

edit: Sorry for the massive image

 

[stephen1546]

Looks good!

 

[GhostShip]

Wow, that looks dark. My AIPA (the previous brew, not the latest disaster) was a golden colour - absolutely nothing like the photo that you’ve posted.

I’m starting to think that Young’s have had some serious issues somewhere along the production line.

 

[GhostShip]

AIPA kit arrived today from Young’s. Discovered the problem on Friday night, emailed them over the weekend, had an email back first thing Monday (yesterday) morning and have a replacement kit today.

Brilliant customer service.

 

[Si Edwards]

I'm a complete beginner and the AIPA from Youngs is my first foray into homebrew. I bought a Youngs starter kit, which contained the kit and a pressure barrel.
Brewed the primary as per the instructions and as the gravity readings were spot on, I barelled it.
Having now been on this forum for a couple of days I think I barelled it too soon (15 days).
I really hope it works in the barrel and it's drinkable by Christmas.
I'll let you all know how I get on.
Any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[terrym]

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

You told us about your AIPA in your introduction post
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/hi-from-telford.79885/
and there were a few advice pointers for you made in there.
If you have a specific problem tell us what it is and forum members will do their best to answer.
In your case you have probably packaged your beer too soon (15 days vs. 20+ days) and that could mean its still fermenting in your PB. So to kick that one into touch or otherwise what was the SG at packaging?

 

[Si Edwards]

Sorry, just thought I'd join in with a chat about the same kit as I'm brewing!
As you ask, the final reading was 1.006.

 

[terrym]

OK looks like it was done then .
You must hold the record !

 

[Si Edwards]

OK looks like it was done then .
You must hold the record !

I'll tell you in a few weeks!

 

[Roger Wilko]

Just finished my last bottle and I have to say it’s a cracker of a drink. Going to start brewing the mocha porter tonight but I’ll definitely brew this again

 

[Meza]

Popped the lid off mine tonight (day 12) for a taste and reading. SG 1.011. popped the hops in loose, but now a bit concerned it might have been too early. The instructions were talking about only 2-3 days for the hops, and now I'm thinking it might want another week in the FV.

I could syphon it off the hops and into a second bucket in 3 days time. Would that be a sensible idea?

Taste was great, golden yellow and grapefruity.

 

[Eight Ace]

Mine appears to have gone to pot .

The hop flavour has gone and it's become rather harsh and, well, homebrewy. It's weird as the first one was glorious and it seems to have fell off a cliff in the 2 weeks since. IlI' be leaving them alone until Christmas now in the hope that it mellows out. If not then I'll have to bid it farewell.

On the plus side, my burco could do with being tested out.....

 

[Meza]

I'm doing this one now. On day 15 and SG has settled at 1.009-8. hops went in on day 11 and I'm just starting a 2 day cold crash, then bottle. So hops will have been in for 6 days in total, hope that's not too long.

I added Wilko chitosan finings today too as an experiment. Be interesting to see if these have an effect on clarity.


It tastes bloody divine! Can't wait to drink this one.

 

[Meza]

I'm on day 15 now. Gravity has settled at 1.008-9 so I think it's basically done. I chucked in some Wilko chitosan finings and set the fridge to 0.5°C for cold crash. Will leave for 3 days and bottle on day 18.

 

[GhostShip]

Mine appears to have gone to pot .

The hop flavour has gone and it's become rather harsh and, well, homebrewy. It's weird as the first one was glorious and it seems to have fell off a cliff in the 2 weeks since. IlI' be leaving them alone until Christmas now in the hope that it mellows out. If not then I'll have to bid it farewell.

On the plus side, my burco could do with being tested out.....

That's really odd. The first time I did the AIPA (still the best kit I've done), it got better over the few weeks it took me to drink it. It was good to begin with but definitely improved with age.

I don't know if you have it in a barrel or in bottles, but are you certain there's no leak (i.e. the bottle caps are on very tight)? You're not storing it somewhere too warm? It's also possible that you have an infection which has developed in the bottles/barrel.

Either way, I'd give it more time - you never know!

EDIT: Just looked back and I see you're bottling. I assume they were all properly sterilised?