Youngs definitive bitter

[beginner]

Hello all,

I'm new to homebrewing and have just started my second kit, my first being a Wherry bitter which is conditioning in my cellar (well not actually a cellar, more of a 3ft cavity under my floorboards :whistle:) at the moment.

Now i've just started my second kit which is an Youngs Definitive bitter, i pretty much follwed the instructions on the can with this one, mixed the can with a bag of household sugar and hot water then topped up to 22L and whipped it up to aerate the wort. I then pitched my yeast straight out the packet and stirred it in. I tried to take a sg reading but it was very frothy after my aeration so i wasn't to acurate, but think it was about 1040, this was 5 days ago and today i took another reading and it's down to about 1008 and looking at the wort there doesn't seem to be any activity going on, and the whole fermentation seems to of been a very quiet affair compared with the Wherry i did. Had a little sample and it had a very strong alcoholic taste.

I'm a bit concerned i may of spoiled my brew somehow, anyone done one of these.. does this sound normal?

Any advice fellow homebrewers?

Thanks :

 

[jamesb]

Sounds like it's finished to me. Leave it for a few days and then bottle/barrel it.

 

[Moley]

Just checked my notes, I brewed one of these last April, used 1,250g of dark brown soft sugar, had an OG of 1.043 and it finished at 1.006

5.1% abv at 22p a pint, drinkable but unremarkable.

Leave it for a few days longer to see if it drops that last couple of points, but it sounds like it's almost done :thumb:

 

[corby_brewer]

I made one of these about 3 months ago, just a a quick keg filler while i was waiting to brew another AG, And as it was only £7 from Wilkinsons i decided to get it.
If i remember right it stopped at around 1.006.
As Moleys says, its drinkable but nothing special. I was you you would concider dry hopping it with some Cascade.

 

[beginner]

Thanks Moley jamesb and corby_brewer, thats put my mind at rest. :thumb:

Another thing is i was going to bottle at the end of fermentation, and was going to use Newkie bottles, do you think these would be alright bearing in mind second fermentation?

Thanks lads. :thumb:

 

[corby_brewer]

NBA bottles will be ok to use, just make sure you keep them somewhere dark. So the light cant get to them.
But personly i would get yourself down to you local pub and ask them for there empty MAGNERS bottles.

 

[jamesb]

NBA bottles will be ok to use, just make sure you keep them somewhere dark. So the light cant get to them.
But personly i would get yourself down to you local pub and ask them for there empty MAGNERS bottles.

I've been wondering about this. Has anyone ever experiences skunking with kits? Because they're so mass produced, it wouldn't suprise me if the manufacturers are using tetra hop extract, which isn't susceptible to skunking.

 

[beginner]

Cheers Corby and James,

I'll try to get hold of some Magners bottles then, never thought about uv and skunkered beer. :thumb:


Corby if i dry hopped my beer, when would this be done, would it be after primary fermentation before bottling?

Cheers. :

 

[corby_brewer]

Once the primary fementation is complete, transfer the beer to a secondy. Put about 20grams of CASCADE into a hop sock or muslin bag and leave it for between 5 - 7 days. Then bottle.

 

[beginner]

Cheers Corby :

 

[beginner]

Bottled my Youngs Definitive today, i was talked into using (isomerised hop extract) by my LHBS instead of 'Dry hopping', or is it still classed as 'Dry Hopping'?

So i just poured about 14ml into my bottling bucket after racking from my FV, a little stir then into my bottles.

Is this a better way, or is it better to use hops in a muslin bag over a few days?

Cheers. :

 

[corby_brewer]

To be honest ive never used ot or even herd of it, but frome what ive just been reading -
ISOTOTAL is a CO2 extract of Magnum hop (Hallertau) recent crop which has been isomerized in "classical" conditions without any catalyst. These isomerisation conditions are as close as possible to those used during a normal brewing process. After isomerisation, the insoluble fraction is carefully discarded. All the hop isomerized bitter fractions and several aromatic compounds are present in this product allowing to get a bitterness which is identical to the one obtained by classical hopping. This product can be used after fermentation just before final filtration. ISOTOTAL is an ideal way to adjust beer bitterness to the desired value at the end of the process without modifying the quality of this bitterness. The benefits of the use of ISOTOTAL are high flexibility in beer bitterness adjusting, very high yields close to 100%, better beer foam and cling, improving of the perception of hop flavours.
by my reconing it very simulat to dry hopping. So will be interesting to see what the outcome is

 

[beginner]

Cheers Corby, sounds like it could be a bit trial and error with the right amount to use, on the bottle it says enough for 45ltrs so i just dumped half the bottle in.

I will let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.

Cheers. :thumb:

 

[corby_brewer]

Out of interest mate, how much did it cost?

 

[beginner]

£2.89 from 'Allans Home Brew' Middlesbrough :

 

[corby_brewer]

100grms of Cascade would have cost you about £3, which would be enough to dry hop between 4 or 6 kits. but as i said im interested to see how it turnes out.
Well im that interested ive just ordered some.
So will be sending the Mrs to Wilkinsons tomorrow to get a YDBK to try it out on.

 

[beginner]

Hello all,

Well my Definitive has been conditioning for two weeks now, so i thought it was time to crack a bottle open. Well i'm not overly impressed as its got a slightly unpleasant after taste, and i,m hoping this is only because i used Tate'n'Lyle instead of brewing sugar/Bke?... Although i was warned about this, i just had to find out for myself. :hmm:

The brew is still drinkable, is nice and clear, but with that after taste which is really hard to describe. :? I'm not sure what difference the 'Isomerised hop extract' made either (if any) but anyway it shall still be quaffed :drink:

Just ordered Coopers Ausssie Lager, and Coopers Real ale kits as my next venture, but will be using Bke on both this time.

Also i'm very pleased with my Wherry bitter, very nice, although it's still not cleared after one month conditioning. :

 

[john_s]

Also i'm very pleased with my Wherry bitter, very nice, although it's still not cleared after one month conditioning.

My Wherry was very much improved after three months compared to the taster I had after the first month's conditioning.

 

[beginner]

Just a little update on the 'Young's Definitive bitter', it's now seven weeks since i started this brew, and as time progresses this has turned out to be a very accepitible drink.

It is now very clear and with a good head, and the 'off flavour after taste' that was evident earlier has now dissapeared. Even with the 'Isomerised hop extract' that i added, this brew still worked out at a misely 23p a pint. :thumb:

 

[artyb]

as is usually the case ...TIME IS THE ANSWER..... :thumb: