Brewcraft Premuim Kit - Kilkenny

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Tuesday May 30, 2006 4:23 pm

Hey guys

Just decided to lash out & I probably got ripped on this, but there's stacks of stuff in the kit so maybe not...

For $34.95 I got...

1.8kg can Muntons Yorkshire Bitter (About $18 on its own apparently)
1kg Brewblend #20 (appears to be same as brew enhancer #2 from coopers, so maybe worth $5?)
1 x teabag of Fuggles (no idea the price individially)
1 x teabag of Goldings (As above)
1 x Muntons Premium gold yeast (as above)

So does that sound ok money/recipe wise?

In the HBS the bloke said just follow the instructions, well the instructions are pretty vague. Any advice on how best to tackle this sucker?

How do I add the hops - the little bags just say to put it in a mug & let it soak for a few minutes in boiling water, then toss the lot in the fermenter - sound right?

Plus should I disolve the bag of fermentables in the inital couple of litres of water on the stove first?

What about the brew kit itself, just heat it in the sink then tip it in the fermenter or should it go into the pot on the stove with the fermentables?

Any advice appreciated. Total n00b here guys, play nice.

Cheers
Ash

da_damage_done · Post by **da_damage_done** » Tuesday May 30, 2006 4:59 pm

Price-wise it sounds cool

1 Yorkshire Bitter $19.50
1 Fuggles finishing hops $2.35
1 Goldings finishing hops $2.35
1 Brew Booster, 1 kg $6.35
$30.55

This is what I would do
1) Dissolve sugar in water (say 2 litres) - bring to the boil
2) Allow to boil for a bit
3) Throw in the tea bags a couple of mins before turning heat off
4) Turn heat off
5) Tip in the contents of the warmed up can and stir until disolved (don't boil the kit)
6) Tip all of this into the fermenter - fill it up to your desired volume
7) Pitch yeast at appropriate temp

This is what i do - it saves me making too much mess in the kitchen

I`m sure there are other ways of approching it

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Tuesday May 30, 2006 5:04 pm

sounds like a plan, from reading this site I thought that might be how to get her done, but I wasn't sure on the boil the kit or not step, cheers.

might get stuck in shortly then rather than tomorrow.

MattyV · Post by **MattyV** » Wednesday May 31, 2006 12:17 pm

I'm planning on putting down a Kilkenny clone as well. After talking with my local HB man and picking his brain for advice, he came up with the following recipe:

Morgans Royal Oak Amber Ale
1Kg Caramalt
1/2Kg Dark Crystal Malt
250g Melanoidin Grain
10g Northdown Hops
10g Challenger Hops
Goldings plug, Dry
Wyeast Irish Ale 1084

Does this sound like it could be somewhat on the money?

Ash, sorry if I've hijacked your thread mate

. I reckon you could be onto a winner with your recipe. I've been searching for a good Kilkenny clone for ages - Let us know how it goes!

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Wednesday May 31, 2006 5:05 pm

Likewise Matty - let me know how yours turns out too.

shane_vor · Post by **shane_vor** » Wednesday May 31, 2006 7:20 pm

I found the Morgans Royal Oak Amber to be REALLY sweet, I too, would be keen to see how the extra hops additive works

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Friday Jun 02, 2006 9:40 pm

whoa, brew's been down since tuesday night & she's dropped from OG 1048 to 1024 in that time & a taste of the hydrometer tube revealed a brew not far off kilkenny - without one to compare it to I'd say it's pretty close already!

Geez I can't wait

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Sunday Jun 25, 2006 6:53 pm

Well she's passed 2 weeks in the bottle & is quite nice, pity I've already drunk the 2 tins with widgets I'd aquired for a comparison.

I think it's fairly similar, obviously there's the lack of nitrogen foaming for the head but the taste seems pretty close to me - but then I'm no real beer connoisseur - I just know what I like & what I don't like. This I like

Did you give yours a hit Matty?

MattyV · Post by **MattyV** » Sunday Jun 25, 2006 7:10 pm

Well, I racked mine to secondary for two weeks, so I only got to bottle it last Monday. I'll probably leave it a month minimum before I give it a try - HBS reckons it will need about 6 months to really be at it's best. Glad to hear your's was a success Ash! I'll report back when I've had a taste...

halminator · Post by **halminator** » Monday Jun 26, 2006 9:52 am

Hey Ash & Matty - just about to try one of these for myself, and want to know what temps did you brew yours at?

I'll be using Saf S-04 for mine and was planning on keeping it steady at around 18C but would be interested to know what temps you guys had.

Hal

blandy · Post by **blandy** » Monday Jun 26, 2006 10:58 am

Hi all,

I brewed the Brewcraft Kilkenny copy in the spring of last year. My recipe also included Munton's Premium Gold yeast.

There was a noticeable difference between real Kilkenny and the Brewcraft version (The Brewcraft version seemed more bitter and less creamy), but I wasn't too worried about that. Needless to say, it was delicious. What I really liked about this brew was the head retention, it was absoultely perfect! Although it wasn't a nitrogen head, the last mouthful of the Kilkenny copy was (as with real Kilkenny) pure head.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Friday Jul 07, 2006 2:09 pm

Mine was brewed at 18-22deg (depending on whether I remembered to re-wet the towel or not

)

Now it's a bit older, I'd agree with Blandy's description of this recipe.

how did you use the hops blandy? I think I probably kept them on the heat longer than I should have which I had thought was accounted for the extra bitterness (I did a boil, not just a steep)

blandy · Post by **blandy** » Friday Jul 07, 2006 4:51 pm

Hi Ash,

Firstly 18-22*C is nothing to be ashamed of. There's not many problems that can be attributed to a temperature variation of four degrees.

As for the hops, I just used teabags. This was my second brew ever and I didn't think I'd be OK with hop pellets. They were immersed in hot water for a couple of minutes and then the hop-flavoured water was tipped into the rest of the wort. Nothing scientific there.

Admitedly I didn't know the difference between using hops for bitterness, flavour or aroma when I did this brew, but with the benefit of hindsight, I think the Fuggles and Goldings hops were meant to be either aroma or flavour (since the can is already pretty bitter).

If I ever did this recipe again, I'd look at lowering the IBU and making it more creamy.

IBU is pretty easy to take care of, since it's just a matter of bittering hop balance, but does anyone have any idea how to make a beer more creamy?

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Friday Jul 07, 2006 10:22 pm

blandy wrote: IBU is pretty easy to take care of, since it's just a matter of bittering hop balance, but does anyone have any idea how to make a beer more creamy?

Would the yeast make it creamy? I know when I use some ale yeasts they seem to taste a bit creamy. Just a guess though.

NTRabbit · Post by **NTRabbit** » Saturday Jul 08, 2006 12:06 am

blandy wrote: IBU is pretty easy to take care of, since it's just a matter of bittering hop balance, but does anyone have any idea how to make a beer more creamy?

Carbonate it with Nitrogen instead of Carbon Dioxide, thats how the real stuff is done.

blandy · Post by **blandy** » Saturday Jul 08, 2006 7:36 am

I would assume carbonation with Nitrogen would be something you could only do with a keg,.

Tipsy · Post by **Tipsy** » Saturday Jul 08, 2006 3:36 pm

blandy wrote: IBU is pretty easy to take care of, since it's just a matter of bittering hop balance, but does anyone have any idea how to make a beer more creamy?

I found a recipe that has golden syrup that might be worth a try.
I haven't tried it myself and the only brew I made with golden syrup didn't taste very nice.

Irish Ale - makes 21 litres

Try this one as an easy recipe. Less volume, golden syrup and a lower
ferment temperature help to produce an ale with characters like those found in
the imported 440ml cans with widgets!

Ingredients

1.7kg can Coopers Draught
1kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 1
300 grams Golden Syrup

Method

1. Dissolve Coopers Draught, Brew Enhancer 1 and Golden Syrup in 2 litres
of hot water.
2. Fill fermenter with cool water to the 21 litre mark and stir.
3. Sprinkle supplied yeast over the wort surface.
4. Ferment temperature should be as close to 20C as possible.
5. Bottle when specific gravity has reached 1.012 (or two readings the same
over 24 hours).

It may or may not have a creamy texture.

Ash · Post by **Ash** » Saturday Jul 08, 2006 5:44 pm

I've just put down (literally 5 min ago) a variation of that Coopers recipe to give to a whirl...

Coopers Draught
500gm Dex
250gm Corn Syrup (Brew Enhancer #1 is 750gm dex & 250gm corn - I wanted to drop the alc a little)
300gm golden syrup

According to others on here (thankyou search function) it doesn't taste spot on like Kilkenny though it's an alright drop - just takes a while for the golden syrup taste to mellow.

I'll let you know in a month or so - for now I'll enjoy the Brewcraft one. Got one more Kilkenny type recipie to make after this, then I can give them a proper comparison with some mates.

halminator · Post by **halminator** » Saturday Jul 08, 2006 7:06 pm

I've got the following receipe sitting in the secondary at the moment and might get round to bottling it tomorrow if I have got the time.

I got the recipe off another forum from a guy called Trough Lolly but had to change the yeast to Saflager S-04 as I had nothing else. I've seen the same guy post on here (although a long time ago) but I've seen alot of his comments/posts and respect his opinion. It should be good and will let you know how it goes...

KILKENNY (for 22.5 litres)
Ingredients:
MORGAN'S ROYAL OAK AMBER ALE
1kg Coopers Light DME
BREWISER FINISHING HOPS - TETTNANGER
BREWISER FINISHING HOPS - GOLDINGS
150g of maltodextrin
1 x sachet of Nottingham Ale dry yeast or a Wyeast 1084 starter if you want to get serious!!

Method:
Mix powdered malt and maltodextrin in about 4 litres of warm water, and bring to a gentle simmer, once the simmer is established put in the Tettnanger hops and continue the simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and add the bag of Goldings hops and give a quick stir, enough to wet them. Tip the contents of the saucepan into your fermenter (dont worry if either or both the hop bags break, they will do no harm). Add Morgans Amber Ale kit, and top up with cold water to give a temperature of around 23C and pitch your yeast. Maintain the fermentation at no more than 23C. Final SG will be around 1010.[/b]

MattyV · Post by **MattyV** » Wednesday Jul 12, 2006 10:05 pm

Well, I finally tried one of the beers from the brew I put down using the recipe earlier in this thread. Probably still a little young, only been in bottles for 4 weeks when I tasted, but it's still pretty bloody good actually. It's a bit darker in colour than a real kilkenny, and it's hard to compare taste without having a genuine version sitting beside you as you drink your homebrew, but it's malty, creamy, with plenty of flavour so I'm happy

. Don't think it'll reach it's peak for another month or two though. Ahh the waiting game...