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Hi there,

I'm a beer home brewing newbie, but have been distilling my own spirits for a couple of years now.

My first brew was Black Rock Pilsner Blonde with Copper Tun Czech Pilsner No 62 enhancer. The result has only been in the bottle a week but already it tastes ok, a bit thin but ok. Next time I might add a few extra hops.

Anyhoo, I've just bought my second kit, Mangrove Jacks British Wheat Beer Pouch with 1.5kg Briess CBW Bavarian Wheat LME.
I enjoy a good Belgian Wit, so it will be interesting to see how it goes.
I might add a bit of orange zest and coriander to the fermenter, although the guy at the brew shop suggested leaving it virgin, so I have a benchmark.

Has anyone used this kit? Do you have any general suggestions?

At the end of the day, if it tastes like arse, I can chuck it in my still and extract the alcohol for vodka, so not all is lost

Cheers

I have no experience with these, but the wheat extract should give it a bit more body than brew #1. And I like your get-out-of-gaol-free card.

Let us know.

lol, will do.

Thanks mate.

Hi there,

I am having a bit of trouble with my ferment on this kit.
I put it down on Thursday. The instructions said it would take approx 7 days, it's now Wednesday of the following week.
Initially for the first couple of days, the ferment was VERY vigorous, almost coming out of the airlock.
By Monday, the ferment appeared to have stopped with the activity in the airlock only to odd bubble, which was more likely from natural CO2 release rather than active ferment. Sediment is settling out as the beer is starting to clear.
Initially the SG was 1050. It is now only 1020, clearly no where near finished, as the packet says it should be around 1007.
Would adding LME rather than dextrose impact on the final SG to this degree?

Is it possible that cool weather could have stalled the ferment? I took the temp of the wort and it is 17deg C.
Should I buy some more yeast and have another crack?

It smells quite nice, I'd hate to have to ditch it.

Cheers

Darren

Don't ditch it mate, all is well.

The cool weather (where the hell are you) no doubt has stalled it. Take it into the lounge room and get it to at least 19Deg Celcius.
The longer it takes to ferment the better. So that'll be great.
You'll love it when it's done.

It should get to 1010 at least. Take your time.

Thanks for that mate.

I'm in Dorkland, NZ. Waiheke Island to be exact. It's been a bit nippy lately.
I dug out an old electric blanket so I'll drape that over it on low and give it a bit of lovin

Can't wait to try it!

Thanks for your help.

Cheers

The blanket may be good enough without the power.

You only want 19 to 22deg tops.
It can go higher but won't be quite as nice.

A gentle swirl to get the yeast back into suspension prior to warming the brew wouldn't hurt. Just a gentle swirl without much splashing is good. You don't want to introduce oxygen to the beer at this stage.

djamesnz wrote:I've just bought my second kit, Mangrove Jacks British Wheat Beer Pouch with 1.5kg Briess CBW Bavarian Wheat LME.
I enjoy a good Belgian Wit ... I might add a bit of orange zest and coriander to the fermenter, although the guy at the brew shop suggested leaving it virgin, so I have a benchmark.

Sorry for coming in a bit late, but coincidentally I was reading a homebrewing newsletter today that was talking about SMaSH brewing (single malt and single hop) in which only one malt and one hop is used) and the author was saying new brewers tended to overcomplicate their brews by adding a million ingredients rather than keeping it simple.

Just some food for thought.

I hope your brew is back on track after the advice of the other members.

Cheers,

Oliver

Oliver wrote: new brewers tended to overcomplicate their brews by adding a million ingredients rather than keeping it simple.

I still suffer from this.