Brewcraft West End Draught Kit

[ShamrocksBrew]

Has anyone used this kit before and if so does this sound right

I put it down Sunday 19/10 it bubbled away very strongly for 5 days and has since stoped for a couple. I took the SG today and got 1020 i would have thought it would have been lower it has been sitting at 22C for most of the time.

I know its only West End Draught but its only my third brew.

 

[seemax]

More info required.

What did you add to the kit and how much (ie. 1kg dextrose) ?
What yeast did you use (assume kit yeast) ?
What was the SG before you pitched the yeast?

At a guess, if you used 1kg dextrose, it should be somewhere closer to 1010. Give the fermentor a little shake and wobble to wake up the yeast a little. Most ale yeasts roar along at 22C !

 

[buttersd70]

Without even knowing what went in it, if this kit is meant to even closely resemble West End, 1020 is way too high for fg. So unless you made changes to the pre prepared recipe that would account for a higher fg, its too high for what it is intending to copy. I would hazard a guess that even if it had a brewpack of some sort, like the one that Brewcraft reccomend for WE, it would probably be 1012 tops.

It's either stuck, or its finished. If the hydrometer reading is stable over 3 days, a lot of people will consider it finished, and reccomend bottling. My thoughts on it is this; if the hydrometer is stable over 3 days, and it is within a reasonable level of where the projected fg should be, its done. If its stable, but the fg is way off what is predicted, with no other explaination of why it is that far off, it's stuck. So it depends on what went in, what the volume was, what the OG was, and what the yeast was.

 

[ShamrocksBrew]

Ok more info as stated it was one of the kits you get from brewcraft
It was Beermakers draught Tin
Brew blend 15
250 g Dried wheat malt
Saflager S23 Yeast

 

[drsmurto]

Ok more info as stated it was one of the kits you get from brewcraft
It was Beermakers draught Tin
Brew blend 15
250 g Dried wheat malt
Saflager S23 Yeast

Ah, brew blend 15.

its all so clear now...... :huh:

feckin brewcraft and their veil of secrecy. Why cant they just label it dextrose like everyone else

 

[buttersd70]

feckin brewcraft and their veil of secrecy. Why cant they just label it dextrose like everyone else

:lol:
Yeah, its hard to tell with the 'secret' brewcraft blends....but, taking a guestimate at whats in "15", I would be expecting fg in the range of 1008 (if #15 is just dextrose) to 1012 (if it is 750 dex 250 maltodex).

I doubt that #15 would have more in it than that, cos its the one they reccomend for all the watery light bodied beers. And S23 is a fairly good attenuator, so I would expect, realistically, 1008 to 1010. (as I said, all guesstimates here).

22C is warm for s23, as well. Should be 9-15C, and saf reccomend 12C. But whats done is done....

My reccomendation would be to gently swirl the fermenter to rouse the yeast back into suspension (without splashing), and give it more time.

 

[ShamrocksBrew]

Well sorry for the brewcraft blend 15. Being new to all this I thought it was a popular item as there seem to be a lot of brewcraft stores.
The sarcasme was not needed
I believe there mix is 750g dex and 250g maltodex as suggested by buttersd70.
I have no way of keeping it at a temp of 9-15c at the moment so I guess this has been a trap for young players.
I have swirled the fermenter and will see what happens.

 

[buttersd70]

sorry, shamrock, any sarcasm was directed not at you, but at brewcraft themselves.

The problem that a lot of experienced brewers have with their blends is purely that the ingredients are unknown, which makes it very hard to judge how they will react during the brew, what specific flavours they will give, and also what improvements can be made to them. It's not that they are bad, it's just that they are a bit of an unknown factor.

They should have mentioned to you about the temperature required for the yeast, though. But that's ok, whats done is done, and theres no point stressing about it too much. Given how long it's been at the higher temperature, it would be better to leave it at that now anyway, even if you could lower it. Give it another couple of days, and check the sg again to see if it's moved. If it's still at 1020, put up another post. If it is dropping, wait for it to give you 3 in a row of the same gravity, which will probably be down around 1010-1012 ish. If it stops higher, post up the details.

If it does drop all the way, once it's finished, leave it as is for another 3 days to a week, and that will help to counteract any of the off flavours that may have been produced because of the higher fermentation temperature.

 

[ShamrocksBrew]

Well FG has remained constant at 1018 now for a few days so I am going to bottle it and see what happens. I also intend to put down another batch straight away.

 

[Uncle Fester]

Well FG has remained constant at 1018 now for a few days so I am going to bottle it and see what happens. I also intend to put down another batch straight away.

Shamrock, have you checked your hydrometer in water (preferably distilled) to see if it is zeroised?

Did you twist the hydrometer to ensure that no small bubbles were stuck to the bulb?

Are you bottling in glass or PET? (If they are genuinly @ 1018, I would probably store them in isolation for a while, just to be sure....


Fester.

 

[buttersd70]

Well, the yeast was roused when you swirled, so theres not really a lot more you can do other than bottle and keep an eye on it. I'd suggest strongly to bottle in PET for this one, if you have it. Keep an eye on it, and test one after about a week to see if it's overcarbed. A week is too early to be fully carbed up normally, so if it is highly carbonated after a week, theres a good bet that the other bottles might run into some problems. If thats the case, pop up another post and we'll go from there.

And before you get another brew on, check your hydro in water,as suggested, at 20C.

 

[ShamrocksBrew]

I have bottle into PET and will test hydro

Thanks peoples

 

[ShamrocksBrew]

Well I have just checked on this batch that i bottled a week ago and it does not seem to be carbinating at all any ideas.

 

[buttersd70]

Well I have just checked on this batch that i bottled a week ago and it does not seem to be carbinating at all any ideas.

Well, in one way thats a good thing...it means that primary must have been finished, even though the fg was still high...if it was a stuck ferment, it would probably have kicked off with a crazy passion and it would be carbonated by now.

What was it primed with, how much, and at what temperature are the bottles being stored? Have the bottles got yeast sediment on the bottom? If all of these things are OK, and given that it now appears that primary was finished properly, I would still expect carbonation to take a good fortnight or longer, particularly with the saflager yeast....

 

[ShamrocksBrew]

OK well they have been stored at room temp so i guess 20c

I used brewcraft carb drops two per 740ml coopers PET

I guess I will just have to wait and see its just that other brews I have done had the bottles hard by now.

 

[buttersd70]

OK well they have been stored at room temp so i guess 20c

I used brewcraft carb drops two per 740ml coopers PET

I guess I will just have to wait and see its just that other brews I have done had the bottles hard by now.

yeah, sounds fine, wait and see. I presume the other brews didn't use a saflager yeast?
Tip the bottles daily to rouse the yeast back through if you are worried, but give it another week at absolute minimum. If after 2 to 3 weeks in the bottle, if the pets are still all soft, put up another post. (even if they have pressure by then, they may not be fully carbed, but are at least on their way.)