Esb Fresh Wort

[kaitai]

Thinking of trying out one of the fresh wort kits for a first brew and am just wondering what peoples experiences are with these? I'd interested in the red ale or the American Pale ale.

Even, though 5l of water is supposed to be added, I have heard people say that 4l would probably be better?



Cheers and thanks

 

[jgriffin]

I don't add any water.
I've done the APA, very nice. The Irish red i thought was "nice" but lacked flavour. The Pilsner is beaut with a real pils yeast. The Amber is pretty good too.

 

[kitkat]

how many litters do you get in the fresh wort container? I didn't find that information on their site (or I missed it, it's late ).

Looks like a wort + wyeast is about $45 - would you recommend wyeast always or can the SAF yeast be used?

I'm a newbie still brewing his first kit, so to me the principle sounds interesting. On one hand you don't get to tinker with quantities and hops and so on to your liking, which I suppose is part of the fun of brewing, but on the other you know it won't taste bad and it's pretty quick and easy.

 

[Dunkel_Boy]

You get 15L in one plastic carboy/whatever you want to call it.
4L probably is better to give it a bit more body, but I don't know that you'd notice a 1L difference that easily.
Saf-yeasts would be ok I think, but stay away from Saf-lager S-23, I don't like it at all.
I whacked some APA into my fermenter on Saturday to supplement the all grain brewing, using Muntons Gold yeast.
Tasted it yesterday and the results looked very good.
I've used the yeast before, very fast, strong, clear and neutral.
I'll probably whack the APA into a secondary (with some Cascade/Amarillo dry hopping) and store it at about 1/2C for a few days then bottle... I think it will go well.
Everybody I've spoken to says these kits are very very good, especially with liquid yeasts, but I think you'd be fine with:
Muntons Gold for ales
Safwheat K-97 for wheats
Saflager 34/70 for lagers
They are my picks anyway.
Best of luck.

 

[kaitai]

Thanks for the replies guys. Any thoughts on how they compare to the c.b. wetpaks?


Cheers

 

[Jim - Perth]

Is there anywhere in or around Perth that you can buy these fresh wort kits?

 

[Goat]

Always good to see more perth people on AHB Jim - welcome !

I think I've seen the fresh wort kits at Malthouse on Welshpool Road - you might want to give them a call or check their web page ( www.malthouse.com.au )

 

[Asher]

Goats got it...

Malthouse stocks most of ESB's products, including the fresh wort kits & the 3kg tins (My staple before going AG!). He's seen the light & carrying a good selection of Whitelabs yeast of late as well....

Asher for now

 

[kaitai]

I've been thinking of changing my mind and doing a esb 3kg first off instead of the coopers kit. Been hearing decent things about the 3kg. perhaps the draught.

 

[Jim - Perth]

Thanks chaps.
I've never used or taken much notice of the 3kg cans. What are they like? What do you typically add to them? Are they suited to partial mash?

 

[Pumpy]

The Bok made it 15 litres was excellent I had never drank a better drop I only used an ale yeast too it was really special

Pumpy

 

[pint of lager]

The 3kg ESB kits contain 3 kg of hopped malt extract, finishing hops in the tin with the malt and saf yeast under the lid. They do not need anything else, but if you want to bump up the flavour with the stout, maybe some steeped choc grain.

At first, they appear a lot more expensive than regular 1.7kg kits, but once you factor in the finishing hops, extra malt and better yeast, they work out as good value.

Don't be surprised the first time you tip one into the fermenter, the finishing hops resemble sodden rat turds.

As they already have 3 kg LME, they don't really need any mini mashing, as the extra malt will throw out the final balance of malt to hops.

 

[kaitai]

thanks for the info pint. They sound like a decent kit.

 

[Jovial_Monk]

I always thought the hop pellets looked like flies trappedin the extract.

Sodden rat turds, I bow to your better knowledge


Jovial Monk

 

[Linz]

I bow to your better knowledge


Jovial Monk

[post="46286"][/post]​

I have to repeat this....cause you dont see this very often....from the Monk!!!! :blink:




Im just in one of those moods :beerbang:

 

[Pat Casey]

With the ESB 3 kg kits it's not a bad idea to reduce your priming rate by 10 - 20% if you keep your bottled beer for more than a couple of months before drinking. Otherwise you can end up with over-gassed and possibly unmanageable beer.

Pat

 

[Linz]

With the ESB 3 kg kits it's not a bad idea to reduce your priming rate by 10 - 20% if you keep your bottled beer for more than a couple of months before drinking. Otherwise you can end up with over-gassed and possibly unmanageable beer.

Pat

[post="46302"][/post]​

Wouldn't this problem be more with technique; rather than the ESB product??


This seems to indicate that one has bottled prematurely or used a yeast stain that has flocc'd out and hasn't finished fermenting the wort,or at worst, attacted an infection at bottling??

Or are you inferring that ESB 3kg kits contain higher amounts of dextrins(slower to ferment sugars) rather than being ALL malt?

 

[SJW]

That is funny u say that Pat. I have noticed that with 2 ESB Pilseners i did. I fermented for a full 2 weeks at 12 deg C + let it warm up for a couple of days then CC for 2 weeks and for some reason it was still real gassy. GO FIGURE?
Anyway my next experiment is to do a 2 tin screamer with 3kg Bock tins. Yep 6 kgs in 30 litres + 1kg of Dex & Malt mix to balance out the bitterness. I will run it thru Beersmith first but i would think it will be about a 10% er. Has anyone ever done this? I just find that 15 litres of ESB Bock after racking and priming u end up with abot 12 litres of beer.

 

[sluggerdog]

That is funny u say that Pat. I have noticed that with 2 ESB Pilseners i did. I fermented for a full 2 weeks at 12 deg C + let it warm up for a couple of days then CC for 2 weeks and for some reason it was still real gassy. GO FIGURE?

[post="46319"][/post]​

Interesting. I have a ESB pilsner that I did the same as you which is in CC now, it will be 2 weeks on saturday so I'll keg it up then and let you know how it goes.

TO NOTE: I took a sample of my ESB bavarian lager and it seemed really fizzy in the sample which I found wierd to what I am used to.

 

[Jase]

The Bok made it 15 litres was excellent I had never drank a better drop I only used an ale yeast too it was really special

Pumpy

[post="46261"][/post]​

That's interesting.

What yeast did you use?

What temperature was your primary ferment?

Cheers,
Jase