Fresh Wort Ipa Not All It's Made Out To Be!

[RetsamHsam]

A couple of weeks ago i purchased a fresh wort IPA, as i haven't had much chance to brew lately stocks are dwindling. I finally got around to putting it down yesterday and was disappointed. Here is why; the blurb about the IPA described it as "A deep tasting ale very true to its style" However when i measured the OG it was only 1.037.. I would have thought a true to style IPA would have an OG of at least 1.060. I only added the reccomended 5 Litres of water, I would have just made it up as 15 Litres if i had of known what the gravity was before hand. Anyone else tried one of these and have any thoughts??

 

[geoffi]

Wort kits make good beers, but my one gripe is that some of them are low gravity when diluted as recommended.

FWIW, I've tried a few and found the NNL kits to have the highest gravity, high enough so when diluted they are still 'to style'.

A couple of weeks ago i purchased a fresh wort IPA, as i haven't had much chance to brew lately stocks are dwindling. I finally got around to putting it down yesterday and was disappointed. Here is why; the blurb about the IPA described it as "A deep tasting ale very true to its style" However when i measured the OG it was only 1.037.. I would have thought a true to style IPA would have an OG of at least 1.060. I only added the reccomended 5 Litres of water, I would have just made it up as 15 Litres if i had of known what the gravity was before hand. Anyone else tried one of these and have any thoughts??

 

[Linz]

a local around here did one when they first came out and it was a ringer of James Squires IPA.

Where did you buy the cube and which make of cube is it???? Ive also heard of mislabelling IPA onto Aust pale type too

 

[RetsamHsam]

I got the cube from Dave's HomeBrew, It is one of the one's from the St. Peters Brewery

 

[Franko]

a local around here did one when they first came out and it was a ringer of James Squires IPA.

Where did you buy the cube and which make of cube is it???? Ive also heard of mislabelling IPA onto Aust pale type too

I wish I still had some left

Franko

 

[BOG]

I got my Fesh wort (Brewers Selection) Ammarillo Ale from Dave and found it was actually aussie pale ale. (aka Coopers clone)

Very disapointed. Not daves fault but I suspect the production run was labled badly.

I also did the Celtic Red FWK and found it lacking. Tastes a lot like Cascade Choc Mog Porter.

I've gone off the kits as it just dosn't have the results for the money.
A good kit plus adjuncts seems to turn out beer that's better.






BOG

 

[mckenry]

Hi All,
Thought I'd add my experiences with fresh wort.
I've done the;
Brewers Selection Celtic Red Ale - S.G. 1.037 F.G. 1.006 Yeast: WhiteLabs WLP004 Irish Ale - Good result
Brewers Selection Lager - S.G. 1.040 F.G. 1.013 Yeast: WhiteLabs WLP838 Southern German Lager - Fair to Good result, brewed a bit warm
Brewers Selection Celtic Red Ale - S.G. 1.037 F.G. 1.006 Yeast: WhiteLabs WLP004 - Good result
EzyBrew American Pale Ale - S.G. 1.038 F.G. 1.020 Yeast US-05 - Very Low Alcohol, but good tasting beer. Yeast was good. Active starter.
Brewers Selection Amarillo Ale - S.G. 1.048 F.G. 1.011 Yeast US-05 This is very good beer

Bottom line: All have had the 5L as per instruction added. Some seem to be lower alcohol than would be expected. Still, pretty happy with the results.

 

[blackbock]

I put down the Czech Pilsener two weeks ago and OG undiluted was 13 Brix (about 1.053)

I have seen a whole batch of these babies where the labels were missing altogether. The HBS just guessed at what they were. Perhaps St Peters Brewery needs to look at their label glue.

 

[Franko]

I've done the entire Brewers selection range here 2-3 times and haven't got a bad word to say.
It all comes down to quality yeast and temp control I guess

Must also say I'm pretty proud of having my artwork (Brewers selection Label) go Australia wide



Franko

 

[blackbock]

It's interesting that they are still being sold with the old ND Brewing logo on them. It's also a pity that the new distributor doesn't appear to have a website, although I have heard good things about his organisation.

 

[Gerard_M]

It's interesting that they are still being sold with the old ND Brewing logo on them. It's also a pity that the new distributor doesn't appear to have a website, although I have heard good things about his organisation.

Kevin at Kirrawee HBS now owns NDBrewing, label logo & website.
Cheers
Gerard

 

[RetsamHsam]

I've done the entire Brewers selection range here 2-3 times and haven't got a bad word to say.
It all comes down to quality yeast and temp control I guess

I have used quality yeast and temp control.. However this doesn't solve the problem where the OG was too low for style..

I spoke to Dave today and he got in contact with the brewer who stated that the OG of the 15L in the cube should be in the low 1.050's and when diluted it should go down to around 1.043 give or take, not as far as 1.037. Dave is going to take care of me on my next purchase and am really satisfied with the effort he put in to get to the bottom of the issue for me!!

 

[bjl]

I have also done several of this brand fresh wort packs, with varying results.

The first I tried was a Pilsner, brewed with w34/70 yeast at 12 deg, lagered for a month at 1 deg. Tasted great but would not clear even after 2 months in the keg.
I then did the Cerny Pivo which come out great.
I have since done an Amarillo ale, 2 x Hefe's and the lager. The Hefe's are definately the pick of the ones of which I have done. All were brewed at the recommended temps and yeasts.

The main gripe I have with them is I can't get the ales and lagers to clear, even if I use finings, rack, lager etc etc.
However, I am more than pleased with their taste.

 

[goatherder]

RetsamHsam, are you sure your hydrometer is reading correctly? I've had problems in the past with gravity and have traced it back to my hydrometer. Check it reads 1.000 in distilled or tap water at the stated calibration temperature and make sure the temperature of the wort you are measuring is as close to the calibration temperature as possible.

 

[Darren]

Jeepers,

If they are forgetting to put labels on these, I hope the are remembering to invert at "hot" to ensure sanitation of areas that are not in contact.

cheers

Darren

 

[sah]

Maybe they use a sanitser? B)

 

[Darren]

SAH,

Maybe, I dunno. Last report I heard was it was just heat. Anyone in the know care to comment??

cheers

Darren

 

[crozdog]

SAH,

Maybe, I dunno. Last report I heard was it was just heat. Anyone in the know care to comment??

cheers

Darren

Darren,

FWIW, when ISB toured the St Peters brewery last year, the same practice that they used on the kegs was also used on the cubes ie hot caustic to clean, fresh water rinse then no rinse sanitiser. Once filled, the cubes WERE inverted when hot. Anyway, I don't see what that has to do with the original query re the OG being lower than expected.... so lets not start the "botu-beer" discussion again

RetsamHsam, I agree with goatherder re testing the hydro - & ensuring the temp you measure at is right. Boil some water, cool to 20 degrees C then ise it to test your hydro.

 

[RetsamHsam]

Check it reads 1.000 in distilled or tap water at the stated calibration temperature and make sure the temperature of the wort you are measuring is as close to the calibration temperature as possible.

That was the first thing i thought when i got the low reading, I only measured it with tap water but it was close enough to the mark to rule the hydrometer out as the problem

 

[Guest Lurker]

Boil some water, cool to 20 degrees C then ise it to test your hydro.

I dont get that, why boil water for testing hydros?