Mislabelled Esb Fresh Wort

[Hutch]

Hi all,

I put down an ESB fresh wort last night (to see what all the hype is about).
Well, it was supposedly a pilsner, though even after diluting down to 20Ltr it was a lot darker than you would expect. It was also very light on the bitterness, and somewhat lacking in Saaz character.

I have seen one other post on this forum mentioning an Irish Red Mislabelled as a Pilsner.
My email correspondence with ESB assured me that they never leave the brewery incorrectly labelled, and could only have happened if the label came off in transit, and was incorrectly replaced by the shop.
I highly respect the integrity of the guys at Grain and Grape, so I'm somewhat sceptical of this scenario.

Has anyone else had this experience with the ESB kits?

Cheers,
Hutch.

 

[normell]

Not yet Hutch, but I've only done 13 so far.

 

[beers]

I suspected this once when I put down an APA of theirs. The colour was darker than I expected & I found the partial remains of a different label underneath the APA label. I contacted ESB & they assured me It would be OK. I too found the aroma a little too subdued for my liking (as I do with a few of Mats beers - but I'm a bit of a hophead ..he makes great beer none the less) I chucked a plug or 2 of cascade in secondary & by the time fermentation etc had finished the brew had lightened up & was tasting great.
I also have an ESB fresh wort pils fermenting in the fridge at the moment (10 days in) & the saaz flavour is only just starting to poke its way through.
IMO it's probably a little too early for you to start worrying.. give it awhile.. Hopefully it should come good

 

[Hutch]

Normell & Beers,

All good advice - I'll check under the label in the morning. Thankfully I did a 1ltr simmer of 40g saaz (half at 10 min and the rest at flameout) having read reports of it lacking in this department.
Fermenting away nicely now at 12degC using Wyeast 2007.

Well, if it doesn't turn out as a pils, all the more reason to make more beer :beerbang:
(although the better half sees right through my logic).

Hutch.