RobH
Well-Known Member
Ok... maybe I am being a little sensationalist, but I have been mucking around with kits for about 6 months (yeah I'm no veteran or anything) ... but I was using carbonation drops in my bottles, and they where turning out a bit on the fizzy side. I bought an extra 20 litre container and decided to try bulk priming & I brewed up a Coopers English Bitter. Temp control during fermentation was.... well in the warm days of Nov & Dec, I guess horrible - the temp sticker on the side measured anywhere between 16 & 26 degrees c during the first week of fermentation & not as much in the second week, but still with about 4 degrees variance.
It turned out the best brew I have done since starting back up in July 2009 - and temp control cannot be credited towards this one.
Being a new kit in their range probbly meant it was quite fresh, using 1.5kg of LDM instead of other "brewing sugars" probbably helped with it's body and smoothness, using Morgans ale yeast instead of the kit yeast might have added something to the character (or not), and filling my fermenter to 18 litres instead of 23 may have helped with flavour and such ... but the thing that has stood out with this beer is that in my mouth it feels like a beer & not a fizzy drink! And it settles in the glass like a Kilkenny (if I pour it from the bottle from a distance of about 10 - 15cm).
Maybe I just hit a "magic" combination .... It could be true because at the same time and in the same conditions I brewed a Tooheys Dark ale with 0.5kg LDM + 0.5kg of Dex & used the kit yeast ... bulk primed it the same as the Coopers English Bitter .... well the Tooheys Dark, whilst I am happy with it's carbonation, it aint got no body to it, it don't hold no head, has this finish to it that is just ... ummm ... sort of sweet I guess, but not the sweetness you associate with a porter ... hey it is beer and I'll drink it & I will try it again with different yeast and more malt instead of dex ... but with bulk priming my Coppers English Bitter I think I just turned a reasonable beer into a rather frikken enjoyable one!
It turned out the best brew I have done since starting back up in July 2009 - and temp control cannot be credited towards this one.
Being a new kit in their range probbly meant it was quite fresh, using 1.5kg of LDM instead of other "brewing sugars" probbably helped with it's body and smoothness, using Morgans ale yeast instead of the kit yeast might have added something to the character (or not), and filling my fermenter to 18 litres instead of 23 may have helped with flavour and such ... but the thing that has stood out with this beer is that in my mouth it feels like a beer & not a fizzy drink! And it settles in the glass like a Kilkenny (if I pour it from the bottle from a distance of about 10 - 15cm).
Maybe I just hit a "magic" combination .... It could be true because at the same time and in the same conditions I brewed a Tooheys Dark ale with 0.5kg LDM + 0.5kg of Dex & used the kit yeast ... bulk primed it the same as the Coopers English Bitter .... well the Tooheys Dark, whilst I am happy with it's carbonation, it aint got no body to it, it don't hold no head, has this finish to it that is just ... ummm ... sort of sweet I guess, but not the sweetness you associate with a porter ... hey it is beer and I'll drink it & I will try it again with different yeast and more malt instead of dex ... but with bulk priming my Coppers English Bitter I think I just turned a reasonable beer into a rather frikken enjoyable one!
