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[REVIEW] Brewers Spring Pilsner Kit

Started by DrowningManatee, December 22, 2013, 08:54:56 PM

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DrowningManatee

December 22, 2013, 08:54:56 PM Last Edit: December 23, 2013, 12:48:00 PM by iTube
I won this kit in a raffle by Get 'er Brewed fair play to them. Here's the images of me tranferring to secondary:

http://imgur.com/a/u3md9#YdO28Fw

This kit is HUGE - 7.5kg liquid wort, bentonite, 17g saaz hops, and yeast (lager/ale blend).

Straightforward - pour in the wort from the bag, add water to bring to 23L, add bentonite (fining agent/stabaliser), add yeast. I fermented around 22C for 10 days. OG: 1.056

The kit says to add the hops straightaway, but I reckon this is for noobs so as not to confuse them. I added the hops when transferring to secondary as the CO2 escaping the FV in primary scrubs out aroma.

I transferred this today (as per pics). It was down to 1.010. The liquid was very cloudy, so I assume the conditioning in secondary will take care of this (the kit suggests a carboy as necessary so I assume it does need the extra time to clear). The taste was slightly acidic, though not overpoweringly so maybe I fermented too high? Anyhoo, It tastes fine, im just being picky, and im sure the hops will add flavour when I bottle.

I bottled 2 bottles straight from primary just to have a comparison out of curiosity to see how much the extra time in secondary will affect the flavour/appearance.

I'll update when Im bottling and give a better estimation of the taste etc.

NB/ Thanks to Get 'er Brewed, Lord Eoin, itube, and Blueshed for the combined effprts in getting this kit to me, with the weight of it im sure it was no small task. O, and Lord Eoin, when I plugged in 'brewers Pilsner Kit pics' into google, your santaface came up straightaway :) You've gone global!



EDIT: fixed tag
Primary :
Grapefruit mead

Secondary:
Orange Blossom Mead
Blackberry Mead
             
Bottled:

LordEoin

22 is a little high for that yeast alright. It's cleanest at 15-16C. But don't worry, it's Coopers' yeast and pretty tough. You might get some off-flavours not true to the style, but it should still be grand.
It should clear up nicely in secondary, especially with the bentonite.

my face should be on everything. but who's the ugly dude in your pictures??

@geterbrewed

DrowningManatee, Thanks for the write up so far, probably fermented a little high in the temperature but as long as it was consistently at that temperature it should be fine, we have been enjoying these kits and getting good feedback, they do seem to take longer to finish than the instructions state though the finished product is worth the wait. Keep us updated with how it turns out. Thanks again
Get 'er Brewed

Join the Revolution.

www.geterbrewed.ie

DrowningManatee

Just a quick update - bottled yesterday, tasted good. The hops added a bit more flavour and the time in secondary(4 weeks) definately cleaned up a few flavours. Didn't drink too much of it, just a bit left that wouldn't fill a whole bottle.

I boiled the dextrose with 150ml water and cooled, then poured gently into bottling bucket and syphoned the lager on top. The pellet hops (which im not too familiar with) had mostly dropped out of suspension at this stage and were conveniently on top of the small layer of trub so syphoning wasn't much bother.

I'll report back in 3 weeks for a full review of the finished product.
Primary :
Grapefruit mead

Secondary:
Orange Blossom Mead
Blackberry Mead
             
Bottled:

LordEoin

yeah, firing pellet hops in loose is fine. There'll only be a small few grains make it to the bottle and they'll just settle there instead :)

DrowningManatee

Sorry about the late reply, been a bit busy lately, here's some pics of the beer in it's final form (taken by my housemate fair dues to him - people will do anything for a beer :)):

http://imgur.com/a/miZFp

Appearance: the colour was pale yellow/gold. It poured about 3 fingers of dense, white head (with a vigorous pour). Looked damn good on a sunny day. Head retention dissipated quickly.

Smell: Typical floral, grassy notes from the czech saaz hops (blend of earth and spice notes, typical of the European noble varieties).

Flavour: Clean, crisp, slightly bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Medium bodied with high carbonation, perfect for a pilsner.

Overall:
This was a great pilsner kit that was enjoyed immensely by me and my housemates, refreshing after so many rich ales. I've done the lager kits before and this one definately surpassed them. There's still a soft homebrew taste but I've never had a kit that didn't have it (and I aged an 'Ambiorix' recently for 6 months).

The yeast was half ale so of course it doesn't measure up to the great pilsners that are difficlut to make and expensive to produce, but this is a decent kit, and I'd recommend it to anyone into pilsners. I know this is the kind of result I was hoping for when I did my first kits in the beginning.
Primary :
Grapefruit mead

Secondary:
Orange Blossom Mead
Blackberry Mead
             
Bottled:

LordEoin

There some fancy shots! Give him another beer  ;D
The 'soft homebrew taste' was probably down to the yeast.
As far as I remember it came with a lager/ale mix.
I'm glad it worked out well for you and that you and your mates enjoyed it :)

DrowningManatee

Primary :
Grapefruit mead

Secondary:
Orange Blossom Mead
Blackberry Mead
             
Bottled: