Youngs American IPA Kit

[LordEoin]

I'm sure the yeast and the hop matter will find its own way to the bottom of the bottle

[Drzava]

I have this kit and intend to do it as my first 'expensive' kit (after I have a couple of more el cheapos under my belt). Reviews are mostly excellent - looks to be a serious brew, and several people have had it finish higher than stated (7%+). Takes a while to ferment though apparently - most reviews say 3 weeks.

Finally got around to doing this. In the FV for 25 days, and bottled last Saturday. Accidently short brewed to ~21.5L. OG 1.062, FG an astonishing 1.002, giving 7.9% ABV before priming (call it 8.2% in the bottle). Definitely not a session beer! Dry hopped for 2 days; taster smelt and tasted very promising. Hops were a pain though, even though I added them in a muslin bag. Lots of tiny bits floating in the beer, especially at the top. Left behind quite a bit when racking (onto included priming dextrose) and ended up with a slightly disappointing 39 500ml bottles which still have some hop particles. I wonder would I have been as well off just adding the hop pellets straight into the beer - this could possibly contribute greater aroma too? The beer didn't clear in the FV either - I had hoped a lot of the yeast would drop out but, even after 25 days, the beer was still very cloudy. Hopefully it'll clear in the bottle!

Only been bottled a week but this is only slightly cloudy now and no issue with hops in the beer. Tastewise - woah! This is a full on IPA, with hop aroma bursting from the bottle! I've seen it compared to Brewdog Punk, but at 8.2% it's more Hardcore IPA territory. Even has the infamous Simcoe cat's piss aroma! Strongly bitter finish, which lasts in the mouth after boozing is finished unfortunately, but this may be more related to the style than any 'issues' with the kit. Definitely one for hop heads!