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[emerty]

hi,

not been on here for ages so hi. had a baby. hmm they take up some time don't they?

not got time for a full all grain brew anymore and was in a desparate rush to brew something for xmas.

went a little slapdash with the recipe to be honest but what do you think?

2 cans of youngs bitter kits from wilkos for £6.99 ea
added 2 kg demerara
added 60g boiling hops - challenger
added 50g flavouring hops at 45 mins - challenger again
and finally added the remaining 15g of - you guessed it - challenger hops for aroma.

added to cold water in two fermenters to make 2 x 5 gallon batches at around 1.040 each (we'd had a few beers by then so it's all a little fuzzy to be honest) tasted the wort from the hydrometer and it was pretty full on... loads of hops. checked the youngs cans and it had isomerised hops already in it... oops. still, who doesn't like a hoppy ale eh?

added a safale yeast (04 i think) to one and a Muntons to the other just for kicks to see what the taste difference will be.

took 2.5 hours from start to finish and a little wobbly bike ride home after.

any thoughts on what it's going to turn out like?

fermentation has been going smoothly for 4 days. bubbles every thirty-fourty seconds now.

[Prozac]

Is that an extract or a modified kit?

[Barm]

have done recipes real similar to this several times! wouldn't worry about the Youngs' kit being too hoppy - cos they ain't! I quite often use the 'definitive' bitter as a cheap (we're talking Wilko's cheap here) base for modification in the way you have.
I'd probably only use an additional 50g hops per 4gals; and Challenger can be quite strong - so I wouldn't be surprised if this does turn out a bit on the bitter side...
also the young's kits are quite thin in body, and you've brewed to the full 5gals and only added sugar - it might be a tad watery....I'd usually brew 1 kit with 1kg enhancer or spraymalt, to make 4gals.
The demerara should give it a nice flavour though - heaps better than white sugar!