Geordie Bitter

[Drayman]

I have just brewed Geordie Bitter i know its not supposed to be the best and even when i asked for Brewing enhancer i was laughed at in the shop by a few of the super brewers in the shop but i have brewed the likes of St peters ruby red and muntons old english bitter and also had some great results from all theses beers but when i brewed this geordie bitter i was impressed it has a good rich colour although i have limited it to 35 pints and the fermenting is going well i will keep you informed of the process but i think when i barrel it and use the Angram pumps to dispense i think it might be Good all comments on this welcome



My Bar a few months ago

[wxmexile]

Loving the bar set up mate!! I've done a few of the geordies kits, the mild is lovely and the lager and scottish export perfectly drinkable, sure they don't set the world on fire with big punchy flavours but they are what they are, and i will revisit them. As for people laughing at you in the shop, well fook em, idiots, your a fellow brewer at the end of the day - brew what you want how you want it!!

[Haggis]

I love the bar especially the clock.

I have heard some good reports about some of the Geordie kits especially the mild. I fancy having a go at it myself.

The "Super Brewers" in the shop were complete and utter ar***oles the cheek of them laughing at anyone.

There are lots of kits which easily produce acceptable (and excellent) beer. At £3.50 a pint in the pub or £1.75 - £2.00 for a bottle of "ale" in the supermarket its a no brainer....... at 50p a pint + you've made it yourself.

I bet you they started brewing years ago (Like many of us) by boiling up a boots bitter or lager kit in a pot with water then adding 2LB of tate and lyle sugar.
Drinking the beer before it was ready, making a dick of themselves, spewing up all over the carpet, wetting the bed and the next day assuring themselves that their beer is strong, brilliant and better than pub beer.

How they have moved on now, they think they are better than us kit brewers Geordie Bitter " chortle chortle" Brew kit Enhancer " laugh, laugh"

They'd be laughing on the other side of their faces when they saw you bar though.

So pour yourself a pint sit back, relax and you have a wee laugh at these people with their heads up their arses.

[cwrw gwent]

I have consistently good results from the Geordie range. My favourite is the Geordie Yorkshire Bitter brewed with 500 grams of spraymalt and 500 grams of golden syrup (or even 300 grams of syrup with extra demarara). It gives a very flavoursome, well-balanced pint but is still essentially a session-strength ale.

PS like the bar!

[Gosbeck]

There's nothing wrong with the Geordie Bitter. It's a good budget kit that will turn out all the better for using beer enhancer.

The Geordie Mild is a favourite of mine that I tweak by using some steeped crystal malt as part of the fermentables.

I also use the Scottish Export as a base kit for a variety of adaptions. It's a cheaper than the Cooper's APA, which seems to be the one that is most often tweaked, but it is just as good as the APA as a base kit for adapting.

[Pinto]

One exception to the above - avoid the Geordie lager kit at ALL costs - it makes insipid gnats piss no matter what you add or do to it; only kit failure I've had to date tbh

I

[rootsbrew]

Impressive bar. Nice one.

Good to know a single can kit can hold its own against two-can kits, like St. Peter's Red. If you've got space to put an extra brew on for some general drinking beer, without having to faff about boiling this or soaking that, kits are definitely the way forward. Clearly, you're experienced enough to get the best out of them, though. And, quite frankly, b|_|gger off to those who mock the kits or attempts to improve them with a few better ingredients!

rant
The worst thing about most kits is the instructions, which are horrifically incomplete. In fact, as a means to simplify them I'm sure they've got worse. It's a wonder people ever bother making home brew again, when the results are as unfortunate as they are when following the instructions to-the-letter. How hard would it be to provide a link on the can to the vendor/manufacturer's website, better instructions and more complete suggestions?
/rant

The importance of using something more flavoursome than glucose/dextrose-monohydrate cannot be stressed enough: with a one-can kit, use brew-enhancer (or choose from a variety of sugars mixed with non-fermentables). I have memories of making terrible stuff when I was a student, so didn't mind spending two quid extra to get it right. I have some WIlko Hoppy Copper Bitter just about to come round - it was pretty good when I was bottling it.

Once one has a few kits under the belt, is it worth trying to conserve and wash the trub (assuming fermentation worked well)? I have found the yeast that comes with kits can be a bit variable and doesn't get the beer totally dry - maybe that was other things.

[Drayman]

just barrelled the bitter and will let you know what its like its in the cask on secondary fermenting best Watch this space

[mattpocket]

I'll be interested to hear how this one turns out. I've stayed away from the cheaper kits for the same reason but it would seem that brewing short and using some extra malt is going to improve any kit. When will we hear how it tastes?

[Pinto]

I think thats the point with the cheaper kits - they're lacking in the adjuncts, hops and malt we like in our beers and hence cheaper to make (pretty much just a can of malt extract) - adding them emulates a premium product but takes the cost more up that way too

[Drayman]

Hi matt and all will let you know how it goes and also post the pictures of the beer when its on the bar !