An SO4 in the hand is worth 2 muntons in the fixby?

[Chard]

I was planning on doing something different but after seeing the reviews of fixby gold on here and then seeing the box in the shop i bought one anyway and im gonna make it up tonight or tomorrow.

Question is do i use 1 sachet (11.5g) of SO4 or 2 sachets (2x6g) of what i assume is muntons Premium yeast

i say i assume as one packet came with a muntons gold continental pilsner and one with the fixby gold. Both are identical with identical codes on them saying the following

X
XKB 6G YEAST
PREMIUM
MADE IN EU

either way i should have about the right pitching rates

also i plan on steeping the hop bag in water and adding the water and bag to the barrel after fermentation is complete. has anyone tried this?

[EliteEvil]

I don't think that is Muntons premium yeast because on their website for the premium gold range it says

guarantee consistent brewing our Premium Gold beer kits contain our very own gold yeast - a brewers grade yeasmt with superior ale making characteristics and good "crusting" properties to brew crystal clear beer.

For the gold range it doesn't say that, so I would assume not.

[barl_fire]

Good choice Chard! It's a lovely pint.

next time I do mine I'll use SO4 from the outset. My first attempt stuck at 1.016 from OG of 1.043 if I remember correctly, when I used the kit sachet, so I ended up giving it a gentle stir and repitching with SO4 and got it down to 1.012.

Mine took 5 weeks to drop bright but it was very quaffable early on.

[Chard]

cheers guys.

on closer inspection one sachet says XKB and one says ZKB. probably just means they are different batch numbers but ill go with the SO4 and save the others for another day i think. barl_fire did you do the late barrel hopping as suggested in the 'advanced brewing instructions' ?

[dedken]

BTW, your thread title is damn excellent. I might have to borrow it as a song title.

[barl_fire]

cheers guys.

on closer inspection one sachet says XKB and one says ZKB. probably just means they are different batch numbers but ill go with the SO4 and save the others for another day i think. barl_fire did you do the late barrel hopping as suggested in the 'advanced brewing instructions' ?

Hi Chard, I just stuck with the simple instructions and did a boiling water soak in the empty kit can, hadn't realised that was one of the other recommendations, I'll be interested to hear how it turns out. I can definitely taste the hops in this one but it's not dead hoppy like me St Peters Ruby Red. Can't wait to do another Fixby Gold

[Chard]

BTW, your thread title is damn excellent. I might have to borrow it as a song title.

feel free mate but if it makes millions i want royalties! just enough to build a brewpub

[dedken]

But, of course

[Naich]

... it's not dead hoppy like me St Peters Ruby Red.

I'm probably doing one of those next. I like hoppy beers, but not so hoppy it's like sucking earwax. Do you think it would be improved by not adding the hop sachet?

[barl_fire]

... it's not dead hoppy like me St Peters Ruby Red.

I'm probably doing one of those next. I like hoppy beers, but not so hoppy it's like sucking earwax. Do you think it would be improved by not adding the hop sachet?

Personally I'd stick with the sachet, I might have exaggerated how bitter this beer is by saying that. I found it less bitter than a Wherry which I thought had a really strong bitter after-taste. I'd be worried you'd lose some of the flavour and aroma of that ale if you left the sachet out.
Had a glass of St Peters (5 weeks in the keg) with a fish and chip supper tonight and savoured every mouthful of the Ruby Red as it's cracking pint. It just started to look bright this week and I know this is going to get better and better with age. I'll definitely be repeating it.

[Naich]

Personally I'd stick with the sachet, I might have exaggerated how bitter this beer is by saying that. I found it less bitter than a Wherry which I thought had a really strong bitter after-taste. I'd be worried you'd lose some of the flavour and aroma of that ale if you left the sachet out.
Had a glass of St Peters (5 weeks in the keg) with a fish and chip supper tonight and savoured every mouthful of the Ruby Red as it's cracking pint. It just started to look bright this week and I know this is going to get better and better with age. I'll definitely be repeating it.

OK. Sachet it is then. Thanks for the advice. I'm still fairly new to all this, so it's probably best to stick to the manufacturer's recipe until I've got a bit more experience.

[barl_fire]

Enjoy Naich! hope you enjoy it as much as I'm doing. I'll be making a dent in my keg of St Peters again this weekend coming, can't wait, I've got a couple of bottles of the commercial version to compare too

[Chard]

well the fixby is bubbling away in mt FV as we type. i kept the hops back and they will go in the barrel as a late addition. went with the SO4 and it seems to be doing the job.