First time making a Wherry kit

[deadbeatrocknroll]

Always made Coopers kits before, first time dabble at a 2 kit with a Woodfords Wherry.
Put it on last Tuesday and checked today. Still the occasional bubble in the airlock but gravity is about 1014-1015. Looks like muddy water!
Should it be bottled like this? Does it really clear so well in bottle?
Thought I'd ask you guys as this is a popular kit, so I'm sure you've made 100's of Wherrys!

[neilmcca]

Leave it to ferment for 2 weeks minimum before u bottle it.
it will get a lot clearer,
if u bottle too early , u risk making lots of bottle bombs, it could get very messy !

[deadbeatrocknroll]

Going to bottle this tomorrow in Coopers PET bottles. Are Coopers drops ok or should I prime with dextrose? If so what amount? PET are 500ml.

[Hopping_Mad]

Yup, I did the 'Wherry' thing too.

I have no idea why people keep buying it!

So many people posting saying "it's stuck at 1020 - what shall I do?".

Takes months to condition to a half-drinkable state.

Underwhelming when you do drink it.

I'm supping Milestones Lions Pride now. Similar fruity Amber ale. Twice the drink in half the time!!!!

Wherry was better than most one can kits, but I won't be doing it again personally.

[deadbeatrocknroll]

Hmm, looks like these are gonna be bottled and stuck in the cellar for a year then to condition. Milestones...might try one of those

[Hopping_Mad]

Given the comments I've read previously, I think a lot of the problems are with the yeast supplied with the kit. Those who chuck it out and replace it with yeasts like Nottingham, get better results.

That said, if you start forking out money for replacement yeast, you may as well pay for a kit with better yeast included. Or buy malt extract, hops and your choice of yeast!

[monkhouse]

I've got no idea why people don't get on with the wherry, honestly I've never had a problem brewing this kit, I've probably done about 15 wherrys and all have conditioned to a very nice drinkable beer in around 2 weeks on the bottle, it tastes amazing after 3 or 4 weeks in bottle. I've just bottled one for Xmas that stuck at 1.020 and I just gave it a swirl in fv and 3 more days and it went down to 1.015- problem solved. People must be doing something wrong is all I can say!

Just a thought- I add 500g dsm to my wherry, it brings a higher abv and helps get that gravity down- cracking strong pint!

[WalesAles]

Wherrymakers, Please stop this infighting!
You either like it or You don`t!
Mine was Super Clear after 4 weeks. See my Post `ELC Wherry`.
The pic shows a nice clear Beer! Monkeys` post was 4 1/2 months after brewing but it was like that after 4 weeks!
Wherry Kits are like Marmite! Love them or Hate them!

WA

[Redimpz]

I fermented my latest Wherry kit using a US-05 Yeast slurry from a recent AG brew. After 4 days fermenting I added a hop tea of 20g of Bobek. This fermented out very well and has left me with a very hoppy beer. I found this to be better than my last attempt using the kit yeast which did not ferment out as well and left the beer somewhat sweet.
I would use the US-05 again but I'm not certain that it needed the hop tea.

[TonyT40]

Yup, I did the 'Wherry' thing too.

I have no idea why people keep buying it!

So many people posting saying "it's stuck at 1020 - what shall I do?".

Takes months to condition to a half-drinkable state.

Underwhelming when you do drink it.

I'm supping Milestones Lions Pride now. Similar fruity Amber ale. Twice the drink in half the time!!!!

Wherry was better than most one can kits, but I won't be doing it again personally.

Same. Not that impressed really. I have done it twice. First time I did it I thought I had got it wrong so I tried again. Neither cleared properly IMHO and it tastes absolutely nothing like the original. I'll try the Lions Pride next I think.

[racinsnake]

+1 monkhouse
It shouldn't swirling but it does and if you do it turns out a nice pint IMO
Rob.

[techtone]

Yup, I did the 'Wherry' thing too.

I have no idea why people keep buying it!

So many people posting saying "it's stuck at 1020 - what shall I do?".

Takes months to condition to a half-drinkable state.

Underwhelming when you do drink it.

I'm supping Milestones Lions Pride now. Similar fruity Amber ale. Twice the drink in half the time!!!!

Wherry was better than most one can kits, but I won't be doing it again personally.

I have done plenty of Wherrys over the years and still do the odd one here and there, despite having moved to all grain. Never ever had a single problem. Never had one stick. Always clears two weeks in the keg. Personally I prefer to drink it young as it can get slightly bland after too many months. (as with any other beer, if you like stronger flavours) I have noticed in recent kits, the yeast packets are much larger and rectangular. This means they do not "sit" neatly in the top of the cans and I have noticed a couple that have been perforated by the edge of the can. Always worth checking.