birkby bitter

[FUBAR]

Ive just put my first brew of brupacks birkby bitter in to the barrel and going by the aroma of it wow if it tastes as good as it smells my taste buds are in for a treat when its ready to sample in a few weeks,is it that good?.
Went into my homebrew shop yesterday and asked about the brupacks brewers choice kits,they said they dont stock them anymore because they where a job to sell but they would get me one to order,but i decided i would leave it until i found out here if there is a problem with these kits ,has anyone tried them,is there a reason they dont sell,i.e are they a pain to start,or taste a bit dodgey?

[thedeckking]

I've not had any experience of brupaks but the birkby sounds good. Keep us posted on how it turns out.

[Russ]

When I was making kits, the Brupaks Brewers Choice Kits were the best I ever made.

They take a bit more effort as you have to add either Sugar IIRC (don't!), Dried Malt Extract or Liquid Malt Extract (three options = the 'Choice' bit) , they also require you to steep the hops and grains in a large saucepan, so there's a bit more to them than just opening two cans!

Well worth th effort IMO. I wonder if they struggled to sell them as they are a bit unconventional (all dried ingredients) and or the extra work puts people off. They are also not cheap by the time you've added extra malt.

Give one a go, I don't think you will be disapointed, I'd suggest making it with the Dried Malt Extract option.

Hope that helps

[FUBAR]

Russ thats probably why they didnt sell if they are a bit more expensive,that i dont mind if they are good next time im in the homebrew shop i will get them to order me one and give it a go,the extra effort involved is not a problem as i did some extract brewing before a decade ago but gave all my gear away,5 gallon boiler, barrels ect in hindsight i regret it now as it run into a hell of a lot of money as i found out looking at the prices of the gear now,the deckking i will report back in a few weeks when i give the birkby bitter a taste,coming back to this hobby after a long break its amazing how the qaulity of beer kits has improved ,in the past a lot of them where just about drinkable at best.

[Russ]

Know what you mean abouth the kit quality improving.

I used to brew when I was a student, quality wasn't what we looked for

Only came back to it about 3 years ago when I was cleaning out the shed and found my King Keg, thought it was a shame to get rid of it, so made a kit for old times sake and was impressed with how things had progressed. I wanted to learn more and found Jim's. Several kits and extract brews later I'm now on all grain No.16. 'Tis a slippery slope......

[FUBAR]

Russ
know what you mean i was the same,back in my youth the fact it was cheap beer was a top priority and anyway after 4 pints it started to taste like nectar lol,and yes tis a slippery slope and i think im hooked and back on it.

[FUBAR]

as my barrel leaked and i had to re prime it,i decided to pour a drop last night to see if its building up pressure ok,had a sniff of the small drop i had got smells good had a taste and was amazed nicely hoppy and bitter with no harshness at all finished of with a nice malt taste,if its this good now roll on a few weeks when i can get stuck into it

[FUBAR]

I tried a pint of the birkby bitter this afternoon its only been in the barrel since the 16th january but my verdict was WOW its not a million miles away from Black Sheep ,I will deffo be brewing this again,all the brupacks kits ive done so far have been top notch,I also had a little taste of a brewers choice london bitter ive done and that is fantastic to,have just got a brewers choice czech pilsner to start in the morning so im expecting that to be as good,it seems hard to believe that a beer made from a kit can be so good

[Naich]

I tried a pint of the birkby bitter this afternoon its only been in the barrel since the 16th january but my verdict was WOW its not a million miles away from Black Sheep ,I will deffo be brewing this again,all the brupacks kits ive done so far have been top notch,I also had a little taste of a brewers choice london bitter ive done and that is fantastic to,have just got a brewers choice czech pilsner to start in the morning so im expecting that to be as good,it seems hard to believe that a beer made from a kit can be so good

I barrelled (is that even a word?) a batch of BB last night and had a good slurp of it from the FV. Very nice. I went for the "fragrance" option with the hop tea bag, boiling it for about 15 minutes, rather than the full 40 minutes for bitterness. It was like drinking a mouthful of flowers, with just a faint bitterness in the background. I can't wait until it's fully matured. Seriously. It'll be gone long before then

This is a real springtime beer, to drink in the garden as the new leaves pop out. My only complaint would be that at 4.1% it's a bit weak. I didn't make up the full 23l but it still only started at 1.044 and it ended up at 1.012 after 12 days.

[FUBAR]

I have just brewed another birkby this time i have got an ale flavapak and used the two grain tea bags in boiling water for 30 mins when i started the kit,now im wondering about the hop tea bag that came with the flavapak what i want to achieve is a bit more hop aroma and im undecided on the best way to do it,either add it to the fermenter for the last few days of secondary fermentation or to add it to the barrel?,another thing i was wondering is what variety of hops are in the flavapak tea bag and if they are of a suitable aroma variety?.