Wherry suggestions?

pcrofts27 · Post by **pcrofts27** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 12:45 am

HI everyone,

bought a Wherry kit from Wilkinsons today - on offer at £16 - and wondering if anyone has any recommendations.

It looks like it's a good kit as it is, but I just wondered if anyone had improved it by a using few hop additions or something.

Any suggestions?

cheers
Paul

Post by **Monkeybrew** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 7:06 am

Paul

I'm all for tweaking, but certainly recommend trying the Wherry as standard first because it's very tasty after a couple of months in the bottle/keg.

FYI, my best Wherry tweak was brewed to 21L with 25g of EKG pellets steeped for 30mins, and then dry hopped with another 25g after primary had died down.

Cheers

MB

alexlark · Post by **alexlark** » Sun Oct 20, 2013 10:27 am

Ive got this one clearing in a pressure barrel at the moment. Brewed to the letter and after 4 weeks it's very nice. I picked another 1 up last week in Wilko for £16 too. Can't fault that price.

GavH · Post by **GavH** » Sun Nov 03, 2013 7:20 pm

Just started getting amongst my first Wherry this weekend after having allowed it 8 weeks bottle conditioning. I brewed slightly short to 21L and find it very similar to the Woodfordes Admirals Reserve, although the hops that come with AR presumably give it the fruitier, less maltier flavours that distinguish between the two. I'll definitely be doing Wherry again, but will also dry hop, thinking Cascade or similar?

neilmcca · Post by **neilmcca** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 11:16 am

For me, wherry is a perfect drink without tweaking,
i tend to save any hops etc for cheaper "budget" kits, as MB said above, brew it as it should be brewed and see if u like it or not,
u could always keep a bottle or 2 to one side, and do a taste comparison later with a modified wherry.
or maybe it would be an idea to arrange bottle swaps with members of JBK who have done a modified Wherry to see who's has turned out best.

terrier · Post by **terrier** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:08 pm

Sorry to hijack the thread but i am about to put my wherry in the pressure barrel. How much medium spraymalt should i add to the king keg to prime it?. Many thanks

crafty john · Post by **crafty john** » Mon Nov 04, 2013 8:13 pm

I wouldn't bother with spraymalt, such a small addition will make no difference to flavour etc. Just use 80 grams of household sugar or dextrose. but if you are intent on using spraymalt 80 to 100 g is about right

pcrofts27 · Post by **pcrofts27** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 12:32 am

thanks everyone.

think i'll just make it as it is, and stick it in a keg for xmas.
Can't beat having a barrel in the garage to draw on whenever the mood takes you.

paul

Get'er Brewed · Post by **Get'er Brewed** » Tue Nov 05, 2013 10:23 am

I would also be in agreement that woodforde's kits tend to be great on their own, provided you give them plenty of time to condition

widdersbel · Post by **widdersbel** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 2:55 am

I've made up my Wherry kit this evening with the addition of 30g Fuggles (using tricky dicky's method) and 500g medium spraymalt, and I plan to dry hop with EKG. OG is 1048. When it's done fermenting, I'll keg it and all being well, serve it at the family Christmas gathering on the 20th/21st December, so fingers crossed it will be ready to drink by then... And fingers crossed I haven't ruined a perfectly good kit with my tampering!

I'll try a tamper-free Wherry kit after Christmas for comparison.

widdersbel · Post by **widdersbel** » Sat Nov 16, 2013 2:05 pm

Just tested it after seven days in the FV. SG is down to 1014 and it's still fermenting away nicely, so I'll leave it another week before kegging.

I'd say the additions have given it perhaps more of an ESB character than a standard Wherry, but this is not necessarily a bad thing.

SquireKnott · Post by **SquireKnott** » Fri Jun 20, 2014 10:42 pm

I've just ordered one of these from Wilko at £19.

Thought I had a bargain as seems to be £23 elsewhere then I saw this and other threads with £16 being bandied about!

How does it compare to the Festival kits?

Belcher · Post by **Belcher** » Sat Jun 21, 2014 7:24 am

I've recently bottled a batch straight up to instructions (except brewed to 20 L and a bit of dextrose to increase abv). I have now put on another batch to the same recipe and was wondering about additions. My thinking is to split the batches (about 2 gallons each once trub has been settled) so there are two recipes I'm considering.

The first is adding raspberry. Either about a kilo or so of frozen or 1 bottle of the Malina Lowicz syrup. Has anyone tried these? I'm not looking for a knockout punch of raspberry but more of a subtle but noticeable flavor and aroma.

The second batch I want to pulp about a kilo of plums and some pontefract cakes and rack the 2 gallons on top.

Question are, my esteemed brewers, has anyone tried either of these? If so what were your results? Do I have my measurements right or am I asking for trouble?

SquireKnott · Post by **SquireKnott** » Mon Jun 23, 2014 12:21 pm

I was passing Wilko yesterday so dropped in to see if my Wherry had arrived for store collection - it hadn't but there were several kits on the shelf at the same £19.

They wouldn't let me take one in lieu of mine "arriving" and the lady looked at me like I had two heads for suggesting such an outlandish idea!

UK customer service at it's finest.

LeeH · Post by **LeeH** » Wed Jun 25, 2014 6:42 am

SquireKnott wrote:I've just ordered one of these from Wilko at £19.

Thought I had a bargain as seems to be £23 elsewhere then I saw this and other threads with £16 being bandied about!

How does it compare to the Festival kits?

The festivals are better.

Jim's Beer Kit

Practical Homebrewing

HomeBrew Forum

Sponsored by BREW-SCHOOL