This was my first Foray into the world of Home Brewing so, of course I expected it to be a disaster!! I made many mistakes, put the hops in way too early (after 4 days as per instructions but, on reading more closely I realised that as this is a Craft beer, hops should be added just a few days before bottling). As it turned out, the beer is lovely despite my inexperience! I still have 23 bottles left to enjoy and have just started my second brew (Bulldog Bad Cat) which I can only hope turns out as nice as this one. The kit itself is very simple. The malt extract already has hops and sugar mixed in for a straight forward brew day. The additional hops are for flavour and aroma, not bitterness which is already taken care of. As a newbie brewer, I panicked at one point that fermentation was not happening so, I contacted the manufacturer to seek advice. They could not have been more helpful. I would highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys a stronger beer.
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So basically this kit is super easy to brew and the results if you follow the instructions is a very drinkable plesent pint. I am new to this so didn't use any other method than those on the instructions and didn't take any readings, however I am in no doubt that it's at least 7.5% as claimed on the box. I used 500ml bottles for secondary fermentation and added 1tbs per bottle of standard caster sugar of which has given the beer perfect carbonation. Highly recommend if your looking for a strong brew.
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Bulldog American IPA This is a 4.6 kg kit. It has fairly simple instructions, warm up bag of syrup and empty into fermentor. Having tasted the syrup there seems to be a high percentage of sugar in the blend, compared to the youngs premium ale American IPA, there is a bag of malt extract and a bag of brewing sugar in the young brew. So when i made the youngs kit i used a extra tin of malt extract instead of the brewing sugar. So i am disappointed that the syrup had the sugar already mixed in with this kit. It is a choice thing. I made this kit in reverse, I filled up my beer barrel that is 40 pints or filled with 5 1 gallon demijohns with water. I emptied 5 gallons into my fermentation bin and I made a mark on my fermentation bin The instrustions to the kit are really simple and the yeast has really good yeast flocculation at the end of fermentation. The end beer is not Laguntas, Punk or Jaipur, but it is still an IPA. If I had my way, I would separate the sugar from the kit and homebrewer decide if they add the sugar or add malt extract. I normally do full mash brewing, but I decided to try a kit once in a while to see how the results differ. I think the overall result was pretty good, but a bit thin due to including sugar rather than being all malt, I think my beer was around 6.9%, but around 40 to 41 pints. My overall thought would be, buy the youngs kit and replace the sugar with similar weight in malt extract, but it would make the kit 50% more expensive. Having left the beer to sit for 4 weeks since bottling, I think the overall result is reasonable, I would not describe it as Punk or Laguntis, but more like a greene king abbot ale or Badger Tanglefoot. The beer needs more hops or tweeking when you add the final hop bags to the kit. As a kit beer it is not a bad result, but 95% of beers I make are from full mash, I tried the kit as it does not require a day to do the brewing. As a American IPA there is no where near the right amount of hops in the brew.
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There are a huge range of prices when it comes to all in one kit brews. Evil Dog is more on the expensive side but you literally get all you need to brew this beer - no need for sugar / dextrose etc., but all the ingredients are in a plastic pouch / bag which makes everything easy - just add water. As with any brew, you do need to add sugar at bottling / kegging time. Anyway, this was fermenting and standing for about 14 days and it settled at around 7.5% alcohol as per the instructions. I have just tried one bottle (I left it for 10 days in the bottle) probably too soon. Anyway, it has a beautiful colour (a light nice straw sort of colour but with a bit more orangey depth than "straw"). It smells good and has a really good flavour though doesn't feel in the mouth as alcohol fueled as it is. I chilled it and, having brewed about 7 or 8 different brews, this is the best so far. Really delicious - I haven't been paid by anyone to write a positive article! Will definitely buy again. Am currently waiting for another beer from this company, Hammer of Thor, to beer ready and let's hope that it is as good. Will definitely buy Evil Dog again - impressed!
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This beer is a grower. Cracked a bottle last night after 2 weeks secondary fermentation. And although it's got a slightly acidy after taste (which I'm not sure if it should have - it might have gone off during the first fermentation due to the hot weather but I'm no expert on brewing beer so maybe it's supposed to taste like that) and is quite hoppy - it's actually pretty good. A couple of friends said it tastes as good as a pub ale (they aren't ale drinkers though) but I believe they were telling the truth (and they preferred this over the Wherry) So I'm pretty happy with it - it seems pretty strong too, you could call it a "wife beater!" Not that I would condone wife beating, but it will get you pretty smashed pretty quickly! So all in all I think it's pretty good - maybe an acquired taste, maybe my brew went wrong. I like the colour, nice amount of fizz if you add the stated amount of sugar on the secondary. Easy to follow instructions. I will buy it again and would recommend this brew
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