Muntons Barley Wine

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Total Reviews 4  
Average Rating
3.50 stars - based on 4 reviews
Description

PREMIUM RANGE

 
Homebrew For Beginners eBook | The Ultimate Home Brewers Recipe Book, 641 Home Brew Recipes
August 21st 2011
4/5 stars
#1642

Pleasantly surprised

 I set this kit up with amber DME instead of dextrose, but other than that treated is a a normal beer kit with half the total volume. Figured I'd have to wait a long time for it to be good. Not so - fermentation took only a week, and I bottled after 2 weeks in secondary. It was good after 2 weeks in the bottles, but very good after 4. I would buy this kit again for sure.
May 7th 2007
2/5 stars
#672

Not Happy!

It's not that Munton's don't know how to produce good beer kits. They do. Which means there is no excuse for this. Tastes for all the world like Toohey's Old mixed with Coke - which is not what an English Old Ale/Barley Wine is supposed to taste like. If they were an Australian company I'd have them for false advertising. Barley Wine indeed. Buy a generic "Old" kit, halve the amount of water, and get the same result. Rip off!!
July 17th 2006
3/5 stars
#532

not quite there

A Barley Wine is a very high gravity English Ale (therefore higher in alcoholthan regular ales, hence barley "wine"). Commercial examples have a rich, warming effect, this is a beer to be sipped by a winter fire, rather than gulped down. Followed instructions to the letter. Result after 6-12 months = more like a brown ale than a barley wine. I thi8nk this is a difficult style to replicate with malt extract and kit dried yeast. If doing again I would try some added grains, some dextrose for the alcoholic warmth not, and some Fuggles hops for finishing, as well as a suitable liquid yeast. Might try it again sometime. Not a bad kit, just a difficult style to replicate.
February 6th 2005
5/5 stars
#180

Too easy

One of my first attempts to brew. Used kit with 1k of castor sugar. Father-in-law has brewed it for 50+ years, adamit about using regular sugar. Finished off at 1000 within two weeks & bottled. Pack states 18-20c, but bubbled along happily at 22-24c. Very good head, rich flavor, will improve with age. Noticable difference with priming, did some with drops & some with sugar. Drops = smoothier, sugar = crisper. Well worth the effort either way. Rich flavor, also additional recipe variations.
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