Woodfordes Wherry Kit.

I have been brewing the Woodfordes Wherry kit and have encountered some difficulties. The instructions say that it should be ready to bottle when its gravity is 1014 or under but I have a homebrew book that says 1010-1005, well the gravity seems to have leveled out at 1012 and its been like that for 3 days. The kit is made by Muntons and I saw in another thread that Muntons yeasts arn't too good at fermenting complex sugars. With an OG of 1040 this will be about 3.8% abv and not 4.5% which is what it said on the box, I have bottled it now and am waiting for it to mature a bit before trying it (box says two weeks).

Does anyone have experience with this kit, does it typically stop fermenting at 1012? Would it have been better with a different yeast?

You have nothing to worry about there, 1014 is fine for Wherry, the problems you here about with Woodfordes kits are to do with the gravity getting stuck around 1020, you've reached the Target Gravity so don't worry, im sure you'll end up with a great beer!

The original Woodfordes Wherry is only 3.8% abv anyway so you should be right on target.

- WW

I was worried about exploding bottles, obviously there's more un-fermentable carbohydrates in the Wherry wort.

Thanks for the help.

I hate kits.

I shouldn't think you'll have trouble with exploding bottles since you reached your Target Gravity, provided you didn't over prime with too much sugar.

If you are worried about your bottles exploding just store them upright in 3's or 4's inside a plastic carrier bag tied at the top. That way if you do get one go off like a grenade you've only lost a beer and don't have a sticky glassy mess to tidy up off the carpet.

I have brewed one of these Wherry kits, and beyond any question the beer they produce is the closest any homebrew can ever come to a real ale as served in a good pub! I did not even use a hydrometer - just a close fitting lid which the escaping Co2 could push up enough. Once the gas stops rising, you bottle the beer, and if you miss by a day or so, no big deal as the Co2 is heavier than any air that might find a way in to oxidise your precious brew.
You cannot go far wrong, and you should be in for one of the best pints you ever brewed!! Just make sure everything is spotlessly clean and sanitised.

I've just started one of these kits and am brewing short to 20 litres. My hydrometer reading was only 1.040 for starting gravity.

I've tried calibrating in and it reads ok with water. I take it my cheap Coopers plastic hydrometer is broke? I've been suspecting it's been reading a bit too low (usually by about 0.005) for a while now.