Customizing Festa Brew kits

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jstevenson

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Hi,

I've been using the Festa Brew kits for a while with excellent results (Pale Ale and Bock), however I want to try and make different syle beers using the same kits. For example I want to make a Belgian style strong dark ale using the Bock Festa Brew kit as a base, and I want to make Belgian Rye IPA with the Pale Ale Festa Brew kit as a base.

I know that I will have to use different yeast from the one that comes with each kit, however I'm not sure what exactly yeast to use, and I would appreciate your advice?

What other ingridients can I add to a Festa Brew kits in order to change the beer flavour? Can I simply add additional hops to the worth? Can I add dry malt extracts to the worth? Can I add different fruits to enhance the ale flavour?

For example for the Belgian Rye IPA can I add the following to customize the ale?

Roasted Rye Flakes 1 lb - http://www.homebrew-supplies.ca/viartshop/product_details.php?category_id=57&item_id=520

Amarillo Hop 1oz - http://www.homebrew-supplies.ca/viartshop/product_details.php?category_id=110&item_id=326




Thanks for all your help!

John
 
I brewed once a Festa Brew kit, it was a cream ale. Very good beer. However, could you explain why you want to modify this kind of kit? If I remember, the kit comes ready to pitch (vs extract kit where you need to add water and sugar).

Edit: I meant, Why not make an extract recipe instead?
 
I've done four Festa Brew kits (brown ale, bock, stout, and a continental pilsner lagering right now). I won a medal with the bock but the best by far was the stout.

Have to ask, why wouldn't you just do your own recipe using extracts instead of fooling around altering a kit? Seems way easier and more fun to boot. I can see doing it if you've got very specific instructions on what to do (I'll be tweaking two or three Brew House kits in the near future following the instructions on their website) but failing that I don't see the upside.

Good luck!
 
Thanks guys,

I just want to make different beer from the kits, that's all. I've tried using extract before, but the quality is much lower to the beer produced with the Festa kits. I've read lots of positive reviews about Brew House kits and I'll look into that? Can you easily customize the Brew house kits? What is the quality compared to Festa Brew?

I just wanted to know if it's OK to put additional hops, malts and fruits in the festa Brew worth? Would that work?



Thanks,

John
 
There is a section on the Brew House webpage listing half a dozen or so tweaks for their kits involving addition of extra grains, hops, liquid yeast, etc. Seems like it's relatively easy to do.

I've done a number of Brew House and IMO they are at least as good as the Festa Brew. The main difference is that Brew House come with 15 litres of wort as opposed to Festa Brew's 23. Brew House is owned by RJ Spagnols, who also make terrific wine kits.
 
I have added hops to festabrew kits by boiling some of the wort in a lobster pot with additional hops. I have also dry-hopped the kits. All with excellent results. If you do boil hops make sure to replace the water boiled off.
 
DMo said:
I have added hops to festabrew kits by boiling some of the wort in a lobster pot with additional hops. I have also dry-hopped the kits. All with excellent results. If you do boil hops make sure to replace the water boiled off.
Click to expand...

Can you please give me more details about your experiments? Which kits did you customize? What hops did you use? How much of the wort did you boil the hops in and for how long? Any help would be great!


Thanks!
 
I use all different hops. I recently took an IPA Festa Brew Kit and did a constant hop addition over 90 minutes (about 3/4 of the wort from the kit). It takes a long time to boil. I used Cascade, Warrior and Simcoe Hops (5 oz). 3 Oz for the boil and 2 for dry hopping. (did not dry hop with the Warrior). I also added some DME (1 pound) and maltodextrin (1/2 pound) to the boil to increase the alcohol content without sacrificing too much body. It's best to use as much of the wort as you can for the boil. I basically added a small handful of hops (leaf not pellet or puck) every 7.5 minutes during the boil. The IPA is delicious.
 
I'm currently drinking a Festa Brew winter porter. The OG wasn't doing it for me, 1.05 or so, and I stepped it up to 1.07ish. It's turned out excellently and is my best brew so far. I did age it for 3 months though.
 
I just bought a Festa Brew Wheat Beer kit last night. I'm going to get it going today and experiment by adding in some Orange after a week or so. . . Does that count?
 
The Festa Brew kits have really turned out great for me. A couple of them (the brown ale and the bock) really took a long time (> 6 months) to hit their peak, but when they did they were excellent. Their double oatmeal stout is the best beer I've made; I'm starting that one again soon!
 
Has anyone anything new to report on this? I've done a few Festas. I'm kicking around the thought of using Festa wort with different yeasts. I wish I could see the actual grain bills they used in making them so I had a better idea of what I am starting with.
 
buzzlager said:
Has anyone anything new to report on this? I've done a few Festas. I'm kicking around the thought of using Festa wort with different yeasts. I wish I could see the actual grain bills they used in making them so I had a better idea of what I am starting with.
Click to expand...

I have emailed the brewery to inquire about the specific malt and hops used in various kits... but to no avail :(
 
Have moved to AG brewing but still have a few dozen Festa Brew Double Oatmeal Stouts I made last summer. Man, I love that beer.
 
Hey guys, new to home brewing, want to add some dry hops to my Festa Brew Red Ale kit. Done some research most people say to add them at the end of the secondary fermentation, and about 1 oz. I have 2 oz of Fuggle dry hops, and I want to add some hop flavor more than just an aroma. Suggestions?
 
You can do it that way if you like, or just add them to the primary. I've never done it, but some people make a "hop tea" which I think will make getting the hop flavour you desire an easier process than adding hop pellets to either your primary or secondary.

To be honest I wouldn't worry about "customizing" your kit if you are brand new to home brewing. How do you know the beer won't be hoppy enough for you? Why do you think Fuggles is the right hop selection?

One thing I like about Festa Brew is that they come with a yeast tailored to the style. What comes with the Red Ale--is it S-04? You will want to hydrate the yeast as per the manufacturer's instructions to ensure you pitch enough yeast cells. The instructions on the "product sheet" (manufacturer's website) are often better/more detailed than what's on the yeast package.

You might not want to use a secondary at all. Many brewers no longer bother with the extra transfer and just leave their beer in the primary before (carefully) transferring to the bottling bucket when you are ready to bottle. People will primary anywhere from 3-6 weeks, sometimes even longer, then bottle.

Lastly, try to aerate your wort as well as possible and ferment in a cool spot. Your beer will turn out a lot cleaner and less fruity at 65 degrees than 75 degrees. For aeration, stir the hell out of the beer with your big brewing spoon, or if you happen to have one, use something like a drill-mounted wine whip. You want to agitate that beer a great deal--oxygen is critically important to fermentation. If you stick with the hobby, you might want to do pure oxygen through a diffusion stone. A lot of us aerate that way.

One other thing; Calgary has a great homebrewing club: www.yeastwranglers.ca I'm sure they'd love to have a new member!
 
I'm about to split a 6 gallon batch of FB Pale into two 3 Gallon Carboys and DH half with 0.5 oz Cascade :rockin:
 
I'm also inclined to pitch a Continental Pilsner kit onto my yeast cake from Edwort's Kolsch this weekend in an effort to up my summer beer bottle count.
 
Hey guys.. I know this thread is really old but I've been experimenting with Festa Brew kits for a while now./
My absolute best mod would be my RIIPA, "Red Imperial IPA"
I bought a 1Kg container of Liquid Amber malt, and boiled it with some water and 1oz of Simcoe hops.
Dry hopped it with 1oz of Citra.
The beer was about 7%ABV and the flavor was EPIC!
I will be purchasing the Double Oatmeal Stout today and will be upping the alcohol using dark maple syrup.
I like my beers warm in the cold Canadian Winters
 
An old thread, but Just to add, I have used Festa brew for some years and generally always modify the original.
One of the latest is Oatmeal stout, used Wyeast 1214, Brewers Best chocolate additive, 1/2 bag of Candi-D90, 1/4 cup honey, steeped flavour hops and 2 tblsps ground coriander seed for 15 mins. in 2 litres of hot wort .
Turned out excellent as a Dark Belgium Ale.
I make a light ale by a mix of the Continental Pilsner and Cream Ale.
T.W.
 

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