Muntons Premium Gold Old Conkerwood Black Ale


9/10/2013
“A distinctive dark coloured ale. It has an aromatic hoppy character that has a pleasing dry bitterness that one would associate with a truly traditional strong English Bitter” Apart from all the other prosaic waffle that accompanies every Muntons Premium Gold kit, that is all the text I can find on the box that pertains to this particular brew. Muntons like to be brief on specifics.

Muntons state the strength for Conkerwood should be 5%ABV but when I dropped my hydrometer into my fermenter, my reading was a mere 1040, when I expected nearer 1050. Muntons say the brew should finish on a gravity of approximately 1014, which, if it begins at 1040, would give me a ABV strength of 3.5%. That’s quite a difference from what it says on the tin!

I’ve already experienced fermentation problems with Muntons Premium Gold. The gravity sticks 1020, instead of reaching the target final gravity of 1014. I was fearful that I may get a repeat of this condition with the Conkerwood, so I added a little extra yeast right at the start. Also, because of the weak OG, I stirred in an extra 320gms of light spray malt. Muntons say nothing extra need be added to the Premium Gold kits but hey, my faith has been rocked.

The fermentation was massively vigorous, incredibly taking only 24 hours to reach a gravity of 1020. During that day I needed to clean the airlock several times because foam had worked its way up through the bung and into the water. In fact at times the pressure was so great I expected the entire bung and airlock assembly to blast straight from the lid. The brew stayed in the fermenter for the remainder of the week but there was no further reaction. The final gravity of the brew was 1018 instead of 1014. A pint and a quarter of dense trub had settled in the bottom of the container, clearly showing that the yeast had done a lot of work. That said I will end up with a brew strength of 3.6% ABV, instead of something closer to 5%. This anomaly will definitely influence my decision to buy this kit again or not.

24/10/2013
I know that a mere five days in the barrel is hardly time enough to make a final judgement on the quality of this brew. However, after taking a sip while moving the barrel to a different location think I got a fair idea. The ale is indeed very dark although not a Guiness black. Holding a partly filled glass up to the light it is totally opaque but when it is tilted to the side so that the liquid is thinned, one can observe its deep brown colour. The ale hasn’t completely cleared at this time, it doesn’t have that clean glossy quality which I will hope to notice in a few weeks. I can nevertheless get a fairly good impression of how this ale is going to turn out. A very rich but not overpowering molasses toffee aroma is evident as you raise the glass towards your face. As you begin to sip, the nose blends with a flavour of rich and nutty malt followed by a deep bitterness that emerges once the liquid floods your mouth. My first thought was that it might be similar to Milestone Home Wrecker but thankfully it isn’t. In my opinion this is a far more balanced and sophisticated ale. If all goes well I will end up with a very pleasing pint, and hopefully a great addition to Christmas festivities.

3rd Jan 2014
Just settling back to regular life following the Christmas and New Year celebrations. I can say now with assuredness that Muntons Conkerwood was very well received by all my guests during the holiday. In fact it was so popular that the barrel was drained before New Year. I had four barrels of various ales on for Christmas but this was the runaway favourite.