# Beginner Kit Recipe Moving Onto Hops



## Mags (9/2/12)

Hey guys,

I am still in the early days of brewing and always reading up on techniques and all grain brewing. before I make the switch I am just looking for some easier tasty beers using kits and some hops keeping it fairly simple still.

At the moment I can keep the temps around 18-20c. All ideas welcome, just want to do this before moving house then I will get my fridge setup and start doing all grain batches  . I love Pilsners but understand I need to brew at lager temps.

Cheers.


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## iralosavic (9/2/12)

The coopers lager kit a kilo of dry malt and some hallertau for a 15 min boil with saaz added at 10 mins fermented around 17-18 will be a vast improvement over an unhopped kit n kilo. the lager extract has very low bitterness, so you've got a lot of room for late hopping to pilsner levels of bitterness.


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## QldKev (9/2/12)

Have a search on the recipieDB on here, there are many ideas

For a good beer the balance should be taken into account. In simple terms more malt = sweet, more hops = bitter. An IPA should lean to the hops, whilst a english ale tends to be malt driven. 


Depending on the beer style, start with a decent kit, if you can hold 18-20 get a decent yeast (to suit the style of beer) and add 1kg of malt along with say 15-20g of late hops. Mix 1L of water and 100g of malt together and bring to the boil, once boiling throw in the hops and boil for the desired time. 15mins for flavour, or just turn the heat out alnost straight away for aroma.

I would not bother trying much more than this as you intend on moving to AG soon anyway.

QldKev


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## iralosavic (9/2/12)

I had a coopers blonde kit lying around and surpless Amarillo hops (from dr smurto golden ale) so I did a 7g addition at 15, 10 and 5 mins. Used 75% DME and 25% dextrose to build 1.048 og and it came out surprisingly superior to my last blonde that was just done with brew enhancer 1. Like kev says, for best hop utilization, you should boil with a ratio of malt to water that achieves between 1.030-1.040 and add the can after.


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## mxd (9/2/12)

all the above,

use a malt extract not sugar, e,g 1 can + 1.5kg of dme
use good yeast (dry or liquid)
temp control
and let it ferment for 10 + days (even though it's finished in 4 days) let the yeast clean up


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## iralosavic (9/2/12)

A bit of dex doesn't hurt in a dry style, but I wouldn't go above 400g or you lose too much flavour and body. I'd take kevs advice and check out the recipe DB, even if just to get some inspiration. You can make a pretty good beer with a can, DME, some flavour and aroma hop additions and an aftermarket yeast. All good practice for going AG.


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## Mags (9/2/12)

Ok I am thinking about the following as a tester;

Coopers Lager/Draught
1kg LDME
250g dextrose
Saaz & Cascade boil and dry hop which i'll work out
saf us05

Now my combinations could be way off and not work. Also which kit would be best for a base?


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## QldKev (9/2/12)

Mags said:


> Ok I am thinking about the following as a tester;
> 
> Coopers Lager/Draught
> 1kg LDME
> ...




Don't dry hop the saaz, it is way too grassy

Cascade is a perfect dry hop

I dont think mixing these 2 hops would be on my list to do

QldKev


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## manticle (9/2/12)

Unless it's b-saaz or d- saaz, I would follow Kev's advice. Stick to the one hop (cascade if you want to dry hop). You'll learn more about what character it brings for future brews anyway.


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## iralosavic (9/2/12)

The lager is probably a better base if you're after a less bitter beer, like 18-25 ibu. The blonde would probably be my next choice, but the draught will be fine if you want something 22-30ibu. Adding ldme to the lager gives it a fairly nice body without getting imbalanced. For hopping ideas, the recipe DB will give you plenty of ideas


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## Mags (9/2/12)

Ok thanks guys. If I boil the Cascade and Saaz could their combo work? So forgetting the dry hopping.


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## manticle (10/2/12)

Can't say for sure in terms of your palate but for my palate it's like cooking beef and garnishing it with icecream.

Not two flavours that easily combine. I'm sure someone somewhere can do it but they need to be super fusion chef who knows exactly how and why.

Just use the cascade and dry hop with it. Works. Once you know that, make a brew with saaz in the boil. Works.

Now you know how they work, make a brew where you combine the two or dry hop with saaz. See if it works for you. Doesn't work for me, but might work for you.

Don't take my word for it but take the steps slowly so you understand why and why not.


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## Mags (10/2/12)

Thanks, makes sense. one step at a time. I'll go with cascade only for this brew. Also just wondering, worth boiling the cascade with this recipe or just dry hop only?


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## manticle (10/2/12)

Depends on your love of bitterness. I would personally boil some for at least 10-20 mins but your palate and mine may not be the same.

Do you enjoy bitterness in beer?


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## freezkat (10/2/12)

manticle said:


> Depends on your love of bitterness. I would personally boil some for at least 10-20 mins but your palate and mine may not be the same.
> 
> Do you enjoy bitterness in beer?



another hint with canned malt extract is don't boil it for more than 15 minutes. You will boil off the flavor hopping. The aroma hops are almost invisible so adding some helps. Powdered or dry malt extract needs to boil for an hour. If you mix both liquid and dry malt extracts a boil will look something like this:
(this isn't a rule by any means. Its just a basic idea)

Add 1 kilo DME to 9-10 Liters of water and bring to a boil. (wash the outside of the container of LME then warm it in a sink full of hot water before opening)

add 30g of Flavor hops. continue to boil 50 minutes then

add liquid malt extract, (dip container into the wort to rinse out all of the extract) and 30g of aroma hops. boil 10 more minutes. Gently stir together.

then use a pitcher to gently pour the hot wort into your primary fermenter. Top off with cold water. Bring temperature down to 20-26C and stir. (Don't worry so much about aerating once it's cooled down. Yeast likes air. Some is beneficial.) before pitching yeast.

You can sprinkle it on top dry or before brewing you can make a starter with either some DME or Dextrose. On high gravity beers I like to aerate "a lot" and add Diammonium Phosphate yeast nutrient in addition to making a good starter.


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## Amber Fluid (10/2/12)

freezkat said:


> another hint with canned malt extract is don't boil it for more than 15 minutes. You will boil off the flavor hopping. The aroma hops are almost invisible so adding some helps. Powdered or dry malt extract needs to boil for an hour. If you mix both liquid and dry malt extracts a boil will look something like this:
> (this isn't a rule by any means. Its just a basic idea)
> 
> Add 1 kilo DME to 9-10 Liters of water and bring to a boil. (wash the outside of the container of LME then warm it in a sink full of hot water before opening)
> ...



Sorry Freezkat but I am intregued with your response as there is quite a bit there that I either see is not necessary or a bit over the top or just shouldn't do. Therefore, I am wondering why the follwoing:

1/ I didn't think canned malt extract was hopped so boiling longer than 15 minutes is irrelevant.

2/ Why does powdered or dried malt extract need to be boiled for an hour?

3/ adding 30g of flavor hops at 60 minutes are obviously not for flavoring.

4/ I don't see adequate reasoning to dip the tin in the boiling hot wort. Why not just rinse it in water?

5/ I would chill the 10L hot wort in an ice bath prior to adding to the fermenter or it will be some time before it gets to pitching temps.

6/ you shouldn't need a starter if using the right amount of dried yeast.


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## Mags (10/2/12)

I could be way off the mark with this but I am going to attemp the following for my first brew with hops;

Coopers Lager
1kg LMDE
250g Dex
15g Cascade @ 20min boil
15g Cascade @ 10 min boil
15g Cascade dry hop
US-05 yeast

Or is there no point with the boiling the cascade for this amount of time then dry hop to finish?

Manticle to answer your question I don't mind biterness.


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## keifer33 (10/2/12)

Looks like a nice simple recipe Mags. Only a small boil will be required for that so 1litre per 100g of LDME as a general rule so 1-2litres will be fine for the small amount of hops you have. It's a good idea to try the same recipes with different hops to see how they react and what you like.


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## Mags (10/2/12)

Thanks. I will give it a try, then replicate it with another hop and get my head around it. Also will the dry hopping be useful to do as well to add to the aroma etc?


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## keifer33 (10/2/12)

Dry hop away. I normally work on around 1g/L if you enjoy a nice hop aroma but 15g is just fine.


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## Mags (10/2/12)

I'll have 20g of Cascade to dry hop with so i'll just chuck it all in haha!


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