# Getting The Most Out Of Kit Brewing



## bconnery (9/3/07)

There has been much discussion about the best method of kit brewing, but very little detailed information as there is for AG. Based on reading and my own experience I feel that there is a series of methods for getting the best out of kits so I thought I'd detail it, and try and put in place the reasons, especially where the method differs from more accepted methods. 

This post is likely to be PistolPatch long, so eventually I will pdf it, if people like it enough. Or PM me for the document if you find it useful

The guide will be divided into 3 sections, equipment, recipe and method, and last but not least, the reasons for the method.

There are certain things I'm not going to go into, sanitation, dry hopping, all sorts of other bits. Sanitation should be a given. This is really about a basic method of kit brewing. 


*Big Disclaimer. *

This is all of course all an opinion. It is based on my experience with brewing and stuff I have read and applied. It is not intended as the gospel but I really do feel this method improved my kit beers immensely. 

I haven't used a kit for a while but I apply pretty much this same method to my mini-mash and extract brews. 

I'm certain I'll leave something out so feel free to be critical, add, discuss etc


*Part 1 Equipment. *

A pot, 10-15L, or bigger but this will do, stockpot. 

Another large pot (any decent size saucepan from the kitchen will do) (if steeping grains)

Large strainer. 

Fermenters, hydrometers etc. which are pretty useful regardless of your method 


*Part 2 the method. *

I'm going to do this with a recipe. I'm not going to include steeping grains, but will put some notes in the method as to where they would fit in. Note: this is an adaption of an extract recipe that I've done and doesn't necessarily represent the best way of K&King a Golden aleI have adjusted the bittering hop amounts to allow for the kits IBUs a little


Coopers Pale Ale kit
1kg light dried malt extract
Or, ideally, 500g DME, 500g Wheat malt extract. 

100g Crystal malt (optional)

15g POR pellets

40g Amarillo Pellets

US56 or S05 or whatever it is called. American Ale Yeast. 

I'll leave liquids for a whole other topic


The day before place as much water in the fridge as you can. I fill up a bunch of water bottles so I have 15 odd litres of cold water to top up with.


Optional grain step

Place crystal in 200ml of cold water and slowly raise temp so that it reaches around 76C. Exact temp doesn't matter, just don't boil them and it helps to bring it up as slowly as you can. 

Strain into stock pot. 

Place can in a sink of hot water for 10 minutes to warm. 

Bring a small amount of water, say 2L, to the boil in stock pot. (with grain run-offs if these were used) 


Open can and pour of a small amount 1/3 into stockpot, or use malt extract. 

Place in 15g POR pellets. 

Boil for 35mins. 

Remove pot from heat and stir in remaining kit and/or malt extract. Drop in 20g Amarillo hops. 

Add back to heat and boil for 10 minutes. 

Remove from heat. 

Stir in 20g Amarillo hops. 

Cool using one of the various methods. Place in a sink of iced water, replacing water as it heats. Cool this as much as possible as it easier to cool this and then top up with water. 

Top up to desired level, say 22L, in your fermenter using pre-cooled water and more if required. 

Cool, if it isn't already, to around 20C for an ale. For a lager I believe you should pitch around this and then drop the temp slowly to 

Temperature levels and control are a whole other topic. 

Pitch dried yeast, stir for 30 seconds+, lock and you are away. 



If using dried yeast I don't feel you need to re-hydrate, although I do with Nottingham

Yeast choice and techniques are a whole other topic that is the same regardless of whether you are using kits or not. I will say that I do believe you should consider purchasing a different yeast from the kits, particularly if you are doing a lager. 



Keep cool using available methods, wet shirt, fridge, 100 can cooler etc. etc. 

So it's that simple. Boil adding hops at various stages, boil remaining extract, cool and ferment. 


*Part 3 Whys and wherefores. *

First and most important question, why boil. 


The reason for boiling is that it aids in protein coagulation, allowing the protein to sediment out (called the hot break), which in turn makes for a clearer beer. You can get a decent hot break with kits that have only been boiled 5 to 10 minutes.


http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=20020413075309659


You also provide another method of reducing the potential for infection. Boiling even for 5-10 minutes helps to remove any possible nasties. This is a minor concern really as the kits should be OK but is it possible to be too paranoid about sanitation?


Boiling for 5-10 minutes is the minimum. You can boil for longer but your wort will darken. This isn't an issue for darker beers so you can boil for longer for these if you wish


If you are adding sugar do not boil for the full amount of time. There is no benefit to doing this. In fact, there can be some minor negative effects in doing so. The main reason the extract is boiled is for protein coagulation.. Since sugar is 100% carbohydrate and no protein, we don't have to do this. If you did boil the sugar for the entire length of time, the higher resultant specific gravity of the liquid being boiled would cause the hot break to be not quite as good as it could be. Also, the higher gravity will have a negative effect on hop utilization and could even cause the wort to darken more (called caramelisation), causing a darker beer.


Hops

I am aware that boiling will drive off hop aromas etc from the kit. This is why we add in our own. This gives better flavour and allows control over the hop additions and combinations. It doesn't necessarily need much but fresh hop additions are a great step to getting better flavour in kit brews. The first kit beer I made where I did my own hop additions was a revelation. I didn't do another one without it. 

Personally I'm also not a fan of the finishing hop teabags but that's just me. Fresh is best!

Here's my hop guide. Not complete or definitive but I find it useful


Why grains and what to select. 

Certain grains require a mash. They don't have enough power to convert to sugar on their own. Specialty grains as they are usually called contain enough sugars and are used to add flavour and colour. 

Check out my grain guide for a starter on grains to use where and when and just read. Grumpys and Weyermann are good starter sites for some information, and this one as well

http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Grains


Specialty grains give colour and flavour as I said, so adding them will allow you to utilize the kit more as a base and experiment with creating your own beers. From here it is a short step to replacing the kit with light extract only, and creating the beer yourself. Also the practice of steeping I have outlined above is very close to a mash. Mini-mashing is essentially steeping to a controlled temperature level. It is simple with the same equipment outlined above to do a mini-mash and learn some of the techniques for mashing without going to new equipment.


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## RobboMC (9/3/07)

Great stuff, but the recipe looks a little short on fermentables. You should sell these instructions to Coopers to include with the kits.
Instead of adding sugar, how about adding a can of Coopers Light Liquid Malt to bring this up near 5%.

At the step where you add 1/4 of the kit to the stockpot I add about 250 g of DME, and keep the whole can to add later. 

I'm having a crack at this method this weekend, similar methods without the grain make really good beer without too much effort.


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## bconnery (9/3/07)

RobboMC said:


> Great stuff, but the recipe looks a little short on fermentables.
> Instead of adding sugar, how about adding a can of Coopers Light Liquid Malt to bring this up near 5%.
> 
> At the step where you add 1/4 of the kit to the stockpot I add about 250 g of DME, and keep the whole can to add later.
> ...



I said I'd forget something!!! 

I meant to add in a kilo of brew blend, to demonstrate the whole point of the thing...

Damn...

I'll do it now...


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## braufrau (9/3/07)

Hey great stuff. This should go on the wiki shouldn't it?

And your other ccol stuff like the grain guide.



> First and most important question, why boil.
> The reason for boiling is that it aids in protein coagulation, allowing the protein to sediment out (called the hot break), which in turn makes for a clearer beer. You can get a decent hot break with kits that have only been boiled 5 to 10 minutes.



According to coopers, the hot break as already been removed from their extract (and from their
kits I assume). So you can add their extract at flame out and then just remove the cold break
yourself. That stops it from darkening.

-braufrau


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## hewy (9/3/07)

Nice post!

This gives me a few new things to try.


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## peas_and_corn (9/3/07)

bconnery- this is a great post, like braufrau said, it'll be great if you posted the info here in the wiki topic of the same name- integrating what you have here into what's already there- it could use some extra info


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## Tyred (9/3/07)

Very nice work. Should help a lot. It would have helped me when starting out.

It appears temp for lagers was left out (?). On the line
"Cool, if it isn't already, to around 20C for an ale. For a lager I believe you should pitch around this and then drop the temp slowly to
"
14 - 16 maybe ?

Would an amount of time for bring the grains (optional step) help as well ? If you have some knowledge of amount of time, you can work out how slowly to bring the mix up to the appropriate temperature. Thermometer (digital) optional but very handy for checking the temperature for the grains could also be added.

Maybe a basic dry yeast type e.g. Ale - Safale S04, US56; Lager - Saflager.


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## pint of lager (9/3/07)

A 10-15 litre pot is nice, but most tricked up kits can be done with a boil of a few litres. If you want to have a crack at partial mashes, then do find a bigger pot.

All liquid malt (including many kits) that I have used for making starters has always shown hot break upon heating. 99% of kit beers I have seen in comps have been brilliantly clear. Do not worry about boiling the kits.

Kits should never be boiled as it affects the isohops extract that all kits are bittered with. Better to use your extra malt, rather than the LME from the kit.

When adding LME to a pot, always remove the pot from the heat source, add LME, stir to dissolve, then put the pot back on the heat source.

When adding hops to the boil, look out for boil overs. Liquids have dissolved gases in them, this is where the bubbles come from when you watch a boil. Hops make these dissolved gases come out very quickly. Boil overs are nasty.

Be very careful what hops you use for your first addition. High alpha hops such as POR will affect your final IBU's.

Stick to low alpha hops, or if you wish to use high alpha hops (anything above 6% alpgha acid rating), work out how many IBU's your addition will add.

Rather than combining POR and Amarillo, get rid of the POR and use all Amarillo which is a delightful hop.

Specialty grains such as crystal, black, roast can be steeped in warm water, the temperature does not matter, trying to gently raise the temp to 76 deg will add stresses to the day. Just steep it at 40-60 deg for 30 minutes, strain, DO NOT SQUEEZE and make sure the resulting solution is boiled.



> Certain grains require a mash. They don't have enough power to convert to sugar on their own. Specialty grains as they are usually called contain enough sugars and are used to add flavour and colour.


Base grains such as pale ale, schooner, golden promise, Pilsner, Vienna, Munich and wheat all need mashing at 65 degrees. Steeping these grains at 40-60 will only add starch and haze to your brews. They have plenty of power to convert the starches into sachaarides, they just need the opportunity to do so at 65 deg.

Rather than trying to load your fridge up with lots of cold water, consider making a few sanitised iceblocks up in clean plastic containers with lids. A few in the freezer means you can brew anytime you wish.

Just a few thoughts on how to make your tricked up kits easier.


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## simpletotoro (10/3/07)

bconnery ....*absolutely outstanding*....i reckon this is the bees knees mate...thanks!!! i agree whack it in the wiki please...
cheers simpletotoro


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## bconnery (11/3/07)

simpletotoro said:


> bconnery ....*absolutely outstanding*....i reckon this is the bees knees mate...thanks!!! i agree whack it in the wiki please...
> cheers simpletotoro



There are a couple of reasons why I didn't do that...

It is an opinion. Many people believe there is no benefit to boiling kits. I disagree for the reasons I outlined and found it improved my beers. 

I suppose that 'facts' in the wiki are still going to be opinions to some and I could...

The other reason is that I did ask a moderator about this prior to my post and it was suggested to leave it as a discussion topic. 

That being said if someone feels this should go in the wiki, go for it. I release any IP claims etc blah blah. 

The wiki is open to everyone after all


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## RobboMC (27/3/07)

Followed these awesome directions including the full crystal grain steeping bit ( 500 g though ). I was amazed how easy it is to hold the temperature EXACTLY at a desired temp. Used the dry DME in the boil, this also helps dissolve the aweful stuff, and dumped the whole kit can at the end of the boil.

Resulted in one great beer from the bottling samples I drank yesterday. All I have to work out now is how to steep and boil at the same time to cut an hour off the prep time.

Q: Does the liquid from the steeped grain HAVE to be boiled, does it contain any bacteria?


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## bconnery (27/3/07)

RobboMC said:


> Q: Does the liquid from the steeped grain HAVE to be boiled, does it contain any bacteria?



Without grabbing the technical terms for an exact reason for this, yes it should be. It doesn't necessarily have to be boiled for the whole time, but again I think it is better. 

If time really is factor I would start the steeping first, then spend time on other tasks, then get the boil going, preferably with your runoff from the steeped grain, then get other things ready while the boil is going (checking it though!). So basically, for arguments sake, boil @60, do stuff, add steeped grain runoff @30 etc. 

Especially for lighter beers I look to use the grain runoffs as my boil to get better hop utilisation, while keeping the amount of time I boil the extract to the minimum of 10 minutes...


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## Wortgames (27/3/07)

Grain contains A LOT of bacteria, mostly lactobacillus. That is why it is so easy to do a 'sour mash' - you wet the grain and let the lacto go nuts.

If you steep the grain, and don't kill the bugs, then they will make it into your final beer. How many and what effect they eventually have will depend on many factors, but basically anything that goes into your fermenter should really be boiled unless:

1. It has already been boiled (eg malt extract);
2. You are prepared to take the risk that it is clean (like hops).


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## Kingy (27/5/07)

a little confusing this topic :unsure: 

this is what ive come to 

steep specialty grains and crystal malt and use the runoffs along with 2 litres of boiling water and 1 kg of LDME.
boil for 1 hour adding hop additions at
40mins for bittering, say 20 grams of amerillo.
20mins for flavour , another 20 grams.
flame out for aroma probably 20 grams

at flame out tip kit can in and an extra dextrose if ya want 
then stir and cool
then pour through a grain bag or hop sock in to fermenter

am i on the money?


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## Pandreas (27/5/07)

I'm not hte miost qualified person to answer this..... but NO!

Do not add the whole kilo of DME to the 2 litres of water and boil for one hour.

This will likely result in the Malt caramelising and not giving you a good beer. You should only add the DME for the last 5-10 minuts of the boil. My last 2 brews have been pretty much ruined by this.... I've learnt the hard way!

It would be better just to boil 2 litres of water, grain run-offs and hops as per schedule for 60 minutes. Add the kit and DME for the last 5 - 10 minutes. You will have to remove the pot from the heat when adding dried malt and the kit malt to ensure it doesn't scorch and I would step up the water content to at least 5-6 litres to ensure you don't caramelise the malt.

In the initial post by bconnery, there is a link to bodensatz.com - check out this site. It includes a very easy to understand, step by step methodology.

Cheers!


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## Kingy (27/5/07)

yea ok im gunna steep the grains in 3 litres of water then add to another 2 litres of boiling water (5 total)
boil for 1 hour and add hop additions then at flame out add sugars and tin of coopers
sound better?


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## bconnery (27/5/07)

Kingy said:


> yea ok im gunna steep the grains in 3 litres of water then add to another 2 litres of boiling water (5 total)
> boil for 1 hour and add hop additions then at flame out add sugars and tin of coopers
> sound better?



That's pretty right but the whole point fo the difference of the method outlined was that the tin of coopers is to be boiled for 5 minutes minimum, pref. 10... This is different to the generally accepted method but as I said, I think it improves things. 

Your volumes of water are good though...


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## mika (27/5/07)

I'd done a couple of these that turned out alright, so my method worked for me.

Heat water till strike temp, you can heat the grains in the water at the same time, but I did it a bit more mash style. Once you've hit 60ish degrees (I found it was hard to control the temp so never got that fussed) throw in the CRACKED grains and let sit for 20mins with the lid on (helps to stop temp loss). I generally checked the temp again after 10mins. You may need another fire of the burners to keep the temp dropping too rapidly.
After 20 mins, strain the grain, keep the liquid bit, generally involves transferring to a second container. I used my fermentor, some people may take issue with that, but as I said at the beginning, worked for me. Then put the liquid back in the pot, on the stove and starting boiling. On one occassion I added the LME at the start of the boil, but generally it gets left to the end. I only boiled for 20mins, no need for a full boil, you're only going to evaporate water off which is a bit pointless when you're going to add a bunch more back at the end of it all.
Hop utilisation will be better with less fermentables, another reason to keep the sugars till the end. Throw the hops in when you fancy, I only added hops for aroma so never mattered much when I threw them in, late is OK.
Any spices, honey, dried orange peel, add with less than 5 to go as you don't want to boil off the flavour but some santisation is good. Some people will take issue with the honey comment...fine, read the first bit again, also doesn't matter if it's eucalyptus (flamesuit on !).
As you get to the end, I added the kit and cans (bags) of extract pretty much right on flameout, just to dissolve them.
Cool in the sink, I strained into the fermentor to leave the hop debris behind, but some people don't bother. I found that if you cooled to a bit less than 30degs in the pot (assume ~5L volume) if you then topped up to 22L with ~5L of fridge water you'd be so close to pitching temp that it didn't matter.

So there's my method for dissection, abuse, whatever. As I say, really can't see the point in boling for 60mins, making kits is meant to be quick and easy. Unless you really want some darkness in it all, I guess.


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## Kingy (27/5/07)

Kingy said:


> yea ok im gunna steep the grains in 3 litres of water then add to another 2 litres of boiling water (5 total)
> boil for 1 hour and add hop additions then at flame out add sugars and tin of coopers
> sound better?



done this steeped 120 grams crystal and specialtyy grain flavour pack
added estimated 20 grams of amirillo
at 40mins 20 mins and 5 mins
added can of coopers at 5 mins also
at flame out stirred in 1 kg LDME and 500 grams of dex
using saf 23

so ill see how it goes ay.


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## Pandreas (28/5/07)

Look forward to hearing about the results Kingy, keep us informed of how things are going!


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## RobboMC (17/9/08)

bconnery said:


> Pitch dried yeast, stir for 30 seconds+, lock and you are away.




Re-reading an old thread as I'm passing the info on to a brewing buddy, and came across this line in your super method.

Somewhere in the reams of brewing stuff I've read and forgotten was a mention that the fresh wort nearest the top of the fermenter has best access to the oxygen in the headspace ( remember this is before fermentation starts so there's no CO2 up there just yet ) and therefore the dried yeast is best left floating on top and not stirred.

The small amount of chemistry I understand suggets that some of that oxygen will even start to dissolve in the fresh wort and make it's way slowly downward through the top layer of liquid until the yeast gets it and begins it's feeding frenzy on the sugars.

Any of you experts like to comment on this concept?


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## Barley Belly (18/9/08)

RobboMC said:


> Re-reading an old thread as I'm passing the info on to a brewing buddy, and came across this line in your super method.
> 
> Somewhere in the reams of brewing stuff I've read and forgotten was a mention that the fresh wort nearest the top of the fermenter has best access to the oxygen in the headspace ( remember this is before fermentation starts so there's no CO2 up there just yet ) and therefore the dried yeast is best left floating on top and not stirred.
> 
> ...



"Pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of
the wort is above 20C (68F). Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the
yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes
and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration."

I got this off the Fermentis site on how to dry pitch US05 & S-04.

I have been using this method for the last 5 or 6 brews using the Morgan's kit yeasts, without a problem.

Haven't actually used any US05 or S04 yet, but have a pack of each and plan to use them next coupla brews and then farm the yeast cake to use again. Which will be the first time I do this as well.


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## FreemanDC (18/9/08)

I rehydrate the yeast into a cream before pitching, all this done on clean and sanitized surfaces of course.
, I notice re hydration takes away a fair amount of lag time, meaning a quicker start ferm.
The best thing you can do, and i do. ( i'll prolly get flame mugged for it ), is at every 5lts of water into the fermentor give a really good stir/shake to aerate all the wort. .
.
I think it has to do alot with what yeast your using, kit yeast will handle a lot of abuse, some yeast requires you to be very gentle.


- Another Useless answer that has nothing to do with the question by Freemasha


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## bconnery (18/9/08)

RobboMC said:


> Re-reading an old thread as I'm passing the info on to a brewing buddy, and came across this line in your super method.
> 
> Somewhere in the reams of brewing stuff I've read and forgotten was a mention that the fresh wort nearest the top of the fermenter has best access to the oxygen in the headspace ( remember this is before fermentation starts so there's no CO2 up there just yet ) and therefore the dried yeast is best left floating on top and not stirred.
> 
> ...


I know I'm not an expert but I will say a few things. Opinion is very firmly divided on the best way to handle pitching of dried yeast. 
I used to pitch and stir with a sanitised spoon. I wouldn't recommend that now per se, but it worked alright then. 
I don't do it now. I just usually pitch and leave it, as per your idea up there. I don't think I'd read that before but you never know, I read a lot of stuff about brewing...
A lot of people swear by rehydrating. I have tried it but didn't feel that it gave great benefits, not enough to outweigh the ease of opening a packet and sprinkling it around anyway


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## Tyred (18/9/08)

RobboMC said:


> Re-reading an old thread as I'm passing the info on to a brewing buddy, and came across this line in your super method.
> 
> Somewhere in the reams of brewing stuff I've read and forgotten was a mention that the fresh wort nearest the top of the fermenter has best access to the oxygen in the headspace ( remember this is before fermentation starts so there's no CO2 up there just yet ) and therefore the dried yeast is best left floating on top and not stirred.
> 
> ...



No expert here either. Still learning more about brewing.

I think this concept comes from introducing as much oxygen into the wort as possible. Stirring for 30 seconds+ will add more oxygen into the wort and will spread the yeast more evenly throughout the wort. 

If the yeast is pitched evenly onto the top of the wort and not stirred in, it will be in an oxygen rich environment to start with as I believe that there will be more available oxygen at the top of the wort. This comes from the concept that the oxygen rich wort will be lighter than the rest of the wort. 

There is also the likelihood that some oxygen will be absorbed into the wort before the CO2 forms a layer across the top. I don't think it will be too much however as the yeast (for my brews at least) appear to be very active within 6 hours of pitching - indicating that there is a layer of CO2 across the wort and filling the headspace and pushing any oxygen out.

I've done both, but no longer bother with the stirring or rehydrating. Pitching and leaving appears to work fine for me as long as I have the wort around fermenting temperature.


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