# Craftbrewer Asahi "clone"



## gava (27/2/09)

Hi,

Im in the third week of my "clone" of asahi down to 1010, I took a reading yesterday and had a taste of my sample and it has a strong bitter taste. 

Wondering if something has gone wrong or this will work its self out in the last week or in the one to two weeks in the keg?


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## Supra-Jim (27/2/09)

A bit more info required, what was in the recipe/kit?

Fermentation temps? Final Volume? Yeast?

:icon_cheers: SJ


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## gava (27/2/09)

Supra-Jim said:


> A bit more info required, what was in the recipe/kit?
> 
> Fermentation temps? Final Volume? Yeast?
> 
> :icon_cheers: SJ



MORE! you want MOOORE!!?? ok sure 

Brewcraft Asahi Kit contains
Beermakers Lager
Brewcraft Brewblend #10 (whatever that is)
500g rice malt
Brewiser Saaz Finishing Hops
Brewiser Hallertau Finishing Hops
S23 Saflager yeast

Fermenting temp 12 with a .5 swing *using a fridge/sub heater + tempmate*

Final Volume 20lt


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## seemax (27/2/09)

what exactly did you do the finishing hops? a short boil? steep? or dry hop?

if dry hop, how long did you leave them in the fermentor?

it can take some time for the bitter/grassy edge to settle down, give it 4 weeks in the bottle


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## gava (27/2/09)

seemax said:


> what exactly did you do the finishing hops? a short boil? steep? or dry hop?
> 
> if dry hop, how long did you leave them in the fermentor?
> 
> it can take some time for the bitter/grassy edge to settle down, give it 4 weeks in the bottle



put the hops in boiling water for 10/15mins..

put in fermenter for period of fermentation. (instructions off the kit)

ill just leave it go, keg it and hope for the best.. all else fails i can water my plants


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## chappo1970 (27/2/09)

gava said:


> Hi,
> 
> Im in the third week of my "clone" of asahi down to 1010, I took a reading yesterday and had a taste of my sample and it has a strong bitter taste.
> 
> Wondering if something has gone wrong or this will work its self out in the last week or in the one to two weeks in the keg?



The strong bitter taste is it at the beginning or at the end or just plain lingers?

I suspect the kit goop has a pretty high IBU to start with. I have never tried a Beermarkers goop before so i can't help you there mate. The hops you added are only flavouring and aroma. Plus you didn't boil them long enough to have too much of a bittering effect IMO. Did you boil the hops in just plain water or with some of the goop?


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## citizensnips (27/2/09)

If you boiled the hops in plain water and without any dme there is a good chance thats where the bitterness is coming from. When you boil without dme the hops can often release what many think is a harsh bitter taste. Could be something else though, just a thought, 
eddy


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## chappo1970 (27/2/09)

eddy22 said:


> If you boiled the hops in plain water and without any dme there is a good chance thats where the bitterness is coming from. When you boil without dme the hops can often release what many think is a harsh bitter taste. Could be something else though, just a thought,
> eddy



Spot on Eddy22  Hence why I asked.


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## gava (27/2/09)

The bitterness is in the aftertaste.. the initial taste is nice but a strong bitter taste comes in late and very over powering.. 

I did just boil in plain water..


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## chappo1970 (27/2/09)

gava said:


> The bitterness is in the aftertaste.. the initial taste is nice but a strong bitter taste comes in late and very over powering..
> 
> I did just boil in plain water..




That's your culprit my friend, plain water boil. Unfortunately there's little you can do about that now, me feels. I am sure there are other guys here that might have some other suggestion to offer to correct it. But I can only think of aging the beer for a longer period might take the edge off the bitterness. But regardless I would chalk it up to experience. Can I suggest you read up on hop utilization methods? Not trying to be smart, rather being helpful, hops and all that jazz is a mammoth subject just on it's own.


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## gava (27/2/09)

Chappo said:


> That's your culprit my friend, plain water boil. Unfortunately there's little you can do about that now, me feels. I am sure there are other guys here that might have some other suggestion to offer to correct it. But I can only think of aging the beer for a longer period might take the edge off the bitterness. But regardless I would chalk it up to experience. Can I suggest you read up on hop utilization methods? Not trying to be smart, rather being helpful, hops and all that jazz is a mammoth subject just on it's own.



hmm, so the instructions on the brewcraft is wrong?? well i wasn't expecting great things from this kit anyway so im not that shattered.. 
just annoying about ferm for three weeks and it comes out crap..


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## Adamt (27/2/09)

Don't get all doom and gloom! 

Wait 'til it is in the bottles (or keg) and is carbonated for you to make a final assessment. The "bitter" flavour could be one of many things. It could just be suspended yeast, or an unwanted fermentation by-product that may diminish with more conditioning.

10-15 minutes of boiling (were you actually boiling with the hops or did you sit them in boiling water off the heat?) won't give much extra bitterness. Boiling in water changes the compounds you extract from the hops, but this is not necessarily the problem. It is better though to boil with some malt (about SG1.030 is good), this drops the pH and aids in extraction of what you really want from the hops.


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## zebba (27/2/09)

Did you put the hops into something before dumping into the fermenter? It's possible you just got a bit of hop pellet/pulp in your sample. It's happened to me before - you get a little bit of actual hop on your tongue, which you don't notice until after you've swallowed the sample, and then the strong bitter aftertaste comes through. Get all worried, bottle, wait a few weeks and voila - everything is fine. I reckon this is what it probably is, in which case I wouldn't worry about it at all.


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## chappo1970 (27/2/09)

Where's butters? Where's the love? This is right up his alley? No?


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## afromaiko (27/2/09)

I've made this kit. Please don't tarnish Craftbrewer's good name, it's Brewcraft kit. I found it absolutely horrible and would not recommend.

I gave up on the Asahi because the dry enzyme will ruin any brew you but it in, but otherwise it's hard to make a dry kit beer. Since then I've made some nice Kirin extract & all grain brews. Very much in the same style and way tastier. Get yourself a copy of the Clone Brews book. It has recipes for both Asahi and Kirin in extract, partial and all grain.

It's pretty straightforward to make an extract brew and you can do it on the stove using a large stock pot of about 10 litres or so and then top up with water afterwards. 

Also if you want to buy the Rice Malt (or special 'blonde malt' as Brewcraft call it) it's cheaper to buy from Coles. The magic can of Brewcraft Brewblend #10 I think is just corn syrup.

Overall though the price of the kit is not too bad, but you can make it from better quality ingredients if you put it together yourself.

EDIT: Looking back I think this was the most undrinkable beer I ever made.


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## gava (27/2/09)

afromaiko said:


> don't tarnish Craftbrewer's good name, it's Brewcraft kit.



Whoops.. I just checked that... Im use to typing in the craftbrewer website and not brewcraft.. easy mistake..


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