# Brew Enhancers



## Chippy (10/4/06)

........


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## bighanno (10/4/06)

Peter,
From their website
"BREWCRAFT brand brewing products are made from quality ingredients by people who really know brewing very well. Brewcraft brew enhancers & brew boosters can be used instead of sugar in most beers. You can buy them from BREWCRAFT stores or you can make your own . . . there are many recipes in the BREWING CRAFTS BOOK".
Who has the book??


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## Sparky (10/4/06)

I've got the book open in front of me, here's the text.... 

"#10 This is a neutral blend of glucose and corn syrup. Use it to give your beer kit a pure beer taste and creamy mouth feel."

"#20 This is a richly malted blend of malt glucose and corn syrup. It gives your beer a rich and satisfying flavour with a delightful creamy finish on your palate." 

#30 goes on to mention dark malt & corn syrup with added lactose.

I'm guessing this book was written by Brewcraft as their products are heavily pushed. It has however given me ideas and resulted in some very pleasing brews made using kits & their suggestions.

Cheers

WayneO


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## mika (10/4/06)

I thought Malto Dextrin was a no no in most brews. Bad Sugar... Evil...work of Satan and all that


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## Trough Lolly (11/4/06)

mika_lika said:


> I thought Malto Dextrin was a no no in most brews. Bad Sugar... Evil...work of Satan and all that
> [post="119549"][/post]​



Maltodextrin isn't all that evil - in fact, extract brewers use it to great advantage to add body to their beer due to the residual dextrins that remain in the beer after fermentation. When I made my Kilkenny clone out of extract, maltodextrin was a compulsory addition to the kettle. It's handy to use in extract based stouts as well.

All grain brewers use maltodextrin too....it's called Carapils. 

What is evil is using sucrose or dextrose instead of malt! Leave that stuff in the cupboard for bottling day...If you don't believe me, do a side by side comparison; grab 2 cans of kit concentrate (any brand, any type, doesn't matter). Do one kit with a kilo of dextrose and no extra hops. Do the other kit with a kilo of light dry malt extract and no extra hops. Do a blind tasting and I can guarantee which one you'll prefer...
//rant ends!!//
Cheers,
TL


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## MHB (11/4/06)

Re TLs comments:-

YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES 

Have been telling customers this for years, #1 selling combo in my shop is Thomas Coopers Premium Bitter and the 1.5 Kg can of Coopers light malt they recommend.

Malt is the beer flavour, anything else is faking it.

MHB


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## KoNG (11/4/06)

hhmmm,
alot of belgian beers use quite a bit of sugar in their grist.
it has its place, just not so good with a tin of LME.


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## Sparky (11/4/06)

I should clarify that my preferred methods are using malt extract recipes as suggested in the Brewcraft book.



MHB said:


> #1 selling combo in my shop is Thomas Coopers Premium Bitter and the 1.5 Kg can of Coopers light malt they recommend




MHB mentions Thos Cooper's Bitter. Can't get Coopers light malt here to go with the Thos Coopers range, however I often do Thos Cooper's Trad. Draught with a Munton's Light Malt. The results are startling. I've tried Black Rock Light Malt with this brew, however the Munton's I feel is the preformer & worth the extra cost.

The Thos Coopers Bitter goes well too. I did try a Thos Cooper's Bitter double kitted, drinkable, but far too bitter!!  


Thos Cooper's Trad. Draught with the Munton's LME IMHO is a recipe for a damn good session beer.   

Apologies for meandering off topic


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## MHB (11/4/06)

Sparky
Just to follow you a little further off topic

I love and carry all the Muntons powdered malts, as well as Coopers dry and all the 1 and 1.5 Kg cans of liquid on the market.

You have to remember, people moving up from supermarket shopping and looking for something better are being asked to spend around twice the money they are used to spending on a brew.

The Thomas Coopers range is a great selling tool, like it or not Coopers are by far and away the largest and best known home brew kit maker in the world (see the front cover of How to Brew), having them recommend using malt makes my job a lot easier.

A lot of customers take the step up, because it there on the Coopers can, from there it is my job to help them make the beer they want to drink.

Having said all that the Thomas Coopers Australian Bitter with a 1.5 Kg can of malt and 12g of Challenger for taste drinks a beauty.

It comes down to personal taste and availability, if your supplier is getting the Thomas Coopers they can get the malt as well and are choosing not to. Give them some, more choice is good.

To meander back to the thread:-
You all probably know this but it causes a lot of confusion

Corn Sugar is Dextrose, also called Glucose (Dexter Rotated Glucose Mono Hydrate, if you want to get picky) 100% fermentable. Maltose the predominate Sugar in Malt is made of 2-Glucoses joined together. The yeast converts Maltose into 2 Glucoses from each you get 2 Alcohol and 2 CO2

Corn Syrup is Maltodextrin, most commonly available form is 30% fermentable the rest stays in the beer in the form of Maltins giving body and mouth feel. Maltins are mostly Tri-Saccharides i.e. 3 Glucoses joined up. You get more of these from mashing hot.

Even tho in Australia they are both made from wheat dam all Americanisationisims, no that cant be right I should have change all the Ses into Zeds.

Sugar properly called Sucrose is Glucose-Fructose you still get a total of 4 Alcohol and 4 CO2, but the Fructose leaves a few bits over, giving the classic Sugar Twang, as Fructose is about 128% sweeter than Sugar residual Fructose can contribute to a cloying sweetness in the finished beer.

MHB


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## Kai (11/4/06)

Trough Lolly said:


> Maltodextrin isn't all that evil - in fact, extract brewers use it to great advantage to add body to their beer due to the residual dextrins that remain in the beer after fermentation. When I made my Kilkenny clone out of extract, maltodextrin was a compulsory addition to the kettle. It's handy to use in extract based stouts as well.



In my opinion it's only handy for extract brewers who use too much sugar, extract itself usualy leaves a lot more residual body than an all-grain brew does and a full malt extract brew often has a lot of residual body. In fact, my preference when doing a partial or full extract brew was always to include a small proportion of sugar just to cut the final gravity down a little. Then again I rarely use carapils either.

For a 'brew booster' I think the best bet is a combination of malt extract and sugar.


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## pb unleaded (12/4/06)

> ...If you don't believe me, do a side by side comparison; grab 2 cans of kit concentrate (any brand, any type, doesn't matter). Do one kit with a kilo of dextrose and no extra hops. Do the other kit with a kilo of light dry malt extract and no extra hops. Do a blind tasting and I can guarantee which one you'll prefer...



If you use the kit yeast for both of these brews then I would definitely prefer the one with dextrose.

If you use a good yeast for both of these brews then I would definitely prefer the one with malt.

arthur


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## chug!chug! (12/4/06)

Chippy

Does he live nearby? What about employing him as a brewery assistant and paying him in beer? 

Once he knows what he is doing he could use your gear when your at work, im sure he would look after it. I have heard AG has the cheapest cost per brew.

Take this with a grain of salt as I don't do allgrain or have a father in law!


TL

Went to my LHBS for some wheat malt because i read that it helps head retention.
He was out of wheat malt and suggested using maltodextrin. I didn't get it because I have read before that it is evil. 

Your information that maltodextrin comes from carapils (which I have also read helps retention) was very helpful to me. I will have more respect for his advice in the future.

Thanks
Willo


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## Trough Lolly (12/4/06)

KoNG said:


> hhmmm,
> alot of belgian beers use quite a bit of sugar in their grist.
> it has its place, just not so good with a tin of LME.
> [post="119653"][/post]​



Agreed KoNG - but to be fair, I wouldn't put belgian candy sugar or invert sugar in the same category as dextrose or sucrose! The belgian sugars are an addition to style, rather than necessity...  



> TL - Went to my LHBS for some wheat malt because i read that it helps head retention. He was out of wheat malt and suggested using maltodextrin. I didn't get it because I have read before that it is evil.
> 
> Your information that maltodextrin comes from carapils (which I have also read helps retention) was very helpful to me. I will have more respect for his advice in the future.



Willo - just a quick clarification there mate. The HBS guy may have encouraged you to add maltodextrin instead of wheat malt since the wheat malt requires mashing, whereas the maltodextrin does not. That said, I'd prefer to put in the extra effort since wheat malt does add other desireable attributes that maltodextrin wouldn't have a hope in hell of emulating. 
Maltodextrin doesn't exactly come from Carapils - they are both dextrinous compounds and whilst they have similar properties, they are different things. Maltodextrin is simply dextrinous corn syrup carbohydrate solids, typically in a powdered form. It's flavourless and easily digested and is commonly used to increase the final gravity of extract based beer, as I suggested earlier.
Carapils is a dextrinous malt that also adds body and foam retention properties to the beer. Technically, Carapils is a registered trademark belonging to a company named the Briess Malt and Ingredients company, in the US. You will commonly find this grain in Australia under the name of Carafoam, which belongs to the Weyermann malting company in Bamberg, Germany. Without getting too technical, Carapils and Carafoam achieve similar results - add body and assist in foam retention.
http://www.briess.com/pdf/Malthouse%20Ingr...20Malt%20WK.pdf
http://www.weyermann.de/eng/produkte.asp?i...ue=37&sprache=2

Cheers,
TL


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## BruceL (12/4/06)

Does Carapils or other "dextrin" malts require mashing or can the simply be soaked in water like crystal malts.


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## bighanno (16/4/06)

So can you replace suger/dextrose with light dry malt same kg for kg to the can mix?


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## homebrewworld.com (16/4/06)

God, no wonder ya newbie gets all confused as to what is needed to make beer!

Glad i use grain to make my beer, as all this other stuff is rather boring...

Cheers


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## normell (16/4/06)

homebrewworld.com said:


> God, no wonder ya newbie gets all confused as to what is needed to make beer!
> 
> Glad i use grain to make my beer, as all this other stuff is rather boring...
> 
> ...


Rather surprised that you bother to read the kit & kilo section, homebrewworld.com :blink: 

Normell


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## homebrewworld.com (16/4/06)

Yeah me too i guess.
The thread tittle' Brew enhancers' wasnt as intimidating as the ingredients.


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## piglos (25/5/06)

I looked into the 'Brew Enhancer' ingredients a while ago, and this is what I was able to glean:

* Brewcraft #10 - Dextrose 750g & Maltodextrin 250g
Brewcraft #15 - Dextrose 500g & Maltodextrin 250g & LME 250g = Coopers Brew Enhancer #2
Brewcraft #20 - Dextrose 250g & Maltodextrin 250g & LME 500g = Ultrabrew*

There are of course others, but this is a rough guideline that I use.


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## mika (25/5/06)

bighanno said:


> So can you replace suger/dextrose with light dry malt same kg for kg to the can mix?
> [post="120696"][/post]​



I could have read it wrong (coz I 4get where I read it from), but 1kg of LME or the such is ~ 750g of Dextrose/Sugar.

I'd have to agree that the brew's better with the LME, but if you want cheap and nasty, nothing beats a kit with brew enhancer.


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## mika (25/5/06)

Sparky said:


> ....Thos Cooper's Trad. Draught with a Munton's Light Malt. The results are startling. I've tried Black Rock Light Malt with this brew, however the Munton's I feel is the preformer & worth the extra cost.
> 
> 
> Thos Cooper's Trad. Draught with the Munton's LME IMHO is a recipe for a damn good session beer.



Sparky, if you reckon the recipe's a good 'un. There's a thread running under Recipes called someting like "Your best kit beer". Throw your's into the mix, then it's easy to find again when I want to try it


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## AngelTearsOnMyTongue (25/5/06)

bighanno said:


> So can you replace suger/dextrose with light dry malt same kg for kg to the can mix?
> [post="120696"][/post]​




From my experience, I will use either Kit can + 1Kg Dext (+100 - 200g malto)
or 
Kit Can + 500g LME or ELME + Hops (+100 - 200g malto)

Or 

3.4KG LME or ELME + Hops (+100 - 200g malto)

(and can also add Irish moss, Citric acid, Crystal grain (Steeped) etc etc etc)

I have not yet graduated to AG, mainly because I love the beer I am brewing so much. From the comments of friends, so do they. I have had plenty of people say that they (My Beers) are the best beer they've ever tasted.

For that reason I am very very curious about AG, but dont really have the equipment or time at this stage.

cheers

ATOMT


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## Mr Bond (25/5/06)

All you K'n'K ers.

Go to your lhbs(not brewcraft,the supermarket chain) and purchase 2 kg of Light (DME) and a Kilo of dextrose.
500 gms of light crystal(caramunich)
500 gms Chocolate.
50 grams fuggles or goldings hops?pellets.
A sachet of US 56(dry finish) or so4(fruity finish)

Buy a can of whatever,(lager/draught/ale/amber etc...)

Crack/Crush 125 grams of crystal plus 50 grams of choc and steep.
Strain and boil in 5/7 litres of water with 750 gms DME and 250 gms of dextrose,plus 25 gms hops for 15 mins.
Turn off heat and stir in can of goo.
Strain into fermenter top up to 20 litres and pitch with either yeast strain and ferment @ 18/20c(no higher).

This will give you a nice malty/amber type ale of around 4.5/5% based on a lighter kit,with colour and maltines increasing with the darker kits.
These ingredients will get you at least 2 brews b4 you need to buy some more hops or DME to experiment further.

The key is the addition of specialty grains ,hops for flava ,and a better yeast.

With these ingredients as a base ,and a top up from time to time as stuff gets low you will be able to make/experiment with a range of beers without relying on a brewshops (mystery) enhancer that is based on price ,not flava.


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## poppa joe (25/5/06)

Great one BRAULOVER..
Just what i have been going to do.... but did not know if it will work
Crushed a cup of Carapils ,cup of Crystal,1/2 cup of Choc..
Can of Coopers Lager ,so4,DME,Dextrose,corn syrup,Hops i have POR
and TETNANG....
I prefer a Light Beer..I get too drunk otherwise...
2 KILO Malt....???????
thanks n cheers
PJ


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## mika (25/5/06)

Brauluver said:


> All you K'n'K ers.
> 
> 500 gms Chocolate.
> 
> ...



I take it you mean chocolate *malt* ?? :blink:


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## poppa joe (25/5/06)

Mika Lika
Misprint ....Braulover probably had drunken fingers..
Says 50 grm further down...Any way i am gunna try it..
Got everything here and raring to go...Tomorrow..
Cheers
PJ


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## mika (25/5/06)

Cool, let us know what happens.

Think Brauluver was saying to buy 500gms upfront, and then whittle it away in 50gm increments.

Just wanted to make sure he meant grains and not Cadbury's Dark Cooking Chocolate


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## poppa joe (25/5/06)

Mika LIka
Spot on i think we have to be sober ourselves when reading posts
Sorry brau
PJ


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## Mr Bond (26/5/06)

mika_lika said:


> .
> 
> Think Brauluver was saying to buy 500gms upfront, and then whittle it away in 50gm increments.
> 
> ...



Correct,and yes its grains.They(Choc) will add a nice amber/brown hue.


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