0.5kg Of Pale Grain

[dc59]

Hey guys and girls, I'm making a pale ale with half a kilo of pale grain and a coopers pale ale kit. Just wondering what extras I should be adding to get full strength beer. As i'm not to sure how much malt I'm going to get from the grains.

I've got heaps of dextrose, 1kg of light malt extract and some dried corn syrup. I'm thinking of adding the 1kg of malt extract with the kit and whatever malt I get from grains and call it a day, but want to know what more experienced people think.

Thanks for any advice given, Dave

 

[geoffi]

If you're new to mashing, I'd have to assume you're likely to get a low efficiency from the grain, which means not extracting the maximum fermentable sugars from it. I'll hazard a guess and say your 500g of malt will be the equivalent of 250g of sugar.

So for a 'full-strength' brew you'll need to make up the equivalent of the 750g of sugar that the kit would otherwise call for.

Malt extract is not as fermentable as dextrose (or sucrose).

At a guess, I'd say throw in 500g of malt extract, and 500g of dextrose.

That should give you the strength you're looking for, with a fuller maltiness and a touch of grain flavour.

A little extra gratuitous advice: try to control your fermentation temperature (18-20c) and use a good-quality yeast (not the stuff under the lid -- US 05, SO-4, Nottingham are all good choices) for a nice result.

 

[Linz]

and make sure you get manfred to get the yeast out of the fridge out the back....

 

[dc59]

Hey Linz great to hear from you, and don't worry about Manfred, I may get a German history lesson from him everytime I go in there, but he gets me my yeast from the fridge when I ask for it. So I guess its a bit of a compromise we both have.

Thanks for advice Geoffi, I ended up using the malt and glucose as per your recommendation. I was surprised at how much malt comes from the grains, after I'd strained and rinsed the grains away and boiled abit, the solution was quite thick.

I can't wait for the results, thanks for helps.

Dave

 

[NRB]

I'm too late this time around, but if you want to make a batch similar next time, I'd forgo the dextrose and use DME. Dextrose is a last resort inclusion for me, or used sparingly in particular beer styles.

 

[dc59]

Thanks NRB, I prefer to keep an all malt beer usually as well, but there's no doubt that my mates prefer the lighter bodied beers I make. Their favourite one I've made so far was just a toohey's draught kit, 1kg of dextrose and 250g of corn syrup. Used the kit yeast as well. A decent session beer, but I thought it was a bit average. Just goes to show.

Can't wait for my first partial to be ready, brewing went without a hitch so far, heres to hoping it stays that way :unsure: .

 

[stm]

Apologies for taking this slightly OT, but it is a related question. What would be the efficiency of steeping a small amount of specialty grains? For example, 200g of carapils steeped for 30 min at 60-70C is the equivalent of how many grams of sugars?

And can I assume that it is not dependent on the precise temp, as long as it is about 60-70?

Thanks in advance...

STM