Adding Some Grain To My Kit Bews

[Beerbuoy]

I'd like to try using some grain in my kit brews. I am currently adding hops etc but I have no idea when it comes to grain.

I am guessing I should be buying some grain that only needs to be steeped. I have checked out CraftBrewers range and they have quite a few to chose from.

To give you an idea of my prefered beer types - Generaly something like a Morgans blue mountain lager with 15g hops boiled for 10 min and either a Us05 or S04 yeast brewed with temp control. I'd like to add a bit more body and flavor. I find the kits a bit watery.

Any suggestions on what to use, how much and how do I do it?
How exactly do I steep the Grain?
How much grain should I use?
How much water/grain?
Do I then boil the hops in the liquid I have extracted from the grain?

Cheers

Ian

 

[Bizier]

Steeping grains are a fantastic way to bring your kit beer to the next level. IMO it tastes more like beer when there is some non-extract malts, though I have never tried the weyermann extracts, and assume they would be great.

Get some water about 70 deg C and add your grain in a nylon bag if you have one, and leave for an hour or so. Strain off and use this as the base for your boil.

How much... this is probably going to get different responses. Maybe <250g crystal malts total to ensure that you are not adding too much unfermentable sugars from these grains. But look at kitn'bits recipes here and make judgements on that. If you are adding roasted malts, it depends on the level of blackness you want in the beer.

You can also use carapils if you feel that your kits are lacking body.

Steeping is easy and you will never look back, I promise. I used spec grain on my 3rd brew and it really opened my eyes to what is possible, and without much effort. Then when you are comfortable with this you can use all of the other grains by doing a little partial and taking it to the next level again.

Good luck, and report your results.

 

[Gavo]

Hi
Steeping grain is pretty simple. You just need to soak the grain in some water at approx 60 - 70 degrees C for 30 minutes and then strain the liquid ready for boiling. For doing what what you are after you could steep 500 grams of grain in about 2 litres of water. Craftbrewer will crack the grain for you but they need crack a min of 500 grams at a time.

How much do you use is up to you, I usually went for 500 grams of mixed grain to each kit or extract brew. As for the type Craftbrewers descriptions will give you a good idea of what you can expect. Others here will have more of an idea of what to use to get the flavor you are after more than me.

Yes you do boil the hops in the liquid you extract from the grain.

A lot more info here.

Cheers
Gavo.

 

[Beerbuoy]

Thanks fellas. Sounds good.

Think I might give it a go this weekend. Now I just have to decide which grain.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Bribie G]

Carapils is great, I have used 330 g per brew = three brews out of a kilo. It doesn't seem to taste of much when you nibble a bit and wonder 'well what's the big deal with this?' but once you have used it a couple of times, you can always pick the taste in the final brew and you get a good head, lacing and a richer taste. Something you can't really put into words.... give it a go :icon_cheers:

Crystal malt is more for UK type bitters and it stands out as a separate 'toffee' note. I'm doing all grain now and you can really pick it. Up to 300g of the dark or 500g of the light goes really well in a Tooheys style old ale. I wouldn't use it in an Australian pale ale however.

 

[cfresh]

Hi BeerBouy,

With the help from some brew masters here I have recently been doing exactly what you are proposing.
I did a JS Golden Ale knock off with 500g of Pale Crystal (steeped @ 67c for 20 mins) using Dr.Smirto's recipe and I must say its the best beer ive ever brewed!
The color and taste are pretty damn close to the original and it comes up with a smooth creamy head.
At the same time I also did the exact same brew but without the grain. Whilst still an awesome brew the coloring is more lager like and the crystal in the other batch definitely gives it an edge.

I got some Pale Crystal (EBC 90-110) from Ross pre-cracked which as BribieG says is great for Ales.
I also made an all extract brew recently and used a mixture of 250g Pale Crystal and 250g Carapils.
Im a complete noob but from what I understand the EBC on Carapils is only 3-5 so it wont add much color to your lagers whilst still enhancing head retention (and flavour?) which is probably what you want and certainly what I was looking for.
Buttersd70 has a great article floating around here regarding steeping of grain which is what started me off and if the JS Golden Ale brew is anything to go by its worth it!

 

[under]

Im looking at doing an extract/steeped grain brew soon. Anyone got a simple nice receipe for me to try for my first brew.

 

[chappo1970]

All really really good advice above Beerbouy.

I have only just finished off my first K&Bits brew and if grav taste tests are anything to go by I won't ever be turning back. All I can say is give it a go. If you can follow instructions and bake a cake you can do kits and bits on your ear.

One thing I did find is have some chilled water on hand, say 3 to 4 X 2lt bottles, especially at this time of the year. I found that due to the steeping etc I was adding more hot liquid than previously with doing only K&K and so I needed to cool the wort harder to achieve optimum pitching temp. Tap water is currently at 26 deg at my place and is virtually useless to helping achieve pitching temp even with a little hot liquid addition.

I am very much like you in regard to knowing what grains do what, taste like etc. I found rumaging around this forum to be an awesome knowledge base. Look in the recipe DB. Also take the advice of the guys here and put together a simple recipe and post it up. The guys here will be more than happy to critique it and give you suggestions on tweaking and making your recipe better.

I found a second pot equal in size to your steeping pot is a great advantage, oh and also a $4.95 glass thermometer and a large kitchen seive/strainer from LHBS is invaluable.

"under" this recipe is what I did as my first. Simple hop and grains schedule. Also only needed to buy one 90g bag of hops and I bought 1kg of grain which should be enough to do another one or two brews.

1.7kg - LME (Cascade Golden Imperial Pale Ale)
0.5kg - BE2
0.5kg - LDME
0.3kg - Crystal Caramalt (Steeped 2lt @ 68c for 30mins and sparged 2lt)
Started Rolling Boil
30g - Cluster AA9.3% (30mins with steeped crystal)
15g - Cluster AA9.3% (0mins)
30g - Cluster AA9.3% dry hopped day 4 or at secondary
Yeast - Safale S04 (rehydrated)
Ferment @ 18c till cooked (Ferment fridge set 19 deg +/-1deg)

All I can say is dive in! Good Luck

 

[Nick JD]

Here's how I've been doing it. Works great, but it's by no means the "way" to do it.

1.) Get your 50cm x 50cm square of nylon and weigh up 350g of cracked, steep-able grain (usually 200g carapils and 150g caramalt).

2.) Dump the grain in the middle of the cloth and fold the corners up like a swag. Twist the cloth together and twist-tie it like a bread bag.

3.) Fill a large saucepan with 4 liters of hot as you can get it tap water. Plop the grain swag in and give it a whirl and a lift-drop.

4.) About ten minutes in, click the element/gas on to the lowest setting for a minute or two to get the water back up to 60-70ish degrees.

5.) Repeat this process for 30 minutes (a candy thermometer will get you a better temperature control, but as long as the water isn't "steaming" it's the right temperature).

6.) Lift your swag out and give it a very light squeeze. People say you'll extract tannins if you squeeze - but a light prod helps get all that sweet, sweet juice out. Taste the liquid with a spoon ... mmmmm, grainy. Bring it up to the boil.

7.) Using the same nylon as for your swag, make 2 (or 3) little 20cm x 20cm squares and get some string. Weight up your hops and make little swags tied with string. When your saucepan is boiling, throw the first one in and note the time. Put a lid on it and reduce the heat to a rapid simmer - I leave the lid slightly ajar.

8.) After 30 minutes taste with a spoon. Notice how it's now hideously bitter? Mmmmm, hops. If you made three hops swags throw in your second one.

9.) 20 minutes later throw in your third hops bag (or second) for only 3 minutes - make sure it's submerged - at this stage you're not trying to extract flavour from it but sterilize it because it's going in the fermenter. I hold it under with my stirring spoon and get the spoon sterilized as well.

10.) Throw the first (and second) hops bags out and throw the third in the fermentor with the steeped malt juice. By this stage it's boiled down to about 2 liters ... perfect amount to dissolve your 1.5kg unhopped malt extract goo and your 1.5kg LDME for a 5% ale.

11.) Fill to 23 liters with cold water and add yeast.

 

[Gavo]

Im looking at doing an extract/steeped grain brew soon. Anyone got a simple nice receipe for me to try for my first brew.

As said there has been some good advice here already. However I have just posted my first Extract Here. Very tasty and very easy.

Cheers.
Gavo.

 

[boingk]

I made up a foreign extra stout around 8 months ago thats been drinking well for a while, down to the last few longnecks. Its easy and uses just under a kilo of grain. Its kit based, but I just consider kits pre-hopped extract...so leave out a bittering addition. Only thing is if you want something to drink now - try this around the 2 month mark onwards for it to be aged well enough. I think its best at 6+.

Coopers Real Ale kit 1.7kg
1500g LDME
500g Crystal
300g Chocolate
100g Black Patent
20g Goldings @ 20min
20g Goldings after 4 days fermentation
S-04 dried yeast

Chuck the kit and LDME into a sanitised fermenter. Make a small yeast starter with a few teaspoons of malt and a glass of water if you want at this stage - it'll help the ferment get off to a good start. Do the usual method for grain as described above by these guys. After sparging and straining off the liquor, chuck in 20g worth of Goldings and boil for 20min. Chuck that into the fermenter and swirl to dissolve the malts. Add a bit more hot water if you need to. Top with water to 22L and pitch your yeast starter when the temp gets to 18-20'C (I find a wet towel and fan help a lot with the cooling).

4 days after fermentation has started throw the other 20g of Goldings in. Check SG at 10 days. Should be stable by day 14, especally if you racked it at day 4.

Bottle, but either use 120g sugar in a batch prime or use half-ish measures when single-priming the bottles. Otherwise you'll get gushers come 6 months, which is where this stout really shines.

Cheers - boingk.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Give the guys at Craftbrewer a call, Ross or Anthony ( Mothballs ) will help you out and set you up a pre cracked pack that will only need steeping then adding to your kit.


You will notice a huge difference..


Then YOU WILL move to the AG dark side and become a man

 

[staggalee]

Then YOU WILL move to the AG dark side and become a man

lol what a load of fuckin cobblas :lol: ...dark side my arse. There`s nothing "dark side" about it, it`s just a partial mash upped a couple of steps.
Sorry, but I always find the expression "welcome to the dark side" a bit like someone geeing themselves up to meet a laid down criteria, if you know what I mean?

stagga.

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Stagga


Pfft... :lol:

 

[staggalee]

Stagga


Pfft... :lol:

Duke



stagga.

 

[Beerbuoy]

Well I tried my first 2 partials this week . Very happy with the results.

One XXXX Gold clone, Morgans Qld Gold with grain instead of dext and some late Cluster, Lager yeast. Very similar only better IMO, bit more body and better aroma. Happy camper

And an english mild from Coopers malt extract, Caramalt, Choc chit and northern brewer hops. Wow! what an eye opener. This one really showes the different flavors you can get from specialty malts. Very Happy.

Thanks everyone for the help. If it wasn't for this site I would still be drinking smelly old "Home Brew". Also thanks to Ross from Craft Brewer, he's only to happy to help out with advice and supplies.

Cheers

Ian

 

[clean brewer]

Well I tried my first 2 partials this week . Very happy with the results.

One XXXX Gold clone, Morgans Qld Gold with grain instead of dext and some late Cluster, Lager yeast. Very similar only better IMO, bit more body and better aroma. Happy camper

And an english mild from Coopers malt extract, Caramalt, Choc chit and northern brewer hops. Wow! what an eye opener. This one really showes the different flavors you can get from specialty malts. Very Happy.

Thanks everyone for the help. If it wasn't for this site I would still be drinking smelly old "Home Brew". Also thanks to Ross from Craft Brewer, he's only to happy to help out with advice and supplies.

Cheers

Ian

Good on ya Ian,

Mate, you sound like you are on a slippery slope mate, just remember mate, beer is made from Malt, Barley and Hops, not dextrose and any other malaligned ingredient.. Keep getting that AG gear together, best beer youll drink..

 

[Cocko]

Good on ya Ian,
AG gear..., best beer youll drink..

So kit, then Partial, then AG...

So you go AG and next thing you know, beer is better than ever!

So are the steps worth it! I don't know.... Is running in running shoes better? Is watching a 56" LCD/Plasma better than a TV.....

Don't about that, except 1 thing...

AG is beer, same beer as beer is made from!!

 

[Beerbuoy]

Good on ya Ian,

Mate, you sound like you are on a slippery slope mate, just remember mate, beer is made from Malt, Barley and Hops, not dextrose and any other malaligned ingredient.. Keep getting that AG gear together, best beer youll drink..

Yep, Dextrose may have to be banned from my house :lol:

I'm working on the AG setup this weekend, thats my cyclone preperation.

And I agree, from my experience AG is the best beer. But I didn't post this to hear arguments about AG vs K&K. Just to say thanks to the people who had a positive input to my questions.

Cheers

Ian

 

[Gavo]

Well I tried my first 2 partials this week . Very happy with the results.

And an english mild from Coopers malt extract, Caramalt, Choc chit and northern brewer hops. Wow! what an eye opener. This one really shows the different flavors you can get from specialty malts. Very Happy.

Good to hear all went well and that you are happy with the results.

The more you brew with grain, in whatever way, the more you find a range of flavors available that you just can't get out of kits alone.

Good to see a happy camper.

Cheers
Gavo.