Ales

[Foz]

Hey all!

Well as the temperature begins to drop to that wonderful 20 degree figure i'm thinking of doing my first 'real' ale.

I'm a fan of Coopers Sparkling (commercial) but was wanting to try something fresh and unknown to me.

I'm not much of an ale drinker (ie unexperienced with great ales that can be purchased) but am keen too brew some that others have tried and tested with great success.

All suggestions are welcome with open arms (light ales through to stouts and everything in between), and i hope that this thread can help many other inexperienced homebrewers like myself begin the incredible journey into the world of ales!

Thanks for all your efforts, this communitiy is quite amazing!

Foz.

 

[Mr Bond]

Hey FOZ,

What level are you at?K'n'K,steeping specialty grains,extract(boiling for an hour with hops).

Nominate a level of brewing and a style and you may get a few more responses

Help is at hand

 

[mika]

I too would be interested in what ales a K&K'r can create, I've also done a couple of extract brews, but let's keep it simple for the moment.
As a suggestion, I was in a pub the other day (unusual occurence I know ) and was drinking one called Abbot (or Abbots) Ale. Quite a nice drop and really creamy. I'm not a big fan of Ales but certainly didn't mind that one and if there were any kits that went close ??

P.S. Can't go past the Coopers Real Ale kit, it's a beauty.

 

[Mr Bond]

Morgans amber ale with a kilo of light DME and 25 grams of fuggles @ 10 mins will give you a really creamy full type ale.S04 will make it fruity and US 56(my choice) would prolly give it a drier more balanced flava and accentuate the hops.

18/20c max ferm temp.

 

[mika]

Sounds good, you say Fuggles @ 10 mins, so you're suggesting to boil the lot ??

 

[Mr Bond]

5 litres of water.Heat to near boiling,take off flame.Dissolve 500 gms of DME into it whilst stirring.Put it back and bring to boil,add hops and simmer/low boil for 10 mins. take off heat/flame and dissolve in 500 gms DME and kit(can).Cool down to 30 ish or below.Add to fermenter(strain if you wish) and top up to 20 odd litres.aerate and pitch @least 11/12 gms yeast and ferment @ 18/20c

 

[lpa]

Kia Ora,

I've just blown my own loaf-of-bread-shaped head off with a English style real ale which tasted and smelt so similar to the real deal it was truly uplifting in a Life of Brian kind of way. Anywhow, it was a Brewcraft (apparantly Muntons repackaged) English Bitter 1.8 kilo tin brewed with Safale S-O4 yeast, 50/50 pale dry malt and dextrose and a tea-bag of fuggles hops (10 mins in a cup of boiling, added before pitching). No need to do any great boil-ups, other than disolving the kilo. Pitched at around 23deg. Fermented for 2 weeks.

Tasted just like it did back in SE12. Quite a full on and dark one, mind. But if English Cask Ale is what you want then this one will do the trick. First time I used Safale yeast or this kit so I don't know what made the difference. Will find out soon enough. Don't think the tea-bag finising hops make much of a difference, but feel compelled to use them nevertheless...

Goodnight from funny old New Zealand

 

[Darren]

Hey guys,
Heat a saucepan of water to about 70 degrees. Throw in a kilo of cracked pale malt. Leave for an hour. Strain and then boil the liquid. Add to your basic kit beer. Never buy extract again!! Simple and cheap. You will also enjoy it better than any extract beer.

cheers

Darren

 

[mark_m]

Kia Ora,

I've just blown my own loaf-of-bread-shaped head off with a English style real ale which tasted and smelt so similar to the real deal it was truly uplifting in a Life of Brian kind of way. Anywhow, it was a Brewcraft (apparantly Muntons repackaged) English Bitter 1.8 kilo tin brewed with Safale S-O4 yeast, 50/50 pale dry malt and dextrose and a tea-bag of fuggles hops (10 mins in a cup of boiling, added before pitching). No need to do any great boil-ups, other than disolving the kilo. Pitched at around 23deg. Fermented for 2 weeks.

Tasted just like it did back in SE12. Quite a full on and dark one, mind. But if English Cask Ale is what you want then this one will do the trick. First time I used Safale yeast or this kit so I don't know what made the difference. Will find out soon enough. Don't think the tea-bag finising hops make much of a difference, but feel compelled to use them nevertheless...

Goodnight from funny old New Zealand

[post="126168"][/post]​

did the muntons kit (traditional bitter - probably the same one under original labelling) a few weeks ago with coopers b/e 2, safale s-o4 & nothing else - absolutely sensational out of the keg, disappeared fast!
Well worth doing.

 

[Foz]

Thanks for the replys everyone!

I myself am very 'inexperienced' in that all i do is boil the sugars and add the kit then add teabag hops to primary. The recipes with a can, sugars, hops and yeast are the ones my ability allows me to make!

Thanks again and keep em coming!

 

[mika]

This died a quick death :huh:
I tried Brauluver's suggestion, but it's almost out of the fermenter, need more recipes

 

[AngelTearsOnMyTongue]

This died a quick death :huh:
I tried Brauluver's suggestion, but it's almost out of the fermenter, need more recipes

[post="129159"][/post]​

As a basic K+K, I have had great results with the Coopers Sparkling Ale Kit. Its one of the Coopers "Premium" kits, (~$17 I think) but is a great drop without any added hops. In fact it suggests adding DME but I have had great results just with Dextrose.

ATOMT

 

[Mr Bond]

This died a quick death :huh:
I tried Brauluver's suggestion, but it's almost out of the fermenter, need more recipes

[post="129159"][/post]​

Dark or light Ale?(based on a can)

 

[mika]

Not a fan of thick tasting beers (eg Stouts), lighter ales are more my thing. Having said that, this thread ain't about me (or not supposed to be, Foz started it) so whatever ya got.
Rich creamy taste is good, but probably hard to achieve with a can of goo.

Edit: Just read your post in "Brew Enhancers", think thats the go

 

[Ross]

For an English ale, there's none finer IMO than Woodfordes Wherry bitter. This is a 3kg malt kit direct from the Woodfordes brewery in England. This beer has won champion beer of Britain. Nelsons Revenge is their strong ale & is another cracker as well. These were always on tap here before I started AG & the only kit I've brewed since.

Cheers Ross

 

[Uncle Fester]

Hey guys,
Heat a saucepan of water to about 70 degrees. Throw in a kilo of cracked pale malt. Leave for an hour. Strain and then boil the liquid. Add to your basic kit beer. Never buy extract again!! Simple and cheap. You will also enjoy it better than any extract beer.

cheers

Darren

[post="126195"][/post]​

Darren,
Not having access to Promash/beersmith etc, what would this method result in for % of alc?

The basic calculator on the brewcraft site indicates about 3.6% (it uses xtal grain for its calculation). Does this increase with the use of pale malt, or would you bump it up to 1.5 or 2kg?

Assuming a 1.5 or 1.7kg kit, and making the mix to 20 litres.


M

 

[RobboMC]

I prefer ales as well.

My favourite 'easy kit' brew is:

Kit Can of Coopers Pale Ale
500 g Dry Malt Extract
500 g Coopers Brew Enhancer 2 ( use up to 750 g if you wish )

Brew as close as possible to 19 deg C for 7-10 days. I never bother racking; and I prime in the bottles so don't have to wash a bottling bucket.

This is my high volume brew when my guzzling mates come for a taste of my home brew. I keep the really good stuff for other brewers. When you are ready to make better beer than this simple recipe start experimenting with Liquid Malts and Hops. I'm about to start adding maybe Cascade or Fuggles to this mix, anyone got better suggestions.

 

[mika]

Fuggles would be better suit an ale, but then use what works for you.
Certainly the liquid malts are a better thing and somewhere Brauluver posted a simple ste-up to extract style beers (simple addition) that I think is worth doing as well.

 

[bolverk]

I've only just got back into this brewing caper since Easter but I've found the 8 years of messing round with kits beforehand has left me with a few recipes.

A quick and easy one if like me you enjoy a Coopers Pale Ale:

1.7 Kilo Pale Ale can of your choice
500g Dextrose
300g Light DME
200g Dark DME
125g Maltodextrin
12g "tea bag" of Cluster hops steeped in 250 -300mls of boling water 10 mins and added to Ingredients just before adding the cold water
Safale S04 yeast

Ferment 8-10 days @ 20C

Has a darker caramel colour and while it looks nothing like it. I find it is a reasonable facsimile of the commercial drop.

 

[mika]

Hmmm ? Thought Coopers used Pride Of Ringwood (POR) hops, but then I guess it comes down to what floats your boat, turns your crank, blows your hairback
And some proper hops rather than the "teabags" wouldn't hurt.
Maybe to get closer to the colour, cut back on the Dark DME and go all Light ??
If you want to mess with it, try US-56 yeast. After trying US-56 and S04, I won't be repeating any brews with S04 in a hurry.