bowie in space
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 21/10/08
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- 583
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Hey folks, been real slack over the summer with my brewing. Done 2 kits in the last 2 months, i know, slack. At least it's given me time to sample the bottles i'd brewed late last year, and most have been quite good. I wouldn't say outstanding, but drinkable stuff. One or two that didn't come up too well, but overall pretty good. I just wanna make sure I am doing the right things and hope some more experienced brewers can comment on my technique.
Stock I have at the moment I have;
1 kit of Premium Coopers Australian Bitter
200g Crystal Grains (crushed)
Lots of Light Dry Malt
Lots of Dextrose
40g Saaz (chech)
US 05 yeast
This is what I plan to do;
Bring 1L of cold water up to boil, add grains, flameout and steep for 15 mins.
Strain liquid into bigger pot and boil liquid for 20 mins. (i've heard it's necessary to boil this liquid to drive away contamination)
Add 3L and 300g of LME and 40g hops (4% AA reading) and boil 15 mins.
Flameout and add 700g LME and 200g Dextrose and mix well.
Pour kit into mixture, stir and pour whole lot into fermenter.
Top up, cool down and pitch with a yeast starter of a teaspoon of LME, 100ml water and dry yeast. Store at 18-20C.
I've been reading a bit about boiling the hops with a small amount of LME (roughly 100g per 1L of water to balance the level of bitterness with sweetness of the malt). I also don't want a huge amount of dex as i'm not too fussed about the high level of alc%. I did a very similar brew last week without dextrose and the gravity read 1032, which is too light. I want an OG of about 1040-1045. I guess I could just add more malt. I wanted POR hops, but the LHBS was out of stock so I settled on the Saaz.
Does this look like a good kits n bits recipe? I'd appreciate any feedback and alterations to my method. Hopefully this can also help others who are tweaking kits to enhance their brews.
Cheers
Bowie
Stock I have at the moment I have;
1 kit of Premium Coopers Australian Bitter
200g Crystal Grains (crushed)
Lots of Light Dry Malt
Lots of Dextrose
40g Saaz (chech)
US 05 yeast
This is what I plan to do;
Bring 1L of cold water up to boil, add grains, flameout and steep for 15 mins.
Strain liquid into bigger pot and boil liquid for 20 mins. (i've heard it's necessary to boil this liquid to drive away contamination)
Add 3L and 300g of LME and 40g hops (4% AA reading) and boil 15 mins.
Flameout and add 700g LME and 200g Dextrose and mix well.
Pour kit into mixture, stir and pour whole lot into fermenter.
Top up, cool down and pitch with a yeast starter of a teaspoon of LME, 100ml water and dry yeast. Store at 18-20C.
I've been reading a bit about boiling the hops with a small amount of LME (roughly 100g per 1L of water to balance the level of bitterness with sweetness of the malt). I also don't want a huge amount of dex as i'm not too fussed about the high level of alc%. I did a very similar brew last week without dextrose and the gravity read 1032, which is too light. I want an OG of about 1040-1045. I guess I could just add more malt. I wanted POR hops, but the LHBS was out of stock so I settled on the Saaz.
Does this look like a good kits n bits recipe? I'd appreciate any feedback and alterations to my method. Hopefully this can also help others who are tweaking kits to enhance their brews.
Cheers
Bowie