Best Keg fillers

[Colfa]

When I got into home brew it was for the fun factor of having huge quantities of beer to hand at all times for when people come around. Also to keep it cheap.

Whilst most people are looking for the up market craft beer taste, my criteria is different. I like to brew things that take about 15 minutes to put down and 5 minutes to throw in a keg. That limits me to extract kits with no boils and maybe a bit of dry hopping.

I also like to keep the cost at about 25$ a batch.

So far there are two brews that I have found myself doing over and over.

1st is the coopers real ale, with the brew enhancer 2 or with a kilo of ldme.

2nd is the mangrove Jacks Australian classic blonde dry with the brew enhancer 2 or with the mangrove Jacks nz larger fermentables pack.

I usually use us-05 with both kits but recycle yeast,so I normally get three brews to a sachet.

The question is.... What is your cheap keg filler recipe of choice??

 

[gezzanet]

Coopers pale ale. Brew enhancer 2. 20 g citra in 500ml boiling water for 4 min poured straight into fermenter. Us05. 18deg constant 12 days. 4 deg cold crash for 4 days. Straight to keg. Gassed for 1 week at 14 psi. Great for uni students

 

[Woong]

1 can coopers lager, 1 can coopers draught, both yeasts, 20g cascade bareback, 20g whatever else I've got (galaxy, mosaic etc) 20c, 7 to 10 days, cc 0-2c, 3-5 days, keg and force carb if desperate

 

[altone]

A kind of SNPA clone sometimes depending on what I do with it.
Takes a bit longer than yours.

1.7Kg Black Rock Pale Ale
I Kg Light DME
300g Dextrose
200g Light Crystal
30g Cascade
1056 or US05 yeast

Steep Crystal in about 1,5l water at 70-75C for 15 mins
Steep 15g of hops in about 250ml of water at 85C - keep covered
Meanwhile add approx 1,5l of hot boiled water to fermenter and dissolve DME and Dextrose
Add pale ale can and wash out with a little more hot water.
Strain Crystal into fermenter and wash grains with approx 500ml of water around 75C
Add hop/water mix
Top up to 23l with cold water
pitch yeast and ferment
after 3 days add remaining hops to fermenter

I've used Different pale ale cans and even blonde lagers. I also have done this with Perle, Magnum or Amarillo hops.
They were all pretty tasty.
The Dextrose is only used to keep the colour a bit lighter as the beer tends to be darker than SNPA.

Probably still hits the price criteria though if you buy hops in larger quantities and not the tiny packets.

edit: BE2 is fine instead of the LDME

 

[Colfa]

A kind of SNPA clone sometimes depending on what I do with it.
Takes a bit longer than yours.

1.7Kg Black Rock Pale Ale
I Kg Light DME
300g Dextrose
200g Light Crystal
30g Cascade
1056 or US05 yeast

Steep Crystal in about 1,5l water at 70-75C for 15 mins
Steep 15g of hops in about 250ml of water at 85C - keep covered
Meanwhile add approx 1,5l of hot boiled water to fermenter and dissolve DME and Dextrose
Add pale ale can and wash out with a little more hot water.
Strain Crystal into fermenter and wash grains with approx 500ml of water around 75C
Add hop/water mix
Top up to 23l with cold water
pitch yeast and ferment
after 3 days add remaining hops to fermenter

I've used Different pale ale cans and even blonde lagers. I also have done this with Perle, Magnum or Amarillo hops.
They were all pretty tasty.
The Dextrose is only used to keep the colour a bit lighter as the beer tends to be darker than SNPA.

Probably still hits the price criteria though if you buy hops in larger quantities and not the tiny packets.

edit: BE2 is fine instead of the LDME

Do you notice a big difference with the small amounts of steeped grains? Really noticeable in the end product? I've never done it before..

 

[Thomas Wood]

I usually pick something that looks good from this list: http://www.newcastlebrewshop.com/assets/newcastle-brew-shop-recipes2.pdf

Personal fav is:

1x Mangrove Jacks Classic Dry Blonde
500g Dex
500g LDME
15g Galaxy
15g Citra
15g Ella

I've also just started using US-05 and reusing it. Loving that yeast so far!

 

[Colfa]

I usually pick something that looks good from this list: http://www.newcastlebrewshop.com/assets/newcastle-brew-shop-recipes2.pdf

Personal fav is:

1x Mangrove Jacks Classic Dry Blonde
500g Dex
500g DME
15g Galaxy
15g Citra
15g Ella

I've also just started using US-05 and reusing it. Loving that yeast so far!

Are the hops just dry hopped on day 5 or so?

 

[Thomas Wood]

Are the hops just dry hopped on day 5 or so?

Yep, and left in for 3 or so days

 

[altone]

Do you notice a big difference with the small amounts of steeped grains? Really noticeable in the end product? I've never done it before..

Yes, even a small amount of Crystal makes a fair difference I think so I'd say it's worth it.

here's a write up on using it from BYO.
https://byo.com/article/using-crystal-malt-techniques/

But even if you don't want to add specialty malt you'll get a pretty decent beer out of it.

@Thomas Wood Never actually tried Ella hops, guess I should at some stage.
Are they similar to any other hop? ie. is there a close substitute or are they pretty unusual.

 

[Thomas Wood]

@Thomas Wood Never actually tried Ella hops, guess I should at some stage.
Are they similar to any other hop? ie. is there a close substitute or are they pretty unusual.

I'm no hop expert but I'm pretty sure they're similar to Galaxy and Citra, so not that unusual

 

[altone]

I'm no hop expert but I'm pretty sure they're similar to Galaxy and Citra, so not that unusual

No probs, they just don't appear in either of the hop sub lists I normally check, so didn't have an idea.

I'll add them to the ever growing list of things to try out.

 

[Rocker1986]

Don't really have one, I tend to brew different recipes every batch although I do have two regular recipes being a Bohemian Pilsner and a red ale. The others are usually pale ales with different hops every time. These are all grain beers though, so a bit longer than 15 minutes to brew

 

[YAPN]

Do you notice a big difference with the small amounts of steeped grains? Really noticeable in the end product? I've never done it before..

I always add a mix of pale malt for the enzymes and specialty grains for flavour. It's a pretty cheap way to pimp a kit.
That's a good link from altone. I would add a couple of things. I cold steep - 1kg milled grains, 2lt water, cover and refrigerate overnight, rinse with another 2lts. And, more importantly, I always boil the liquid (?liquor) before adding to the fermenter. Kills any nasties and gives me my 4lts of hot water to dissolve the kit.

 

[Black Devil Dog]

I'm no hop expert but I'm pretty sure they're similar to Galaxy and Citra, so not that unusual

I've used Ella quite a bit, in both lagers and ales, I've even used it in Kolsch style beers and while it's related to Galaxy, I don't detect any similarity to it at all.
I'd class Ella as an Australian noble hop, if that was a thing. Floral and mildly spicy.

Edit: As for best keg fillers. Similar to Rocker1986, don't really have one, but Euro style lagers and Amber ales are regularly on tap. Recently brewed some Porters over the cooler months too.

 

[Thomas Wood]

I always add a mix of pale malt for the enzymes and specialty grains for flavour. It's a pretty cheap way to pimp a kit.
That's a good link from altone. I would add a couple of things. I cold steep - 1kg milled grains, 2lt water, cover and refrigerate overnight, rinse with another 2lts. And, more importantly, I always boil the liquid (?liquor) before adding to the fermenter. Kills any nasties and gives me my 4lts of hot water to dissolve the kit.

Reckon this would be a good first step for someone who wants to eventually move to all grain, but doesn't want to give up the ease/quickness of kits yet?

 

[Rocker1986]

You won't get much out of the pale malt steeping it overnight in the fridge. It should be done in the mid 60s.

 

[Colfa]

Coopers pale ale. Brew enhancer 2. 20 g citra in 500ml boiling water for 4 min poured straight into fermenter. Us05. 18deg constant 12 days. 4 deg cold crash for 4 days. Straight to keg. Gassed for 1 week at 14 psi. Great for uni students

Gezzanet you have given me a new favourite.. Only modifications I did was to ferment at 20 degrees ... Everyone tells me lower is better but it's a swiller after all.

I also went overboard on the citra and put in 100 grams which I am not regretting.. Simple quick easy, tasty and smells great.

 

[jeff clarke]

Don't really have one, I tend to brew different recipes every batch although I do have two regular recipes being a Bohemian Pilsner and a red ale. The others are usually pale ales with different hops every time. These are all grain beers though, so a bit longer than 15 minutes to brew

sniffing around for a good red ale ?
so if you have one please let me in on it

 

[Rocker1986]

sniffing around for a good red ale ?
so if you have one please let me in on it

For sure, I'll grab the recipe next time I'm on the computer.

 

[peterlonz]

I usually pick something that looks good from this list: http://www.newcastlebrewshop.com/assets/newcastle-brew-shop-recipes2.pdf
Personal fav is:

My experience:
I have used US-05 for some time now.
My observations, confirmed by Fermentis when contacted:
The yeast is slow to start.
It takes ages to settle out after fermentation & the sediment is easily disturbed when decanting from bottles (I use kegs mostly).
Starter prep is not needed!!!
Recycling is easy, I do 3 brews before using a new sachet.

I've also just started using US-05 and reusing it. Loving that yeast so far!

For sure, I'll grab the recipe next time I'm on the computer.