Healthy yeast pitched at the right temp and in the right quantity and great hygiene
Just dont EVER use sugar...allways use malt or malt extract
That's not a hard and fast rule, even for AG brewing. Sugar should be used with purpose. ie, you should know why you are using plain sugar and how much, not just "upping the fermentables".
As the subject suggests, it is possible to make commercial quality beer with kits or do you need to be AG brewing to obtain these results?
it depends on what you consider to be 'commercial quality
1 good way (1 find) is todo a reduced vol kit. Especially if you like bitter beers 30+ IBU (alteast bitter for the average joe schmo), hoeevr that does not always apply, see below.
For instance the Coppers Aussie Pale Ale goo is only 14 IBU in 23L : Colour - 90EBC, Bitterness - 340IBU (/23)
So in a 15 L batch
You can get away with 22.6IBU @ 4.4abv in 15L with
1 Can of Coopers Pale Ale
500g of DME
US-05 Yeast
Will give you a cracker of a pale ale, thats balanced quite well too. Little work involved using using majority of the manufacturers goo as your base. As long as you have good water, sanitisation is up to scractch and fermentaton control is stable.. i think you can end up with crackers at basement costs too.
P.S. another awesome option is 2 tins of coopers pale ale will give you a 29IBU beer @ 4.5% @ 22L volume, slap a US-05 yeast on her and you are away with an awesome, clean beer
I think this is a viable option for me if im in a bind or can no longer do AG (yeah right!)
Like anything, the longer you do it, the better your processes become and the better your beer gets too!
*laughter*I'm finding that my definition of what I'd call "a good beer" is changing ...
Fourstar,
Your calculations are based on a wrong assumption from what I recall.
To calculate the bitterness of a Coopers goo can the formula is Can IBU*Weight in kg/ Final Volume so in your examples 340*1.7/23= 25.13IBU in 23L
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