Cascade Premium Kit....any Good?

[nevbass]

I'm currently having a crack at a Brewcraft Cascade Premium kit. I started it one week ago, and it's still happily bubbling away.

The kit consists of a Black Rock Dry Lager, 500grams Light Malt Improver, 1kg #60 German Lager Beer Kit Converter, 15grams Hallertau Hops and Saflager s-23 Yeast.

The temperature range has been between 18 degrees and 20 degrees, however it was mid twenties for the first 24 hours (Forgot to let it cool before adding the yeast).

For the first couple of days there was a distictive smell of sulphur which has since dissipated.

Not sure what to expect from this kit. Reading at seven days is 1011. Taste is sweet. Not sure how long fermentation will take.

Has anyone else tried this kit out?? I would love any feedback. :icon_cheers:

 

[Bribie G]

I'm not familiar with what is in Brewcraft's 'converter' kits but it sounds like a reasonably well balanced brew for a kit + ingredients. The yeast is a true lager yeast and "should" be fermented at around 12 degrees but having said that, in my kits days I used s-23 a couple of times before I had a fermenting fridge and it turned out ok. However since you are fermenting it at ale temperatures you may end up with a bit of 'fruitiness' with this yeast. I got a sort of lemony flavour (different to the esters you get with ale yeasts) which I didn't mind. At those temps I would let it go for about 10 days and you should stay out of trouble.

:icon_cheers:

 

[nevbass]

I'm not familiar with what is in Brewcraft's 'converter' kits but it sounds like a reasonably well balanced brew for a kit + ingredients. The yeast is a true lager yeast and "should" be fermented at around 12 degrees but having said that, in my kits days I used s-23 a couple of times before I had a fermenting fridge and it turned out ok. However since you are fermenting it at ale temperatures you may end up with a bit of 'fruitiness' with this yeast. I got a sort of lemony flavour (different to the esters you get with ale yeasts) which I didn't mind. At those temps I would let it go for about 10 days and you should stay out of trouble.

:icon_cheers:

Thanks for that, do you have any good recipes for a tassie style premium beer??

 

[Bribie G]

To get a 'premium' beer you really need to go to grain-based brewing, but for a kit beer you could do worse than using a can of goop that is not too flavourful in its own right, and lay down some of your own flavours on top of it. I think Cascade use Pride of Ringwood hops in the background and then use either Hallertau or Saaz over the top to give that 'Euro' flavour in their premium lager.

You could try:

1 tin Coopers Canadian
1 tin Morgans extra pale malt extract (unhopped)
500g dextrose

Boil 20g Pride of Ringwood hops for 30 mins in a couple of litres of water with a few dessertspoons of the dex
Boil 15g Saaz pellets in the mixture for 10 mins

Strain into the fermenter. If you are going to use the s-23 again then try to ferment as close to 12 degrees as possible, or if you don't have a fermentation fridge consider using a 'clean' fermenting ale yeast such as US-05 and ferment at around 17 degrees. US-05 can make a good 'fake' lager.


Another tweak is to steep 300g of Carapils grain in hot water for an hour, strain it into the pot that you are boiling the hops in. Carapils gives a nice grainy flavour and improves the head retention, body and 'lacing in the glass' like you wouldn't believe.

Huge variety of hops and grains available from sponsors at top of page, mail order :icon_cheers:

 

[nevbass]

Wow!! Sound great!! Thanks for that.