Heading In the right direction?

[Major Arcana]

brzt6060 Yeah sweet sounds good may try out 1 of these combinations in the next batch i think, mix it up a bit.!

cheers, :icon_cheers:

 

[pilgrimspiss]

I wouldn't use just 500g of DME.
I would use one of the following combinations or something similar:
500g DME & 500g Dextrose
1kg DME and 200g to 500g dextrose
1kg dextrose and 200g to 500g DME.
I think you get the point.
Play around, experiment and most importantly have fun and don't stress.

Yep brzt6060 hit it on the head.

I used to put 3 litres of water in a pot and start it heating up, add 500g of DME and 500g - 1kg of dextrose depending on how much extra alcohol kick you want and sometimes 500g of Wheat DME (I found some of the cans gave different head retension.) I used to swap the dextrose for standard brown sugar for pale ales. Gave them a nice flavour and didnt seem to be so tangy.

Stir it up, add a steep bag of hops that suits your style, bring to the boil for a couple of minutes then pour it all in the fermentor with your can goo and top up to the volume you want with cold water.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong but i think 1kg of dex / DME is about 1 % alc increase?
It will also make your beer 'dryer' the more dex you add.

Cheers
Matty

edit - sorry been a while since I've played with kits!!

 

[Major Arcana]

Yep brzt6060 hit it on the head.

I used to put 3 litres of water in a pot and start it heating up, add 500g of DME and 500g - 1kg of dextrose depending on how much extra alcohol kick you want and sometimes 500g of Wheat DME (I found some of the cans gave different head retension.) I used to swap the dextrose for standard brown sugar for pale ales. Gave them a nice flavour and didnt seem to be so tangy.

Stir it up, add a steep bag of hops that suits your style, bring to the boil for a couple of minutes then pour it all in the fermentor with your can goo and top up to the volume you want with cold water.

Someone correct me if i'm wrong but i think 1kg of dex / DME is about 1 % alc increase?
It will also make your beer 'dryer' the more dex you add.

Cheers
Matty

edit - sorry been a while since I've played with kits!!

Ahh mate just what i was wanting to hear, how you mixed it all up etc and added it to the wort etc, thats great advice.

1 other query if i may ask, how do you guys store your bottles straight after bottling?? somewhere cold and out of the light i am assuming and also do you move them somewhere else after a period of time? I am planning on leaving mine for a good 2-3 months somewhere.

cheers,

 

[pilgrimspiss]

Two weeks around a stable temp of about 18 C. My pantry was perfect.

Used to put the bottles back in the cartons standing up and close the cartons up. Should be carb'd up enough to drink after 2 weeks. The longer you can let them sit the better they will taste!!!

Just make sure you've got your stable final gravity for 2-3 days before you bottle.

I'd give mine 2-3 weeks in the pantry then into the beer fridge.

Cheers
Matty.

 

[Nullnvoid]

Haa mate im getting bloody excited now, the second batch i have is a Black Rock Pilsener, hopefully she goes well, are you familiar with this one? Also did you use the 1kg of dextrose for all of your batches?

cheers, :icon_cheers:

I haven't used dextrose. With all of mine so far I have used 1kg of DME. The first lot came with the brewcraft kit.

I haven't tried the pilsner but I reckon it would be alright. Only done a few but I'm starting to play around with hop additions and little bits of grain.

It's all good fun and tasty to drink!

 

[Major Arcana]

hey fellas im gonna be bottling tomorrow evening if my FG reads the same tonight for the 3rd night in a row will have been 13days in the fermentor, i have 60 375ml stubbies and im going to put 1 carbonation drop into each of them does this sound about right?

cheers,

 

[TheWiggman]

Spot on.

 

[Nullnvoid]

Sounds pretty good to this newbie!

 

[Major Arcana]

Awesome!! Tell me fellas how does the caps go with the twist top bottles? I do have a bottle capper etc

cheers!

 

[Nullnvoid]

I think it depends on who you ask . I have just bottled my 7th kit of 55 screw top bottles and have not had an issue.

 

[Major Arcana]

I think it depends on who you ask . I have just bottled my 7th kit of 55 screw top bottles and have not had an issue.

Sweet, will give it a good old try, im going in cofident.

I got a kit converter the other day that compliments the Black Rock Pilsener wort im trying this weekend, im going to boil the kit converter in 3-4 litres of water and do i throw the hop bag in to this guys? and for how long do i leave it in for? lil confused on this 1?

cheers,

 

[Major Arcana]

G'day fellas,

Just an update, 3rd night in a row have recorded the same FG the OG was 1045 and the FG is sitting nicely at like 1012 so will be bottling the first batch tonight pretty excited, then gonna store away for a good while and will try a bottle in a few weeks though because i will be doin my head in waiting the whole time no doubt.

The second brew im going to try is the 1 i mentioned above, the Black Rock Pilsener, with the kit converter im pretty clued up on how to approach it, it is just the hop bag that has me a lil stumped i have read heaps of different techniques, just not sure wether to boil it in with the kit converter and then add it all to the wort and fermentor, any thoughts at all?

cheers!! :chug: