Help With House Brew

[myles_3000]

Hey guys, im slowly slowly learning more and more from the site and have a few questions which i would appreciate some help with. I have been trying to perfect a K&B brew at the moment and would love some input to perfect it!

I start with a Thomas Coopers Pilsner can, boil a 'Czech Pils world beer style kit improver' (Boronia Brewers Den) for 20 mins...Im not sure exactly what is in the improver kit, but it seems to be dex, LDME, hops (saaz??) and some grains. The kit improver also has an extra bag of hops. I add 75% at 3mins, and then 25% dry hop.

I am pretty much over paying $8 for the kit improver (im doing two of these brews per week), so would love some help with what type of grains or hops would be in this kit so perhaps i can bulk buy somewhere else and save a few bucks. Perhaps some melb. brewers are farmiliar with this kit?

Any suggestions to improve this brew would be appreciated! And on a final note...I have been using the kit yeast, which has a P stamped as part of the batch number, my understanding is that this indicates it is a Pilsner yeast. Is there a better yeast i could be using, or is this sufficient? I have jsut set up a ferment fridge so i now have temp control.

Thanks for taking the time.
Cheers.

 

[BjornJ]

hi,
I have not tried that kit, but a quick google on what yeast comes with the kit seems to confirm what you're saying about the Pilsner kit coming with a real lager yeast.

http://homebrewandbeer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=187


One thing to try could be to replace the "beer improver" with plain Dried Malt Extract.
How about replacing it with 1.5 kg of DME?

That should give a beer a more malty backbone compared to a dextrose/DME mix, and a good way to improve a kit beer, in my opinion.

For the hops, how about adding a bit of late Saaz for aroma and flavour?
Saaz is after all the classical Pilsner hop.

Go to a homebrew shop (or order online from the sponsors of the site) and order some DME and a tub of Saaz or Hallertauer.

Then when brewing the next batch, boil 1 litre of water with 100 gr of DME and boil say 1 gr/litre of the hop of your choice for 5 min.
Put the hops in a small netting bag or something so you can fish the bag out without getting hops in the fermenter.
This is not really necessary but keeps things easy and "tidy".

With your temperature control, try doing it at 12 degrees.

Mix the ingredients as usual, put the fermenter in the fridge. Maybe even put 10 litres of water in the fermenter in the fridge overnight from the day before brewing.
This cold water will help bring the temperature of the fermenter down when you are mixing the ingredients.

When the fermenter is at 20 degrees, pitch your yeast.
Next morning, set the fridge to 12 degrees and leave it to cool down during the day.
This leaves the yeast with almost a full day to grow before getting down to fermentation temperature.
This will help, as pitching a small pack of yeast at low temp can cause "bad flavours" (from under pitching).

Now, this is a great base for experiments!
The kit beer with DME and whatever hopping you want to experiment with.
1 gr/litre of Saaz at 5 min?
1 gr/litre at 20 min and 0.5 gr/litre at 5 min?
No extra hopping at all?

Months of fun comparing your own brews finding what you like best




At least an option if you want to experiment a bit.

Bjorn

 

[keifer33]

My only observations that BjornJ appears not to have covered is:

Boiling grain as mentioned in the original post. This is not a recommended way of doing things but as with somethings its easier for people to whack it all in a pot and boil it so shops love saying it . Seems simple enough and most people wont think twice about it. The correct method for specialty grain is to 'steep' the grain in water around 60-70c for around 30-60mins to extract the goodness without any tannins or bad flavors that can be when at boiling temp. Now this might add an extra step that your not cool with but eventually you will want to add some specialty grains to add a different dimension to some beers.

A specialty grain that may assist would be adding a little bit (maybe 100-200g) of carapils using the steeping method as previously mentioned to add a little more body and head retention. This maybe a similar grain to whats in the 'enhancer'.

This is totally optional but a good enhancement.

BjornJ's done a good job at covering everything and saves me typing it all good on ya BjornJ

 

[BjornJ]

yes, sorry forgot to mention that part

Steeping specialty grains is another great way of easily change a kit beer, like what keifer33 is saying.

And also great fun to learn a little about the different grains.

Adding some carapils or crystal grains can be a good way to test yet another couple of version of your house beer.

Then when you find what version you prefer, start playing with yeasts as well..

Before you know it, you'll be reading Nick's thread on doing a stovetop aussie lager for $20 and you're sliding down a slippery slope where we'll be waiting with more advice, hehe.

Bjorn

 

[myles_3000]

Thanks for the reply Bjorn.

Definitely something to think about.... I have been doing 800g Dex, 250g LDME, plus what ever is in the bag (net weight 600g, perhaps 350g dex 100g LDME and then the grains and hops).

After reading your post i am thinking i might try this.....

22lt final volume:
Boil 250g LDME
*Reduce to simmer*
22g Saaz - 20mins
11g Saaz - 3mins
Rack to secondary on day 5
10g Saaz dry hopped after racking

I think that would give me similiar to what i have been doing, and will give me a basis to experiement from like you suggest!

A couple of basic questions though(we all have to start somewhere!)...Just use hop pellets?....is the only difference between pellets,plugs and flowers the AA%?
Also can anyone recommend a nice Pils grain to throw in at 20mins?

Cheers!

 

[myles_3000]

My only observations that BjornJ appears not to have covered is:

Whoops, think i took a little bit too long thinking about my reply! Thanks keifer! Should i steep the carapils in just plain water or with some LDME? So i guess just steep it then throw it in the fermentor with everything else before pitching.

 

[BjornJ]

Hi,
regarding hops, pellets are nice and easy to use. If you see fresh or dried whole hops, why not try? Trying new stuff is a large part of the fun of brewing anyway.

Hop pellets are just shredded flower hops, this makes they easier to deal with and easier to use in small portions (I think?)
Using fresh hops will probably be better as with most everything fresh being better than using dried stuff, but I have never tried so can't comment.
I have tried flowers and plugs and to me it was just dry hops in cone form rather than pellets, didn't seem to be any difference.

For grains, carapils and crystal are often the ones to start playing with.
They are both specialty grains, as it the sugars in the grains are easily accessible, no need for a hour long mash.
Just steep them in some hot water as Keifer33 was saying and you'll be right.

Carapils adds very little colour/flavour, just some unfermentable sugars that helps with body and foam qualities.
Crystal is the same kind of thing but a little bit more roasty, so they will do the same as carapils but add more colour and flavour.
Adding too much crystal is often described as making the beer cloyingly sweet.

200 gr of carapils in some hot water is a great way to start.
Then after getting the grains out, boil your hops in this liquid.
You can boil hops in water but the hop utilisation is better in wort.

Or make a dark lager by buying 200 gr of Chocolate malt and try this in one of the versions..

Looking up the grains on the craftbrewer web site will also give you some more info on what each grain will give you
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=3658

thanks
Bjorn

 

[BjornJ]

sorry, forgot to add this link:

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=29655

It's a great thread giving a spreadsheet to help design kit beers, adding some hops and grains, etc.
Just what you might be after, letting you see the difference your additions would do and helping with perfecting your pilsner.


thanks
Bjorn

 

[mwd]

Whoops, think i took a little bit too long thinking about my reply! Thanks keifer! Should i steep the carapils in just plain water or with some LDME? So i guess just steep it then throw it in the fermentor with everything else before pitching.

No and Yes steep your grain in plain water at around 70C remove the grain then boil the resulting liquor for 10 mins or if you are adding hops add to boil for required time BEFORE adding to fermenter. Get the whole lot down to 20C or below before pitching yeast.

 

[myles_3000]

Thanks for the help with that boys. Looks like ill be placing an big order with Ross for some grains and hops!

I really appreciate the answers....and im sure many more questions to come