How To Add Things To Simple Kits To Make Them Not So Simple.

[Slightly]

Just wondering on how and why to add additional things to a simple kit brew to make it not so simple, such as hop pellets? How do you go about this? Couldn't find an article about it but I would ike to know what pellets go with what type of beers, etc and how it improves.

As I am just using kits, and basic fermentables at the moment, I want to know about tte next step in adding more thigns to the fermenter to improve the beer (other than whats in the kit can, and basic fermentables such as dextrose and LDM)

 

[levin_ae92]

The first thing I did was grab some light crystal and steep maybe 250g of this in about 3L of water at 70 deg for 30 mins, then removed the grains, brought this mix to a boil and added some hops and boiled for 20min, then added some more at flameout, strained into fermenter with the other stuff (kit and fermentables), and voila, made some tasty beer

As for what hops and how much will depend on the style your going for, and what hops you like (if you know that). Cascade or amarillo are good with a coopers aussie pale ale kit

 

[Fourstar]

Well to answer 'why' is quite simple, to make better beer. My club is actually having a kit competition to see who can spruce up a tin of hopped extract the best within the boundaries of 60IBU and 1.060 gravity points. So, everything else is unleashed. Partial mashes, steeping grain, hop additions, you name it you can do it.

To get answers for what you are after i would suggest going to www.howtobrew.com and have a read through the extract chapter. this will cover how to steep grain, hop additions etc. Everything you need to spruce up a tin of hopped extract.

 

[levin_ae92]

Well to answer 'why' is quite simple, to make better beer. My club is actually having a kit competition to see who can spruce up a tin of hopped extract the best within the boundaries of 60IBU and 1.060 gravity points. So, everything else is unleashed. Partial mashes, steeping grain, hop additions, you name it you can do it.

That comp sounds like fun!

 

[brettprevans]

Well to answer 'why' is quite simple, to make better beer. My club is actually having a kit competition to see who can spruce up a tin of hopped extract the best within the boundaries of 60IBU and 1.060 gravity points. So, everything else is unleashed. Partial mashes, steeping grain, hop additions, you name it you can do it.

To get answers for what you are after i would suggest going to www.howtobrew.com and have a read through the extract chapter. this will cover how to steep grain, hop additions etc. Everything you need to spruce up a tin of hopped extract.

+1

if you can make a tin of goo taste great and passable as an AG beer good then you understand brewing and can make great beers. Ive made kit beers that AGers havent picked as being a kit. its a good way to expoeriment and get your brewing knowledge built up, about what does what and methods etc. cause if you can steep and then brew with 500g of speciality grain then you can AG. similar principles

 

[Fourstar]

That comp sounds like fun!

Thats why i thought of it and we are doing it! It was kinda funny when it was pitched at the club meeting. "So, whos in?" No one put their hand up except for me and the prez, then one did, then another. Ended up being 1/2 the blokes in the meeting. All Grainers fear change. Especially stepping back into the world of kits.

 

[MarkMc]

Just wondering on how and why to add additional things to a simple kit brew to make it not so simple, such as hop pellets? How do you go about this? Couldn't find an article about it but I would ike to know what pellets go with what type of beers, etc and how it improves.

As I am just using kits, and basic fermentables at the moment, I want to know about tte next step in adding more thigns to the fermenter to improve the beer (other than whats in the kit can, and basic fermentables such as dextrose and LDM)

Hey Matt

I've started to get more adventurous too. I put a brew in the fermentor last night, my first with a tea bag of finishing hops. Morgans Blue Mountain Lager, Morgans Can of Master Blend enhancer, 300g Dex, and a bag of hops.

Let the hops sit in a bowl of bioling water for 10 minutes while I mixed the rest with 2 liters boiled water, made up to 20l. Then threw the "tea" in on top, and added some ice to bring down the temp to under 24. Chucked in the yeast and brought it down to 18 with frozen bottles.

CHeck out some of the recipies here: http://www.morgansbrewing.com.au/recipes.a...OWN&filter=

Mark

 

[mrmatt]

*Newbie making a comment warning*

Hi mark, I've read your blog good stuff, following the technique you've used there with the hops, that will add additional bitterness but will need to be followed with a dry hop for aroma, yes?

 

[Dazza_devil]

You need IanH's Kit and Extract Beer Spreadsheet

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum//ind...st&id=33240

 

[manticle]

*Newbie making a comment warning*

Hi mark, I've read your blog good stuff, following the technique you've used there with the hops, that will add additional bitterness but will need to be followed with a dry hop for aroma, yes?

Hops sitting in boiling water for 10 minutes won't add much additional bitterness (mildly dependent on the hops) - but will likely add some flavour and aroma. Dry hopping beer is always optional but yes it will add extra aroma.

 

[MarkMc]

*Newbie making a comment warning*

Hi mark, I've read your blog good stuff, following the technique you've used there with the hops, that will add additional bitterness but will need to be followed with a dry hop for aroma, yes?

Blog has taken a back seat and needs updating, nice to see someone has read it though. Like manticle said, they were only finishing hops in hit water for 10 minutes so shouldn't alter tastes too much. They are my first step away from just the kit and sugars so it will be interesting to see how it pans out.

 

[bum]

Well to answer 'why' is quite simple, to make better beer. My club is actually having a kit competition to see who can spruce up a tin of hopped extract the best within the boundaries of 60IBU and 1.060 gravity points. So, everything else is unleashed. Partial mashes, steeping grain, hop additions, you name it you can do it.

Tip for anyone trying this. Cooper's IPA, English hops to max bitterness allowed, partial designed for your preference English IPAs, lots of late hops. Did this without the partial and some Carared and couldn't taste the kit until about 3 months after bottling.

For what it is worth it is my sensitivity to twang that is the only thing that convinced me to head towards AG. Twang aside I was making okay beers.

For OP. Fourstar hit the nail on the head - you do it to make better beer. Too many variables and preferences involved for anyone to answer this the way you want. The only way to answer these questions is to learn how to make beer and sort it out for yourself. I'm sure when you have specific questions everyone will chime in with so much info all you'll have is more questions.

 

[rendo]

Hi SLightly

Why to add....make better beer as said by others

Things to do that no one has sugggested:

Do you find your kit brews a little "thin" or doesnt hold a head very well etc. Most of the kits call for 23L right? Well, with your next brew try this. Brew everything the same, but only use 20L, not 23L. That should give you a better body and MAYBE better head rentention.

If your keen and you like aussie type lagers, then get a tea bag or two of Pride of Ringwood hops and follow the instructions..

CHEERS.....there is LOTS you can do....so have fun

Just wondering on how and why to add additional things to a simple kit brew to make it not so simple, such as hop pellets? How do you go about this? Couldn't find an article about it but I would ike to know what pellets go with what type of beers, etc and how it improves.

As I am just using kits, and basic fermentables at the moment, I want to know about tte next step in adding more thigns to the fermenter to improve the beer (other than whats in the kit can, and basic fermentables such as dextrose and LDM)

 

[petesbrew]

Hey slighty,
Do a search here for the hop & grain spreadsheets.
The hops sheet is handy, as they state what beer each hop is suited for, and the possible substitutions.
If you just grab this and that on a whim, eg. a stout kit and hallertau hops, it could be like putting tomato sauce on your nutri-grain.

PS. I haven't tried hallertau and stout, but would imagine it to be nasty. Anyone who's tried that combo and liked it, feel free to write me off!

 

[Nick JD]

I sometimes do this:

Boil 3L of water with 300g of LDME in it and add 30g of 10%AA hops for an hour.

Then I pour 1.7kg of LDME and 1kg of dextrose into the fermenter.

Pour the hot hop extract water through a sieve into the fermenter. Dissolve (don't worry about the malteezers).

Top up to 23L with cold tap water and add yeast. Do this recipe with Pride of Ringwood and you've got a Carlton beer.

Too easy - and best of all it doesn't taste like homebrew, it tastes like beer.

 

[johnyb]

Hi Nick,

I am probably asking a sill newbie question here, but...I imagine boiling 3 litres of water or an hour would result in considerable loss of water volume, so my question is...Do you keep topping up the 3 litres of water so as you boil so that you have a final volume of 3 litres to add to the fermenter, or, Do you just boil the 3 litres for an hour and add whatever volume (say 1.5 or 2 lts) is lewft, then top up to 23litres?

Thanks, JB

 

[Nick JD]

Hi Nick,

I am probably asking a sill newbie question here, but...I imagine boiling 3 litres of water or an hour would result in considerable loss of water volume, so my question is...Do you keep topping up the 3 litres of water so as you boil so that you have a final volume of 3 litres to add to the fermenter, or, Do you just boil the 3 litres for an hour and add whatever volume (say 1.5 or 2 lts) is lewft, then top up to 23litres?

Thanks, JB

Because the malt extract in the boil has already been boiled when it was originally made it doesn't need to be boiled to drive off any bad things in it. So while it's very bad form to put a lid on your All Grain boils, it's fine to put a lid on little bittering hop boils. It's also cool to just bring it to the boil and then simmer at 100C, rather than a rolling boil.

The primary concern is extracting the bittering compounds from the hops. If it loses 30% and ends up only 2L, then that's not really an issue either.

Essentially, this kind of extract brewing is exactly the same as Kit and Kilo, except the plain boiling water you used to dissolve everything in the fermenter is not plain boiling water, but a hopped bitter extract.

 

[Siborg]

Hey. I'm gonna have a go at the comp fourstar mentioned. I'm gonna aim for a a coopers kit, with some mashed grains to make up the gravity and colour (aiming for something dark and evil).

My question is how much hops should I add? There is a limit of 60IBUs for the comp, and I know the kits are hopped, I'm just not sure as to how much space there would be to add hops. I think the time that I add the kit in the boil would make a difference too, wouldn't it? Do the hops from the kit start to fade the longer you boil it?

 

[levin_ae92]

The bitterness from the kit won't chang no mattEr how long you boils, so you might as well leave it out of the boil and just use your mash liquor for the boil. I'm pretty sure the pale is not a very bitter kit so maybe just do additions at 30 or less? I guess there's alot of dif styles you could do! Maybe a coopers English bitter as a base fr an English ipa?

 

[Brewman_]

Just wondering on how and why to add additional things to a simple kit brew to make it not so simple, such as hop pellets? How do you go about this? Couldn't find an article about it but I would ike to know what pellets go with what type of beers, etc and how it improves.

As I am just using kits, and basic fermentables at the moment, I want to know about tte next step in adding more thigns to the fermenter to improve the beer (other than whats in the kit can, and basic fermentables such as dextrose and LDM)

Slightly,
You can make some decent beer with kits as you are doing. Good process is essential whether you do kits or AG, and many AGers do not have this right, so put some focus on this, making good beer is more than just getting a good wort together.

Then choose a style / beer example you like, ask questions about the details and find out how to build that beer. Think about the SG, FG, a kit that matches the basic style closely, then look at what sugars to add, some hops to enhance the kit flavour and aroma to meet the beer example you have chosen. Get a good yeast to suit the style you are making. If you want to make a Lager or Pilsner, forget it if you do not have temperature control. You can steep grains as well.

You need to set a target beer first and then start asking specific questions.

Good luck,

Fear.