Kit Explanation

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gravity121

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Hi, I am new to all this and need a quick bit of info from people who know what they're talking about.

I'm about to buy an IPA kit, probably coopers. Do the standard kits require that you add hops to create an IPA or is there already hops in the extract? So can I just use the kit without adding anything but fermentables? I understand that adding hops makes things better, but I'm trying to understand what makes that kit an IPA if I have to go and add my own hops?

If kits are just malt extract, what's the difference between them all?

Appreciate any info that can help me with this.

Thanks a lot
 
Hi mate. Unless the can says that it is Malt Extract then it is a pre-hopped kit. Most kits have bittering hops added to them but due to the nature of their manufacture they lack late hop freshness. You can do this buy boiling some light dry malt extract in a pot of water and adding late addition hops at say 10 minutes and at flameout. IPA's benefit from being dry hopped when the ferment starts slowing down. There are many recipes for kits on this site and at Coopers. Let the search function on this site be your friend.
 
No standard kits don't require hops as the malt extract has been 'hopped' by the manufacturer.

Yes you can use the kit with only adding fermentables and as this is your first brew it would be my recommendation to keep it simple.

Please go here and read some of the FAQ about kit & kilo
 
I'd do the Coopers IPA kit as per instructions other than temperature of the fermentation (keep it at 18 degrees, 20 max) and ferment for 14 days. This will then give you a base to work on, you may stay with the kit style or look to had extra hops on your next brew but a "base level" IMO is a good start for new brewers.

Remember cleanliness, sanitation and fermentation temp control are your best friends to great brews.

Cheers
 
^^ what grott said. I'd use light dry malt instead of whatever they tell you on the tin though. When I was starting out and cheaped out by using table sugar / dex, that was probably the worst mistake so far. After switching to dried malt my brews improved by an order of magnitude.

Happy brewing!
 
Another new fella, I'm trying to get my head around brewing and I'm so happy to find information here for people new to brewing.
Thanks to Jack of all biers for the link to, pint of larger's thread on FAQ :beerbang:
I'm on batch 4 and 5 right now (put down before joining here) and wish I found this site before starting my first brew.
Average temps for all brews are around 26 C but for the first Larger, it is not horrible.
4 weeks in now and I found that the first brew from the starter kit actually tastes like beer and have got the brewing bug big time.
Only thing I am worried about with both fermenters going now is the smell, both brews smell bad like bad eggs mixed with some other funky smell.
I'm going to keep them going and will test grav on day 6 so I can taste the sample to see if it tastes ok.
I'll be trying to reduce brewing temps ASAP, and all other advice will help out a lot.
 
Lagers (lager has one r :p ) usually generate hydrogen sulphide (as does a night on the curried eggs) so don't worry, just give it time to clear up and don't bottle too soon. A little tad of sulphur is actually part of the aroma of a lot of european lagers.
 
see eye lern noo sutf evry day, like spellin and stuf.
Cheers Bribie G, I'll let you know if it turns out drinkable :)
 
What Grott said above is appropriate to reiterate Donz. Cleanliness, good sanitation practices and then fermentation temperature control are important in that order, but the level of importance is not that far apart. Now, depending on access to spare fridges/freezers or coin you have, there are easy ways and cheap ways to keep the temp down. Qld is probably more difficult than SA to use wet towels to keep temp down, but the dry season is not that far so there is one method for you. Place fermenter in a bucket/bath/sink filled with water and ice packs/soft drink bottles with frozen water in them. wrap towels around the entire fermenter including from above. The cold water will help keep the parts submerged at a stable (and hopefully cool) temp longer and the towels will wick up the water and cool the rest of the fermenter. A pedestal fan blowing air against the towels assists greatly in evaporation of the towels and therefore cooling. This was how I did it before I acquired a free fridge and bought an STC1000 temp controller from E-bay for $13. A $5 box from Jaycar, an extension cord and a little U-tube viewing and soldering know how and you get yourself a damn good temperature controller for said fridge and you will never use all the wifes good towels again. :ph34r:

What, she loves beer too :party:

EDIT - I can't spell right either :p
 
Morayfield is away from the sea and can be a hot hole in the Summer but can be chilly from May on.
When I lived backing on to Sheepstation Creek we even had frosts.
So if Donz has a good stable space like a brick garage he's coming into a sweet period.
However from Sept on, urgent fridge will be needed.
 
If you sit the fermenter in water make sure you sanitise the tap outside and up the spout when you remove it from the water. Alternatively, prior to placing in water, sanitise the tap put a plastic bag over it and secure with a rubber band.
I use a foam box system and I know Bribie did the same which works well with frozen soft drink bottles of water.
You can search these methods on this site.
Cheers
 
Thanks guys, I'll do the water tray trick with a towel until I find a fridge, I'm brewing in my man cave (converted single garage) and bought aircon this year so when I'm home the temps are around 24 C or 26 in the brew, so keeping the temp lower with a tray and towels should not be too hard, and coming into the cooler season I'll have some time to find a fridge and thermostat for next year's heat wave :D .
I have 2 empty kegs at the moment, and the 2 batches I'm doing now have been on the warm side of 24- 28 C, would it be worth just bottling these 2 and keep the kegs for a brew that I have a lower and more stable temp?
PS: tasting a brew that has been sitting for 3 weeks is really clear and tastes fine to me, better than a can of TUN and some other strange beers I've bought from the bottle shop.
 
would you keg them and put them straight in the fridge, or let the kegs stay outside the fridge for a few weeks?
I have the room for them , I just don't know to put them in or leave them out.
 
If you have them gassed up, then put them in the fridge. They'll still get better at cooler temps over time. If they need natural carbonation and conditioning then leave them out, but under 20C is best.
 
If you have the room in the fridge put them in, connect gas at serving pressure and leave ( set and forget) for a week or two.
 
:unsure: Last week I put a beer straight from fermenter into keg,( I know spelling is wrong) Tasted today and it is super cloudy and tastes of creamed corn :(
will this get better or should I just dump it?
EDIT: DETAILS..
brewed Morgans draught with 50-50 dex and malt, OG 40, FG 10.5 ( over 3 days ), took 8 days to brew, came out cloudy, 5 extra bottles are slowly settling but mostly clear with carb drops, average temp 26C.
The grav reading on day 8 tasted good.
kegged on 18th and put straight in the fridge with 20PSI, every day I let out pressure and added 20 PSI back in.
Dropped PSI to 6 for serving, cleaned lines and taps today and thew the first 3 pints, then tasted .. and YUCK :(
Cleaned the keg with pink stain remover for 1 hr, then rinsed 4 times then cleaned it with cold cleaner and rinsed 3 times then sanitised with no rinse for 10 min and kegged.
 
Normally Creamed Corn flavour is to do with DMS (Dimethyl Sulfide) which occurs in the boil. It can also occur by bacterial infection (Wild yeast, Obesumbacteria Proteus or Zymomonas) during the lag phase when the pH of the wort is 4.4 or higher. This can particularly occur if the lag takes 24hr or longer (lag phase is the period when no activity is visible).

Given you used a reputable brand of kit I would doubt they had a bad batch with DMS issues (it could happen, just unlikely). It is far more likely you had an infection. This sort of infection can be mitigated by good sanitation and good healthy pitching rates of yeast.

What was your lag time and pitch rate?

EDIT - Lag time can be increased by temp shocking yeast also, so keep the temp of your yeast (or starter) similar to the temp of the wort when pitching.

2nd EDIT - just read your post again and saw that your sample tasted good. Your cleaning regime on the keg seems good, what about on the gear used to transfer the beer (taps, tube etc). It is possible you got an infection during transfer, but if that is the case then it is unlikely to be Obesumbacteria Proteus as it won't like anything under pH 4.4 (ie finished beer should be under this)

3rd EDIT - and to finally answer your question. No there is not much you can do to recover from this taste. It may be better to chuck it.
 
:/ so many tech terms I'm lost, the transfer was from new bought auto syp from shop and rinsed then sanitized, took about 20 min,
:( was going to keg 2 more batches this weekend but I might bottle them so I can see the brew clear up.
I'll leave the one keg in the fridge for now and disconnect the line to clean it out, so looks like another few weeks till I get the kegerator up and running :(
My next 2 brews are going to get a cleaning beyond anything I've ever read ( not with any other products, just for longer ), and I'll switch back to the first 2 brews I done to see if I can get these kegs tasting like, or better than the bottled brews.
 
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