Midstrength Aussie Bitter

[Beerbuoy]

O.K I'm quite new to HB. Did a few years ago and just getting back into it. Have put down 2 brews, bottled 1 and tasted none.

I like to keep the alco content down a little and I prefer Aussie style beers to those fancy imported things so here's the plan for my aussie midstrength.

I have a 60 lt fermenter and plan on doing a double brew.

2 cans of Coopers Premium Australian Bitter and a 1.5 kg can of light malt topped up to 46 lt. The instructions recomend a 1.5 kg can of dry malt for a single brew, ie 1 can of coopers bitter to 1 can of malt but I plan on using only half to keep the alco content down. Will this work?

Next thing is hops. I was going to use some extra hops in the fermenter, the teabag type. Will this make it too bitter considering there will be less sweetness from the reduced malt?

Anyones 2 cents worth welcome

Cheers

Beerbuoy

 

[Swinging Beef]

Sure it will work.
Will it be tasty?
Only time will tell.
The fellahs at the brew companies who design these kits know what they are doing, and set things up to be easy for first time brewers.
Departing from their instructions, is the first step into a bigger brighter brewing world, tho.
Give it a whirl and see what you think.

All I would say, is that 50litres is a lot of shit beer to throw out if it does fail.

 

[rclemmett]

50litres is a lot of shit beer to throw out if it does fail.

Very true. If I were you I wouldn't do a batch that big until you're sure of the recipe.

 

[Bizier]

If you have the capacity, consider splitting it into 2 or 4 and try different things (different extract cans/different hops/malt vs sugar/maybe steeping grain) then brew a double batch from the best result.

 

[daemon]

Were you planning to use the kit yeast? If so, I'd suggest looking at the US-56 yeast to give you something more neutral. With a midstrength you'll have less overall flavour and you don't want the Coopers yeast to dominate. I find it one of the strongest sources of the usual "homebrew" taste and switching to the US56 yeast has removed this.

Like the other advice here, I'd suggest starting with a smaller batch and seeing how it turns out. You can keep the remainder of the light malt tin in the fridge and if it does work out, make up the extra batch. I'd suggest some extra hops as well, but it'd be worth spending a few more $$ to buy them in pellet form. If you simply steep the hops or boil them for less than 20 minutes, you're not going to add too much bitterness.

 

[Beerbuoy]

Cheers fella's any advice is good atm

Think I'll still go with the 50l. I can't see it being that bad that I won't drink it. Between my brother and myself we'll get through it. mmmmmm beeeeer!

I did get a better yeast but I couldn't find the US56 locally so the HBS sold me American Ale yeast. Not sure how to go about getting some of the better yeasts mentioned in the forums. Is it worth getting some mail order? It gets to pretty hot around here and I don't think it would like sitting in my mail box all day at 40 deg.

Just waiting on my fridgemate to get here so I can put the brew down.

Thanks again

Ian

 

[flattop]

I'm no good at math but yes the abv will be reduced as you have less fermentables than usual in a double water batch.
As for Teabags they will not add much bitterness if they are not boiled, the acids are not released. They will add something to the nose and body and head.
If you are worried about bitterness you could consider a less fermentable sweetner in the brew such as maltodextrin which is only partially fermentable.
see here
[post="0"]Fermentables[/post]

 

[daemon]

I did get a better yeast but I couldn't find the US56 locally so the HBS sold me American Ale yeast. Not sure how to go about getting some of the better yeasts mentioned in the forums. Is it worth getting some mail order? It gets to pretty hot around here and I don't think it would like sitting in my mail box all day at 40 deg.

Was it Brew Cellar branded? If so, it's most likely the US-56/US-05 strand of yeast anyway, just that those who order it in bulk (ie Brew Cellar) aren't allowed to sell it under the same name. Depending on cost, it may be worth ordering online but generally your LHBS would be cheaper than postage costs (just check the use by dates and make sure they store it in the fridge).

 

[Beerbuoy]

Yes the yeast is Brew cellar brand. The HBS stores them in the fridge. Sounds like I got one thing right. Just got the fridgemate up and running so I'm going to put it down this arvo.

Cheers

Ian