Mixing Fermentables.

[davecambo]

I would like to mix the following fermentables with a coopers brewmasters selection wheat beer can for my next brew. I am unsure however how fermentable the following products are.

I would like to know if they are simply substituted for the same amount of sugar/dextrose or will i need more/less of the product to achieve the same result, with different taste etc.

1) coopers light dry malt.

2) coopers brew enhancer.

3) honey.

I usually use 1kg of dextrose or sugar, so i would like to know how much of each of the above to use to achieve the same alcoholic strenght or there abouts.

any experience would be greatly appreciated, as will quantities of each to use.

cheers.

 

[boingk]

Hey there Dave, welcome aboard.

Coopers brew enhancers are a quick & easy option to start with, but they just contain a mix of ingredients that you could substitute for other things yourself. No. 1 uses 600g dextrose and 400g maltodextrin, and No. 2 uses 500g dex and 250g each of LDME and maltodex. I prefer using a mix of 500g LDME and 300g dextrose with kits as it gives them more body and malt flavour. It also lets you mess with hops and not get overbittered (although most stock kits are underbittered by most peoples standards).

To get around 5% abv final brew, any of those methods above is fine. I'd ditch the No. 1 enchancer in favour of the No. 2 or the mix, IMO.

Malt by itself if around 70% fermentable, sugar/dextrose around 100%, and maltodextrin only around 30%. Malt gives a good mix of body, flavour and alcohol. Sugar/dextrose just gives alcohol. Maltodextrin gives body and a tiny bit of alcohol, but no flavour. Honey is also almost totally fermentable too; I'd start with 250~300g in a batch instead of sugar/dextrose and see how that goes for you.

Cheers mate - boingk

 

[RobboMC]

I would like to mix the following fermentables with a coopers brewmasters selection wheat beer can for my next brew. I am unsure however how fermentable the following products are.
I would like to know if they are simply substituted for the same amount of sugar/dextrose or will i need more/less of the product to achieve the same result, with different taste etc.
1) coopers light dry malt.
2) coopers brew enhancer.
3) honey.
I usually use 1kg of dextrose or sugar, so i would like to know how much of each of the above to use to achieve the same alcoholic strenght or there abouts.
any experience would be greatly appreciated, as will quantities of each to use.

cheers.

First of all congratulations for deciding not to use just dextrose or sugar.
The Brew Enhancers are pretty much intended for use instead of sugar, so making a kit with
one kg of BE2 will result in almost the same alcohol content as straight sugar, not quite as there's some maltodex in there
and not all the malt ferments out. I've made Pale Ale with 600g of dry malt and 600g of BE2 and it worked fine.
Any more than roughly this amount of malt and you need to start boiling in hops.

I've read that the sugar concentration in honey can vary widely, even in the same brand, so straight substitution is difficult, but
as boink writes use 250-300g instead of about 200g of sugar.

I make my brew strongish, you can always add boiled water when bottling if it comes out stronger than you want, but it's hard ( read impossible )to take the water out.

 

[thanme]

No. 1 uses 600g dextrose and 400g maltodextrin, and No. 2 uses 500g dex and 250g each of LDME and maltodex.

How sure are you of these??
I read somewhere that BE2 was 50/30/20 LDME/Dex/Malto and made my last brew going off that. But if you're right, it would explain why my OG was a bit different than I expected

 

[thylacine]

How sure are you of these??
I read somewhere that BE2 was 50/30/20 LDME/Dex/Malto and made my last brew going off that. But if you're right, it would explain why my OG was a bit different than I expected

Internet sourced data:
SUGARS
Carbonation drops = 27% glucose and 73% Sucrose

Coopers BE1= 600g dextrose, 400g maltodextrin
BE2 = 500g dextrose, 250g maltodextrin, 250g light dry malt
Brewcraft #10 - Dextrose 750g & Maltodextrin 250g
(Similar to Coopers Brew Enhancer #1)
#15 - Dextrose 500g & Maltodextrin 250g & LME 250g
(= Coopers Brew Enhancer #2)
#20 - Dextrose 250g & Maltodextrin 250g & LME 500g = Ultrabrew
Corn Syrup (maltodextron) 30% fermentable body & mouthfeel

 

[davecambo]

thanks for the replies!

ok so if i was to make a wheat beer (my preferance being a tin of coopers LME, the wheat one) and add my preference of hop style, how much honey would i need to bring the strength up to around 5% going on that the LME is not going to be totally fermentable?

lets say for instance if i was to add 300 grams of honey to the above mix, do you guys think that would give me enough or would i possibly have to add something else, as i dont really want to add any more than 300 grams of honey to it.

i guess what im getting at here is will the tin of LME + 300 gm of honey = 1kg of sugar/dextrose or there abouts.

 

[davecambo]

First of all congratulations for deciding not to use just dextrose or sugar.
The Brew Enhancers are pretty much intended for use instead of sugar, so making a kit with
one kg of BE2 will result in almost the same alcohol content as straight sugar, not quite as there's some maltodex in there
and not all the malt ferments out. I've made Pale Ale with 600g of dry malt and 600g of BE2 and it worked fine.
Any more than roughly this amount of malt and you need to start boiling in hops.

I've read that the sugar concentration in honey can vary widely, even in the same brand, so straight substitution is difficult, but
as boink writes use 250-300g instead of about 200g of sugar.

I make my brew strongish, you can always add boiled water when bottling if it comes out stronger than you want, but it's hard ( read impossible )to take the water out.

was your brew just the 600g of dry malt + 600g BE2, or were they the fermentables + a beer kit?

 

[thylacine]

thanks for the replies!

ok so if i was to make a wheat beer (my preferance being a tin of coopers LME, the wheat one) and add my preference of hop style, how much honey would i need to bring the strength up to around 5% going on that the LME is not going to be totally fermentable?

lets say for instance if i was to add 300 grams of honey to the above mix, do you guys think that would give me enough or would i possibly have to add something else, as i dont really want to add any more than 300 grams of honey to it.

i guess what im getting at here is will the tin of LME + 300 gm of honey = 1kg of sugar/dextrose or there abouts.

http://www.liquorcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWeb...p;idDetails=107

 

[davecambo]

holy crap thanks thats awesome

 

[henderjo]

Hey Dave,

I've done one with honey too - darker brew, but nice with the honey. Best not make it a session beer though - I read somewhere... maybe a quote from Beer Smith? You'll wake up with a really sore head!

Brewing is addictive - hope you enjoy it as much as most of us here do

John.