My Next Brew

[Gnarkill]

Hi guys,

I'm about to do my third brew and will be doing a Morgans Iron Bark Dark Ale using a Master Blend Caramalt mixed in. Has anyone done one of these and can they recommended any variations to the directions that give a certain something else. Would it also be good to rehydrate the yeast or will it be fine just sprinkled over the wort?

Thanks in advance.

Keiran.

 

[Tyred]

Both should work with the yeast.

You could also try using a different yeast (Safale S04 perhaps) and try and keep the temperature down between 18 & 20 while fermenting.

Have a read of http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=9233
There's a heap of useful information in it, including keeping temperatures down if you don't have a fridge for fermentation.

For your brew, do a search for Dark Ale. You may find some other options that may be interesting.

 

[Gnarkill]

Both should work with the yeast.

You could also try using a different yeast (Safale S04 perhaps) and try and keep the temperature down between 18 & 20 while fermenting.

Have a read of http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...?showtopic=9233
There's a heap of useful information in it, including keeping temperatures down if you don't have a fridge for fermentation.

For your brew, do a search for Dark Ale. You may find some other options that may be interesting.

Thanks for the info Tyred. I'm wondering whether I should try a different yeast as I have read on here that sometimes it's best because there is no real way to tell how long a kit has been sitting on the shelf and that may mean the yeast is dead. I'd hate to pitch the yeast and then find out it's dead, so I guess there is an advantage to rehydrating.
It's a Morgans kit so comes with a 6g sachet of Ale Yeast. Lets assume the yeast is not dead, would this be fine to use anyway or should I use a different yeast with this particular Ale?

 

[Maxt]

Ditch the kit yeast (never use them), and get Safale or US-56.
You don't need to rehydrate them, but make sure you aerate the wort, either by adding the water quickly and from a small distance (say between 30cm-1metre) which splashes and adds oxygen. This is what will help the yeast get going.

 

[JCG]

Hi Tyred,

I did this kit August last year with the chocolate malt and kit yeast and let it sit til just the other day. Will do this one again with no changes, beautiful drop. From memory I sprinkled the yeast over the wort and swirled the wort for 1 min.

JCG

 

[mika]

The whole "to rehydrate or not" debate comes up here a lot. I re-hydrate the yeast as you never know what sort of condition it's in. I've had one fail to start, maybe it was my handling maybe it was the yeast, but nothing is more stressful than a brew that doesn't fire.

As MaxT has mentioned, ditch the kit yeast. I always kept one in the fidge (extreme backup). The Safale stuff is good, but we've also been hearing good things about the Nottingham and Windsor yeasts.

 

[Gnarkill]

Well guys, due to the misses heading out today and taking the car with the kids seats in it, I wasn't able to get to the HBS to pick up a different yeast. So with itchy feet syndrome, I just wanted to get this kit into the fermenter. At least this way I can tranfer it before I head off to Darwin mid next week.
Luckily, the yeast is working it's magic like a bunch of little troopers. I did use filtered water from the shops for this brew, mainly to get a couple of 10L containers that'll aid with future brews. I also added a little extra dextrose to it after only having a OG of 1020 after topping up to 23L. After adding the dex it took it up to 1040. I hope there's no issues with doing that.
That's for the input and I'll definately buy another yeast when I pick up my next kit.

 

[mika]

1020's way too low, would have expected 1035ish.
Was it thoroughly mixed in ? Adding dex is OK, not real great for beer character, but will still taste pretty good.
How much Dex is a 'little' ?

 

[tarlox]

I did this kit with 1.5 kg of liquid amber malt and US56. It was as simple as it gets and after 3 months in the bottle it is great.

 

[Gnarkill]

How much Dex is a 'little' ?

I used just under 2 cups, and mixed in it really well.

This is how it's going so far, but I don't think there is quite enough head space.