next level?

[Gibsta]

Hi.

I have brewed a few beers from a kit.

I first did this a few years ago, and have since bought a new coopers kit, (lost all the previous kit items in moving house)
I have done a few runs with just the standard pale ale mix, and I'm wanting to further find my own flavour, eventually getting away from using the extract cans (not that there's anything wrong with them) I just want to achieve my own personal flavour.

I wanted to possibly try using some grains, if not an all grain brew. Just don't know where to start, if some one could point me in the right direction that would be awesome !!

the coopers kit i currently have also differs from my old kit (as there is no air lock bubbler thing) wondering if this will be any different or would only suit the kit brews.

TIA

gibs

 

[BrosysBrews]

Hi,

You could mess about with some hops and steeping grain ontop of your kit but I would presonally say go to extract brews, gives you greater control etc etc and will make the jump to all grain a lot easier.

I would suggest you download IanHs spreadsheet (Kit and Extract Version)

Maybe a good first brew would be something like this:


23lt Golden Ale
1.5 Kg Coopers Amber Extract
1.5 kg LDME (Light Dry Malt Extract)

Steep 200g Medium Crsytal Malt in 70C water strain then add to pot with the following.
Hops:
Boil with 4lt of water and 1/2 the LDME
15g Pride of Ringwood @45min
40g Galaxy @ 5 min
40g Nelson Sav @ 0min

Ferm cool at around 18C with either M. Jacks West Coast Ale or US-05 Safale

 

[michaeld16]

The new coopers fermenteri s fine for whatever you would like to brew i personaly did away with that bubbly thing on the old fermenter for a piece of glad wrap. The above recipe looks good and when you start steeping grains you will be well on the slippery slope this hobby takes you

 

[manticle]

What kind of beer do you like to drink?

 

[Nizmoose]

I wanted to possibly try using some grains, if not an all grain brew. Just don't know where to start, if some one could point me in the right direction that would be awesome !!
gibs

Just thought I'd chip some 2 cents here. I did my 6th batch ever last weekend and it was All grain. For the same reason as you I gave it a crack. I'd definitely suggest looking into trying a BIAB batch as it requires very little additional equipment. All I bought was a 19L Big W pot and a BIAB bag and everything else I already had. I should point out I'm doing 10L batches so if doing bigger you'd want a bigger pot but other than that thats all you'd need! Personally I don't get the point of partials and it being a step up or step on the way to all grain, IMO you might as well grab the bag and give it a crack

 

[wombil]

way to go Niz

 

[MastersBrewery]

IMO you might as well grab the bag and give it a crack

Last time I got cracked in that region it wasn't pleasant !! (second ball faced pacey leg break) :blink:

simple stove top is certainly a great option.
Join the local brew club, attend a few brew days, learn lots, see what you like and suits your place and circumstance ..... and maybe budget
The slope is steep.
I have two breweries in the shed, I'm trying to find space and good enough excuses(to the minister of everything) to keep both. h34r:
The slope is slippery.

MB

 

[Blind Dog]

Get 'how to brew' by John Palmer, or read it free on the interweb (howtobrew.com). Best beginner to intermediate brewing book there is and jam packed with everything you need to know to move on from kits. Read it and work out what you're comforttable with as your next step(s). Everyone's path is different

(Edit spelling)

 

[Dae Tripper]

I bought some crystal grain to try the other day, how do you use it? For the recipe above, how much water to steep in and for how long?

 

[Nizmoose]

I bought some crystal grain to try the other day, how do you use it? For the recipe above, how much water to steep in and for how long?

If you're doing a boil steep it in 70C water for 20-30 minutes with the boil water, if not doing a boil aim for 2-5 litres

 

[BrosysBrews]

I bought some crystal grain to try the other day, how do you use it? For the recipe above, how much water to steep in and for how long?

When I started using Crystal I used a coffee plunger, far from Ideal but easy as could be, If you can make a pot of coffee you basically already know how to steep crystal. Add grain and 70C water to the plunger, wait 20min, plunge then add to your boil pot.

 

[manticle]

I bought some crystal grain to try the other day, how do you use it? For the recipe above, how much water to steep in and for how long?

Crack it and soak it. Drain it and boil the liquid. Easy as that.

Amount of water doesn't really matter except in terms of how much liquid you want to end up with. Try a ratio of 3 (water) to 1 (grain).

For temp, you can steep cold which takes longer but may be smoother or you can steep hot. Don't go too hot -60-70 degrees for 30-60 mins is easiest.
Then drain, rinse the grain with a similar volume of hot water, discard the grain and boil the liquid for at least 10 minutes. Boil with dme and hops if doing an extract brew.

 

[Dae Tripper]

Thanks lads, will be putting some crystal in soon.

 

[carrollfromwork]

I have a question for you all grain brewers - i kit and kilo with extras and have been thinking about taking the next step similar to the OP. I just want to know how much time do you spend getting a batch down? 1 good thing about the kit method is it is pretty quick to get a batch down, wait a week and then bottle...

p.s im a little scared about the steep slope to all grain - im sure the wife will not appreciate it hehehe

 

[RobboMC]

Kits N Bits allows you to reduce the boil times dramatically. I do a 15 min hop boil, sometimes 20 min max, add that wort to the fermenter.
Within that 15 min I've got the kit and a can of LME in the fermenter already. All done within 45 min.

To go all-extract I would need a create my own bittering with at least 45-50 min boil times and biol a lot more volume.

Also, if you totally stuff up your hop boil it only affects half the wort, and you still have something reasonably drinkable.
I stick to high end expensive kits but yes I know my bitterness is from isohops.

Maybe in the holidays I'll make a proper extract-partial mash and see if it's noticably better.

 

[mosto]

I have a question for you all grain brewers - i kit and kilo with extras and have been thinking about taking the next step similar to the OP. I just want to know how much time do you spend getting a batch down? 1 good thing about the kit method is it is pretty quick to get a batch down, wait a week and then bottle...

p.s im a little scared about the steep slope to all grain - im sure the wife will not appreciate it hehehe

I BIAB and do 20L batches. I allow about 5-6 hours from the time I measure out the grain to be milled, to the time I've sealed up the cube (I no chill). The first few brews I spent the whole time in the brewery (shed), but once I got to know my equipment I can now leave and do other things while mashing / boiling etc.

 

[michaeld16]

I second biab and no chill if your concerned about the lenght of a brewday, also just a bit of organisation goes a long way to reducing time, mill ya grains the night before, have hops measured out, etc

 

[Nizmoose]

I have a question for you all grain brewers - i kit and kilo with extras and have been thinking about taking the next step similar to the OP. I just want to know how much time do you spend getting a batch down? 1 good thing about the kit method is it is pretty quick to get a batch down, wait a week and then bottle...

p.s im a little scared about the steep slope to all grain - im sure the wife will not appreciate it hehehe

IMO the slope to all grain doesn't have to be too steep. You really can keep it simple and not go as crazy as many do with it. Having said that I'm sure it'd get difficult to resist certain toys. As I said in an earlier post if you have a big enough pot and a BIAB bag you are ready to try all grain. In terms of brew day my first (and only so far) brew day took 6 hours from making my morning coffee to pitching my yeast. I bought my grain milled and did a 10L batch. Easy as you like. 2kg of grain for 8 bucks, no milling, do a simple mash for 90 minutes, fire up the pot and start your boil, chilling I do with an ice bath, most people will reccomend immersion chillers but I got my wort from 90C to 19C in 20 minutes using ice. If you have a chest freezer ( or any freezer with some spare space) get some plastic shopping bags and fill them with water, TIGHTEN them up with whatever works then break it up on your brew day and put it in the sink/tub. Alternatively buy some ice lol. That was longer than it was supposed to be but in essence; dont be afraid of all grain. if you're comfortable with kits and are looking to extend yourself you'll love BIAB. Cheap, simple and rewarding, just be preapaared to set aside a day to brew and don't have somewhere to be afterwards, rushing the last few steps, notably chilling will kill the whole day

 

[MartinOC]

I'll distil this (move along, Mods, Nothing to see here!) thread so far....

You obviously want to improve what you're doing, but feel a bit intimidated by the thought of going AG.

Extracts can give you the NEXT step, which is fine, but I get the feeling you want more than that & want to produce the kind of beers you can spend FAAAR too much on from a bottle shop??

The BIAB suggestions above are all good & with a bit of time & knowledge (& a bit of cash!), there's no reason you can't be knocking-out superb beers at a fraction of the cost of buying kits or extracts etc.

First things first - do a swag of reading, so you understand what you'll need to do & how you want to achieve it. Any idiot can throw grains at hot water, boil it with hops etc & call it beer, but will it be what YOU want to achieve? Joining a club & picking the brains of the other members is a great move.

Yes, AG brewing can be time-consuming & you need to set-aside that time as dedicated "me" time. Trust me, 'though. It's time well spent inside your own head in the shed with the stereo cranked-up & de-stressing from the problems of the world.

Welcome to the Vortex!!!!

 

[Nizmoose]

I'll distil this (move along, Mods, Nothing to see here!) thread so far....

You obviously want to improve what you're doing, but feel a bit intimidated by the thought of going AG.

Extracts can give you the NEXT step, which is fine, but I get the feeling you want more than that & want to produce the kind of beers you can spend FAAAR too much on from a bottle shop??

The BIAB suggestions above are all good & with a bit of time & knowledge (& a bit of cash!), there's no reason you can't be knocking-out superb beers at a fraction of the cost of buying kits or extracts etc.

First things first - do a swag of reading, so you understand what you'll need to do & how you want to achieve it. Any idiot can throw grains at hot water, boil it with hops etc & call it beer, but will it be what YOU want to achieve? Joining a club & picking the brains of the other members is a great move.

Yes, AG brewing can be time-consuming & you need to set-aside that time as dedicated "me" time. Trust me, 'though. It's time well spent inside your own head in the shed with the stereo cranked-up & de-stressing from the problems of the world.

Welcome to the Vortex!!!!

So bloody well said, if you read that you can save yourself reading any of this thread.