slash22000
Stereotypical Lupulin Addict
- Joined
- 2/7/12
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Afternoon all,
I finally got my hands on some speciality grain and I want to add some to a Coopers English Bitter kit, but I'm having some trouble figuring out exactly how much is too much and how little is too little. I've made a number of brews before, just never with grains. Here is what I am thinking:
Will all that malt/grain result in an excessively thick mouthfeel? Should I add some dextrose? I'm not concerned about keeping the alcohol low or anything, I'll chuck in as much fermentables as I need as long as the yeast can handle it. I rehydrate my dry yeasts so I usually get Olympian performance from their struggle against sugar.
Regarding the grains. Should I add more? Less? I also have some pale Crystal around the place but I am thinking the darker medium Crystal suits the style more? Or should I stick to pure Caramunich II?
Steep the grains at ~70C, then I'm told you need to boil the liquid for approximately 15 minutes to kill bacteria etc so I figured I might as well throw in my EKG for a 10 minute flavour extraction at the same time? Any advice on how much water I should use to steep the grain?
A bunch of questions I know but once I get it figured out the first time it shouldn't be a problem! Any advice would be great. Cheers lads/ladies.
I finally got my hands on some speciality grain and I want to add some to a Coopers English Bitter kit, but I'm having some trouble figuring out exactly how much is too much and how little is too little. I've made a number of brews before, just never with grains. Here is what I am thinking:
1 x Coopers English Bitter 1700g
1000g light dry malt
200g Caramunich II
100g medium Crystal
15g EKG hops 10 minutes
15g EKG hops 0 minutes
Kit yeast (no other choice)
Made to 22 litres
Keep in mind this is what I've come up with never having used grains before, but Google seems to think it's not a bad choice. Caramunich was recommended to me as being a good choice for English ales and Crystal is pretty much standard in most recipes. "The Internet" recommends no more than 10% - 15% per weight of malt, does that seem about right? The kit is 1.7KG, I usually add 1KG of dry malt, so that gives me 270 - 405 grams of grain to work with? 1000g light dry malt
200g Caramunich II
100g medium Crystal
15g EKG hops 10 minutes
15g EKG hops 0 minutes
Kit yeast (no other choice)
Made to 22 litres
Will all that malt/grain result in an excessively thick mouthfeel? Should I add some dextrose? I'm not concerned about keeping the alcohol low or anything, I'll chuck in as much fermentables as I need as long as the yeast can handle it. I rehydrate my dry yeasts so I usually get Olympian performance from their struggle against sugar.
Regarding the grains. Should I add more? Less? I also have some pale Crystal around the place but I am thinking the darker medium Crystal suits the style more? Or should I stick to pure Caramunich II?
Steep the grains at ~70C, then I'm told you need to boil the liquid for approximately 15 minutes to kill bacteria etc so I figured I might as well throw in my EKG for a 10 minute flavour extraction at the same time? Any advice on how much water I should use to steep the grain?
A bunch of questions I know but once I get it figured out the first time it shouldn't be a problem! Any advice would be great. Cheers lads/ladies.