That Kit & Kilo Smell

[wimbymoonshine]

Hey all,

I've found that when i do a kit and kilo (this includes steeping speciality grains, hop additions and using DME in place of cane sugar) all the brews do taste different but tend to have a very similar smell and after-nose (if that makes sense).

This smell is not 'off' or 'bad' per-say, its more like a slight sulphuric/artificial type smell that does tend to fade with conditioning but never goes away....

Does anyone else get this? What is it?

 

[fraser_john]

Its probably your yeast at a guess, what temperature do you ferment at and what yeast do you use?

John

 

[warra48]

Is that what is known as "kit twang" ?

 

[braufrau]

Jamil's new book has a good description of twang. He stresses that its due to old extract and it tastes
dull, bitter or soapy.
Use the freshest extract/kit you can find.

Try using some cooper's yeast cultured from the bottle and see if that fixes the problem.
Good yeast makes a huge difference to a kit and cooper's is cheap, or free, depending on how
you look at it.

Check out these instructions here ...
http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=17276

 

[mfdes]

I would seriously stay away from trying to culture yeast from a bottle conditioned beer until you've built up a fair bit of experience on what starters behave like.

However I would ditch the yeast that comes with the kit and use Safale US-05 (US-56) for most beer styles. Together with good sanitation and keeping good temperature control (~20 degrees) you'll vastly improve your beer. Taste some raw wort and some fermented beer to notice how the FERMENTATION is the single most crucial factor in the brewing process.

MFS.

 

[wimbymoonshine]

Its probably your yeast at a guess, what temperature do you ferment at and what yeast do you use?

John

Ok i've been using coopers kits and generally the kit yeast. However a few brews i used safale 04 and while it does make some diff there is still that same nose from the kit.

I've changes my sanitation regime to see if it was poor sanitation, however im pretty anal about the way i sanitise things. Though i do have to rinse my sanitiser with tap water so perhaps that could be it?

Or does everyone get this with kits?

 

[user 1153]

it seriously is just the way kits are. you are reconstituting wort that has been dehydrated. it is why a lot of people eventually give All Grain a go

 

[Kleiny]

Ive got that smell from my K&K
and noticed that my mates AG definatly does not have it

soon i will be AG and then i dont need to think about it

 

[sid]

Yeh i have this with K&K, I think its just the way they turn out, but if you leave them a couple of months it fades a bit.

I done a Blackrock draught with a 1kg a amber malt extract and 200gm's dextrose and used a Safale s-04 yeast, also steeped a 12gm goldings hop tea bag for 15 minutes and then threw it all in the fermenter, (this sat for 4 days at 20 degrees) and when i tasted it 4 days later there was very little sulphur taste or smell when compared to other standard K&K I have done.
I have high hopes for this brew, hah, I'll see in 6 weeks, when i crack open a bottle.

 

[mfdes]

I have been brewing all-grain for 12 years and I still brew occasionally with extracts and even K&K. I have to say, in my opinion, a fresh kit well fermented is almost indistinguishable from an AG to the average person. Some stronger flavoured styles such as stout and old dark ale in particular.

I think it shouldn't be discounted that a lot of the better quality of AG brews when compared with kits and extracts comes from the knowledge and experience the person upgrading to AG has accumulated on the way. In my mind yeast choice and fermentation management are the key to good beer. It's easy to make a reasonably good wort, be it with AG or extract. It's NOT easy to make a good beer starting with a good wort, as a lot of people will probably attest.

MFS.