Time For Round Two...

[chartster]

Hi all,

Well a few weeks back I did my first ever brew, and I think it turned out *OK*, but I certainly want to improve on it this time around. Using straight Coopers brewing sugar made it very thin in body, and to be honest it had a slightly weird taste (perhaps only because I am not used to homebrew goodness!)

Either way, a couple of people came to visit and a lot were polished off so it can't be all that bad. To my taste it was not fantastic, they were none the wiser

So this time around I have purchased a Coopers Real Ale and 500g bag of DME, and I also have a spare can of Bavarian Lager and 1KG of BE1. Any ideas as to how I could make something rockin' out of this? I'm thinking Real Ale + full bag of DME, or can I also throw in the BE1? I'm not quite sure what to make with the parts I have

Any advice appreciated, and lets hope this sucker turns out even better!

 

[wildschwein]

Hi all,

Well a few weeks back I did my first ever brew, and I think it turned out *OK*, but I certainly want to improve on it this time around. Using straight Coopers brewing sugar made it very thin in body, and to be honest it had a slightly weird taste (perhaps only because I am not used to homebrew goodness!)

Either way, a couple of people came to visit and a lot were polished off so it can't be all that bad. To my taste it was not fantastic, they were none the wiser

So this time around I have purchased a Coopers Real Ale and 500g bag of DME, and I also have a spare can of Bavarian Lager and 1KG of BE1. Any ideas as to how I could make something rockin' out of this? I'm thinking Real Ale + full bag of DME, or can I also throw in the BE1? I'm not quite sure what to make with the parts I have

Any advice appreciated, and lets hope this sucker turns out even better!

Coopers Real Ale is quite bitter so adding that 500g bag of DME will work well with this one as and will help mellow the bitternes a bit and give you some nice body. But 500g in a 23L batch won't give you much alcohol, you may want to top up with 500g more malt, BE1, dextrose or even table sugar (if that's all you've got - dextrose or BE1 would certainly be better). I haven't done the Bavarian with BE1 but I have noted others here on the forum who reckon they go together well. Personally I think the Bavarian kit works really good with all malt additions and it makes it more German in character but using BE1 will probably give you something passable. Although, BE2 would be even better as its got some malt in it (about 250g).

 

[KGB]

I think any of the suggestions from wilschwein will be noticably better than your first brew.
What sort of temps are you breweing at? Temp can have a big effect on the flavour of our beer, try and keep the ferment at around 18-20 degrees and as stable as possible.

 

[mark_m]

Coopers Real Ale,
1kg B/E 2,
20gms fuggles pellets boiled 15 minutes, 20gms steeped 5 minutes,
added to fermenter
Coopers yeast, ferment 20-22degrees.

The B/E2 adds a bit of body, hops move the brew in the direction of an English Bitter.

Still nice and simple.

Mark

 

[chartster]

Ahhh thanks for the pointers guys.

I searched high and low for BE2, couldn't find any! It had been plundered off the shelves of BigW and KMart, not to mention my local Safeway and Coles. Talk about nuts.

My first batch was roughly 20-21 degrees for its entire fermentation period - no swing greater that 1 degree each way.

So how does Real Ale, 500g DME and BE1 sound to everybody? I'm still a newbie with all this and don't want to try with pellets just yet (thanks anyway mark_m!)

Cheers!

 

[wildschwein]

Ahhh thanks for the pointers guys.

I searched high and low for BE2, couldn't find any! It had been plundered off the shelves of BigW and KMart, not to mention my local Safeway and Coles. Talk about nuts.

My first batch was roughly 20-21 degrees for its entire fermentation period - no swing greater that 1 degree each way.

So how does Real Ale, 500g DME and BE1 sound to everybody? I'm still a newbie with all this and don't want to try with pellets just yet (thanks anyway mark_m!)

Cheers!

Yeah, that will work good. I'd even reckon the whole 1kg bag of BE1 and the 500g of DME - will get your alc up over 5% level and will balance nicely with the bitterness of the kit. Go for it. No problem making do with what you have on hand. Extra hops are always nice but not totally neccesary. That temp range is perfectly okay for doing ales. Happy brewing

 

[chartster]

Cheers!

All the goodies in the fermenter (Real Ale, 1Kg BE1, 500g DME), I'm just waiting for the wort temperature to drop a bit before pitching the yeast...the DME got a little lumpy so I had to add a bit more hot water to dissolve it all. Should be good though, if only the footy was not distracting me from keeping one eye on that thermometer to pitch at a moment's notice!

Will let everyone know how this turns out, I've got a good feeling about it all...

 

[chartster]

Hmmm, well here I am 8 days after commencing the brew, and I think i'm in a bit of a pickle.

For the last two days, the gravity has read 1.015, which I would think is a little too high for bottling! The temperature of the brew has stayed between 18 and 20 degrees, and I can see all of the froth has gone from the top of the beer.

Any advice guys?

 

[turto77]

Hmmm, well here I am 8 days after commencing the brew, and I think i'm in a bit of a pickle.

For the last two days, the gravity has read 1.015, which I would think is a little too high for bottling! The temperature of the brew has stayed between 18 and 20 degrees, and I can see all of the froth has gone from the top of the beer.

Any advice guys?

I would expect the FG to be a bit higher due to the extra fermentables added, leave it for another day and check again, if there is no change you should be right to bottle.

 

[brettprevans]

Hmmm, well here I am 8 days after commencing the brew, and I think i'm in a bit of a pickle.

For the last two days, the gravity has read 1.015, which I would think is a little too high for bottling! The temperature of the brew has stayed between 18 and 20 degrees, and I can see all of the froth has gone from the top of the beer.

Any advice guys?

thats not all that high. BE1 has maltodex which doesnt fully ferment (hence the improved 'mouthfeel and body'). I wish I could get most of my brews down that low . so long as you have done everything your meant to (temp yeast etc) and SG is stable over 3 days then its probably fine to bottle. As a general rule I leave my brews in the fermentor for 2 weeks (more if its a cold fermenting larger). Once you start doing more complex brews you will find that it will prob take longer to ferment out as the complex sugars take longer to be converted into alc and it can happen very slowly.

 

[Fatgodzilla]

Hmmm, well here I am 8 days after commencing the brew, and I think i'm in a bit of a pickle.

For the last two days, the gravity has read 1.015, which I would think is a little too high for bottling! The temperature of the brew has stayed between 18 and 20 degrees, and I can see all of the froth has gone from the top of the beer.

Any advice guys?

Bottle it this weekend. Won't do the brew any harm to sit there for two weeks in the fermenter. At the temperature you are at the fermenting is still going but much slower. I reckon it's better to sit for two weeks rather than risk being underfermented and getting overcarbonated in the bottle. As this is only your second batch, see how far the SG will get down to by Friday night. Again, the beer is not in danger. Only your patience !!!

 

[chartster]

Thanks guys, really appreciate the help. Will let it sit a bit more, and then bottle it. Besides, I need to wash and sterilise them anyway!

 

[Cortez The Killer]

Have a play with this calculator to see what different ingredients will do

http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWebPa...p;idDetails=172

Cheers