Wanna Take My Brewing To The Next Level

[ribsmasherau]

Hey all i am interested in taking my brewing to the next level have made a few successful kit beers now from cans main one being
Brewcraft Mexican Cerveza 1.5kg, No.10 Brew Enhancer 1kg
being very basic was wondering what to do next i am really enjoying brewing and all my mates love my beer so i would like to take brewing to next level any help would be great : )

 

[Phoney]

Next logical step is extract brewing.

Basically you buy Light Dry Malt Extract, Dextrose and/or liquid malt extract and then your hops separately and boil say, 10L of water with 1kg of LDME for 1 hour and drop in your hops at varying points for bitterness, flavour and aroma. Then throw it into your fermenter, along with the rest of your malt extract and top up to 23L and ferment as usual. All you need is a 20L pot ($20 from bigW) and a cooking stick thermometer comes in handy too. You can produce some great beers this way that will knock your mates socks off.

 

[white.grant]

I see you are in wollongong - so the next logical step would be to come to the next RAF and meet some of the IBUs.

cheers

grant

 

[Hatchy]

If yr using kit yeast then some better yeast will give you a big improvement as will temp control if you don't already have it. I would (& did) go with those before I started on hop boils & spec grains.

 

[ribsmasherau]

Yeah i am really interested aye was told in Bulli? msg'd the guy earlier that sent me a pm about it sounds good.

 

[ribsmasherau]

I have temp controlled useing a very cool room downstairs that keeps my brews at around 18-20 and for the ones that require higher temps have a strap, have not really tried other yeasts as yet.

 

[crozdog]

Sorry phoney - gotta disagree a bit with you, there is lots that can be done to improve where Rocky's at including:
replace the kit yeast either with quality dried eg SAF or liquid (try using the dregs from coopers pale - there are plenty of threads here about how to do it)
use 2 cans instead of adding brew enhancer
replace the brew enhancer / "converter" / blend with straight liquid malt extract (I remember doing a couple of canadian blonde kits with morgans amber malt which turned out well.)
steep some steepable grain eg crystal or carapils & add to your fermenter what you use will depend on the style....
steep some hops & add to your fermenter
mini mash (in a small 6 pack esky & strain through some voile or a clean B) pair of pantyhose & add to your fermenter - the wort not the pantyhose )
bulk prime (if you're bottling)

Checkout http://www.morgansbrewing.com.au/recipe.php for some ideas or pick the eyes out of this list http://www.whatsbrewing.com.au/pages/recipelist.html

Have a read through the k&K sub forum & the wiki - they both have top ideas. Also read up on AG brewing as you'll get a better idea of what is possible / how things work. John Palmers Howtobrew.com is a great starting point - it also covers extract brews like phones suggested.

Many here have gone from k&k straight to AG using BIAB for little outlay & using gear that can be used later if you decide to move onto a 3 vessle AG setup. so check it out too.

Catch up with the IBU's - you will learn more from talking face to face & dropping into a brewday than I can type here.

Get your basics under control ie sanitation & temp control (you shouldn't need to ferment anything above 20 so ditch the belt!!) & understand what you are doing & more importantly why. Do that & incorporate some / all of the ideas above & you'll definitely improve your brewing.

Have fun

beers
crozdog

 

[Thirsty Boy]

A while ago I wrote a guide book for my brother in laws dad who is a K&K man. He wanted simple and easy stuff to do to improve his beers, but was uninterested in steeping grains, AG, all extract etc etc.

So if you follow the link I'm about to post, you will find a document that includes a list of ways I think Kit brewers at around your level can improve their beers. It is not written in order of importance, or order of the size of impact it will have on your beer, it's written in order of how easy to do the "improvement" is. As a way to encourage brewers to knock off all the little easy things that can make a difference, before they go launching themselves into the harder and more complex stuff.

Hope it helps

TB

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=274993