Whats Your Fav. K&k/k&b's ?

[buxton brewer]

Everyone has there own favs so here is my 2cents worth.

coopers canadian blonde kit
500g liquid corn syrup
250g liquid dark malt
250g light dry malt
250g honey
mb 89 hops bag 12g


throw it all together brew bottle enjoy! a lot like killkenny.

 

[ollave]

One of the easiest, simpler and tastier kits I did was Wassa's Honey Porter:

1 can of Cascade Mahogany Porter
1 KG of Dark dry malt
500gm of Yellowbox honey
15gm of Cascade hops

Leave at least a month or more in the bottle to condition, was quite nice.
Never did think much of the cascade kits, but this one slightly dressed up was good.

Now looking and experimenting with an AG version...

Having seen this recipe referred to a number of times (but can't find it in the recipe database, hint), and having a kit of the Cascade Mahogony Porter (bought before I discovered what high renown it's held in generally on this site :angry: ), I have two questions:

1. at what time should the Cascade hops be added? Are they being used for flavour or aroma or both?
2. recommendations for yeast? (Obviously not the kit one ... would Safeale S-04 or Nottingham be OK?)

Ollave

P.S. I'll probably use light dry malt and take my chances on the colour (LDME being what I have at the moment) but if there is a chorus of "No, don't do that!!!" I'll add a trip to my LHBS to the TODO list before brewing this one and start keeping dark dry malt on hand too.

Edit: this post (which I found after posting, naturally) says dry hopping. Comments? If no comments, I'll do it that way ...

 

[ollave]

Having seen this recipe referred to a number of times (but can't find it in the recipe database, hint), and having a kit of the Cascade Mahogony Porter (bought before I discovered what high renown it's held in generally on this site :angry: ), I have two questions:

1. at what time should the Cascade hops be added? Are they being used for flavour or aroma or both?
2. recommendations for yeast? (Obviously not the kit one ... would Safeale S-04 or Nottingham be OK?)

Ollave

P.S. I'll probably use light dry malt and take my chances on the colour (LDME being what I have at the moment) but if there is a chorus of "No, don't do that!!!" I'll add a trip to my LHBS to the TODO list before brewing this one and start keeping dark dry malt on hand too.

Edit: this post (which I found after posting, naturally) says dry hopping. Comments? If no comments, I'll do it that way ...

Following up my own posting (well, nobody else wants to!): I found this posting from Wassa on another site:

I usually use hop pellets and dry hop, that is throw the hops pellets in just before you pitch the yeast. For my latest brew of this I used 500gm of KLeatherwood honey and used 2 x 12gm hop teabags in place of the hop pellets.

Brewing isn't an exact science and you try different things and see what yoy get for the results.

So, going with LDME and Stringybark honey, the former 'cos it's what I've got and the latter 'cos it's what I found when shopping for quality honey on a crazy Saturday during the Easter weekend between Good Friday (everything closed here in Vic) and Easter Sunday (also everything closed). Victoria's shopping laws are strange.

Tasting the Stringybark honey shows it's nicely flavoured; probably stronger than Yellowbox but not in the same league as Leatherwood! I'll hope it brews up nicely, and at a minimum the left overs will be enjoyable.

For the yeast, I'll go with the Safeale S-04.

Also discussed in the thread quoted was whether to brew 23L or hold it down to 20L; the master Wassa says he alternates. :lol: I'll go 23L and if it ends up "easy drinking" that's just fine; my last brew (still carbonating) was a toucan dark ale, which should look after the more robust styles for a while!

Learning by experimenting,

Ollave

P.S. If this brew turns out even halfway OK I'll try it as per the original recipe, but I kinda slid into this brew sideways, not having purchased the kit with Wassa's adjustments in mind.

 

[mwd]

Be interested in the results of this one Ollave. Been on the to do list for a while.

But I have a feeling this Porter probably improves with some ageing so maybe a while to wait.

 

[ollave]

Be interested in the results of this one Ollave. Been on the to do list for a while.

But I have a feeling this Porter probably improves with some ageing so maybe a while to wait.

Yes -- I've seen recommendations of 1-3 [minimum (edit)] months aging, and as I was a bit slow off the mark getting it started and have been busy it will only be bottled tomorrow. Smelt heavenly going into the fermenter, and the yeast took off vigourously. Bonus the weather has been cooler so it's spent most of its time at 18C. Fingers crossed that this will be a good 'un.

 

[joshuahardie]

My fav kit beer, which is still still used by a few extract mates is

Coopers Pale can
Coopers Light extract can
30gm Cascade
US05 american ale yeast

Mix the light extract can in 4 litres of water bring to the boil, chuck in 15gms of cascade, boil for 15 mins, throw in another 15gms of cascade boil for 5 more mins.

strain wort into fermenter, add the coopers pale can, and add the rest of your water and yeast

could not be easier.

a 15gm cascade dry hop could finish it off nicely too, methinks

 

[.DJ.]

Yes -- I've seen recommendations of 1-3 [minimum (edit)] months aging, and as I was a bit slow off the mark getting it started and have been busy it will only be bottled tomorrow. Smelt heavenly going into the fermenter, and the yeast took off vigourously. Bonus the weather has been cooler so it's spent most of its time at 18C. Fingers crossed that this will be a good 'un.

absolute minimum 3 months.. I've made this and when first tried it was, to be honest, CRAP..

3-4 months later, much much better!!

 

[petesbrew]

My fav kit beer, which is still still used by a few extract mates is

Coopers Pale can
Coopers Light extract can
30gm Cascade
US05 american ale yeast

Mix the light extract can in 4 litres of water bring to the boil, chuck in 15gms of cascade, boil for 15 mins, throw in another 15gms of cascade boil for 5 more mins.

strain wort into fermenter, add the coopers pale can, and add the rest of your water and yeast

could not be easier.

a 15gm cascade dry hop could finish it off nicely too, methinks

Just did something similar but with amarillo.
Coopers Pale Ale
Morgans Pale LME
100g Crystal steeped.
roughly 50-60g amarillo, divided up into 30min steep, dry hopped, and also dry hopped again 4 days later.
US-56

There's still some hops floating round in each bottle.
Bloody lovely, and a hit with friends.

 

[ollave]

absolute minimum 3 months.. I've made this and when first tried it was, to be honest, CRAP..

3-4 months later, much much better!!

Ah well, what's cupboard space.

Checking FG preparatory to bottling shows the colour is too light for the style (as expected 'cos I used LDME), and it's quite bitter just now (should moderate, but misremembering 20g instead of 15g hop might not have been a good thing). Honey taste is there, not overpowering. If the bitterness and hops balance up it should be nice drinking. Although what I should call it now I have no idea, given how light the colour is! Next time, dark malt extract, definitely.

 

[.DJ.]

bitterness will mellow in the bottle...

should turn out fine... although not how originally intended!

 

[ollave]

Be interested in the results of this one Ollave. Been on the to do list for a while.

Couldn't resist trying one after a week in the bottle. (Yeah, too soon. But curiosity won.)

Colour unchanged (of course?), and the initial scent after pouring a glass is of the honey. If there's hop aroma there, it's hiding ... but I've had hay fever this week so it's a wonder I can smell anything.

Tasting -- yup, there's honey in there, and then bitterness. I do hope these both moderate and meld a bit over time. Right now the best I can say is "Yes, adding bits do make a difference to K&K brews" and "Mmm, interesting ..." (More positively: I'd take it as it is now over my first two brews, so I can claim to be learning and improving. )

Reports to follow over the next few months unless I'm asked to shut up.

 

[potof4x]

In my experience the way to get great results from kits n bits is to

• chuck the kit yeast and use a decent yeast
• add some hops for flavour and aroma
• depending on style use some steeping grains, carapils being excellent for lagers / aussie beers.
• don't use a kilo of sugar, at the very least use brew enhancer 2 (depending on the style)
• keep the temp as low as possible and below 20 is a must.
• do a secondary fermentation followed by a good cold crash then use Polyclar to remove chill haze. Gelatine optional.

Just those few tweaks lifted my brews from home brew twang to "oohhh did you actually brew this??"

For a light coloured refreshing easy drinking "lager" I would try:

Morgans Australian Pilsener
BE2
US-05 ale yeast
300 g carapils steeped in 2L hot water then the runnings boiled for 20 mins with 15 g BSaaz hop flowers for 10 mins.

As good as most offerings over the bar. If you want it a bit more Ozzie in character, cluster hops are good or even some POR if fresh.

Took this advice and brewed up this recipe (using cluster). Was thick and sweet, will taste good when done I think. Measured OG before pitching yeast @ 15 degrees, it was 1060. Is this unusually high?

 

[chappo1970]

Took this advice and brewed up this recipe (using cluster). Was thick and sweet, will taste good when done I think. Measured OG before pitching yeast @ 15 degrees, it was 1060. Is this unusually high?

That's high potof4x! With only BE2 and some carapils. I would suggest that some of the goop was caught in the tap creating a higher OG reading. Next time clear the tap by running say 25-50ml out first and then take your reading sample. Otherwise you definitely have a good brew on your hands there! Well done!

Chappo

Edit: I forgot... your temp is a little low for S05 lift it up a couple of degree's to at least 16-18C. S05 brews very clean at 18-20C so no need to keep it down that far IMO.

 

[potof4x]

Thank for the quick reply! Brew is bubbling away nicely in the spare bedroom at 18 c now. left the wort in the ice bath while i rushed off to footy training tuesday and got a little cold, didnt realise I would need to adjust temp when filling the fermentor. More practise necessary. . Will watch out for the thick stuff in the tap next time too!

Re your signature - can you give me the 'oil' on a XXXX heavy clone? searches are proving fruitless for me!

 

[Bribie G]

Took this advice and brewed up this recipe (using cluster). Was thick and sweet, will taste good when done I think. Measured OG before pitching yeast @ 15 degrees, it was 1060. Is this unusually high?

Chappo beat me to it, I too would suggest you got some sweet stuff caught in the tap which gave a false reading. For a XXXX suggestion, my forum dwelling buddy round the corner, The Big Burper, does kits n bits and his house beer is Morgans Queensland Bitter, a kilo of dex and a cluster teabag. To my taste it's a bit thin with the dex but a very clear and refreshing drop. Again I would give it a go with BE2. Morgans are at Beenleigh and their Queensland Bitter is obviously an attempt to do a XXXX knockoff. With a kit n bits I reckon that's about as close as you are going to get. However you would need to go all grain to get the mousecage twang
Seriously though don't mind the odd XXXX when I'm out, at least they use real hops (drive past XXXX when there's a Northerly blowing) not just a squirt of isohop on the way to the packing line like VB.

 

[The Big Burper]

Hello there BG and fellow forum members, and others,


My usual is Morgans Queensland Bitter, a kilo pack of the local HBS brew
booster (550g Dex, 250g LDME, and 200g corn syrup) with cluster hops,
either teabag in keg, or loose boiled up with the brew booster.

Either way, it is a tasty drop. The latest kilo only of dex was a cost cutting
measure due the the GFC. (Global Financial Crisis) <_< , and the shop being shut
on Sundays.

I must mention your AG brews, which are AMBROSIA IN A GLASS.

cheers all,
Dave

 

[potof4x]

That's high potof4x! With only BE2 and some carapils. I would suggest that some of the goop was caught in the tap creating a higher OG reading. Next time clear the tap by running say 25-50ml out first and then take your reading sample. Otherwise you definitely have a good brew on your hands there! Well done!

Chappo

Edit: I forgot... your temp is a little low for S05 lift it up a couple of degree's to at least 16-18C. S05 brews very clean at 18-20C so no need to keep it down that far IMO.

Well got got my first tast of this today out of my new keg setup ,along with a toucan of coopers lager I have done.

1 word - farknorsom. First time I think my homebrew has turned out as good if not better than what I can buy! Will sit in the fridge till the cousins 21st this weekend, maybe?

Thanks to all you on the site