Brewcraft Kits

Pants · Post by **Pants** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 12:37 pm

I went down to the local Homebrew shop for the first time to replace the hydromoter.

While I was there, I saw a Brewcraft pack for Little Creatures Pale Ale (which I like alot!)

It came with the can, Safale yeast No.4, brewblend no 15 and another sachet of some sort of pellets in it. I checked tere website and the only thing I think it could be is Hop Emulsion.

I've only used Coopers kits before and never used another kit.

Can someone tell me what the sachet is, what do I do with it, and if there are any differences in using something else than Coopers??

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 12:39 pm

Does it look like rabbit dung?

Dogger

Pants · Post by **Pants** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 12:44 pm

I didn't know whether to open it as I might not be doing it for a few days and I don't know if this stuff likes the open air.

It probably the same size as rabbit dung though!

Hillbilly · Post by **Hillbilly** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 2:34 pm

They are hop pellets, here are 2 links for more 'Little creatures' brew info:

http://www.gtp.com.au/westbrew/inewsfil ... cipes1.pdf

http://www.gtp.com.au/westbrew/inewsfil ... notes1.pdf

Cheers,
Hillbilly

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 5:21 pm

The reason to stay away from brewcraft you never know what you are getting in thier kits.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 6:55 pm

Hillbilly wrote:They are hop pellets, here are 2 links for more 'Little creatures' brew info:

http://www.gtp.com.au/westbrew/inewsfil ... cipes1.pdf

http://www.gtp.com.au/westbrew/inewsfil ... notes1.pdf

Cheers,
Hillbilly

Excellent links, thanks heaps. Now I have some idea!

Pants · Post by **Pants** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 6:57 pm

Shaun wrote:The reason to stay away from brewcraft you never know what you are getting in thier kits.

If this one doesn't work out, I might not go back.

Plus I'm a relative newbie at home brewing....

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 7:01 pm

Why do you say "you don't know what you're getting in their kits" Shaun ? I'd be keen to give it a bash if it turned out anything like the real deal.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 7:51 pm

Evo wrote:Why do you say "you don't know what you're getting in their kits" Shaun ? I'd be keen to give it a bash if it turned out anything like the real deal.

I've only bought this one, but the Hop Pellets didn't have any labelling on it and there was no instructions about how to put it together.

Perhaps they thought I was an experienced brewer and I didn't need the advice

Shaun · Post by **Shaun** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 8:55 pm

Evo with the brewcraft kits you get a bag with an unknown amount of fermentables in it and an unknown amount of unknown hops. The fermentables could be Dextrose, DME (light or dark) Maltodextrin, Lactose. You then may have to add extra dextrose with the kit if the total weight is less than 1Kg. If you ask them what is in the kit they may tell you what sugars but will not tell you the amounts or the amount or type of hops.

If you go to a brewcraft HBS and ask what do I need to make a Crown lager clone, they will sell you a tin, one of their brew blends and a conversion kit which you don't know what's in it, and say, there you go this will come up like a crowny.

However you have no idea why, or how to reproduce it with out their kit. Much better to know exactly what you are getting so you know what to change if it is not right or what to get again if it works.

Brewcraft kits have there place just not in my brews I like to know what I'm using so I can reproduce the results or fault find if it does not work.

Dogger Dan · Post by **Dogger Dan** » Tuesday Mar 22, 2005 10:10 pm

If it looks like rabbit dung its hops, everyone has already told you that though.

Dogger

BPJ · Post by **BPJ** » Wednesday Mar 23, 2005 8:59 am

pants,
I have used one of their kits before. their instructions were to boil all ingredients gently for 20 minutes, excluding the hops (rabbit poo) and beer kit. then add the hops and boil further 1 minute then turn off and sit for 10 min. strain into fermenter and add kit. Mine came with grain as well.

As Shaun said the ingredients lists for mine was
maltose, dextrose, malto-dextrin (which i weighted at 1 kg) malted barley (I weighed at 200 g) & hops.

About as much information as you get on a bottle of beer. The kit came out well but there is no way taht i can tweak it to my liking

Evo · Post by **Evo** » Wednesday Mar 23, 2005 3:25 pm

Yeah, well, as much as I love the Little Creatures I might avoid this kit on principle. I wonder what the logic behind them doing this is ? Is it like the Colonel's secret recipe ?

Beer Krout · Post by **Beer Krout** » Wednesday Mar 23, 2005 4:49 pm

It would be just a standard marketing practise to get newbies in and tie them to a brand. It's no good telling you what's in it. Then you could put it together yourself.

The hops wouldn't be too fresh either as they are not under refridgeration.

Still I tried their Indian Pale Ale recipe with one of their converters and it turned out quite nicely.

Beer Krout · Post by **Beer Krout** » Wednesday Mar 23, 2005 4:50 pm

Have also had a go at their Caffrey's recipe and will tell you how it turns out after easter (only bottled it a week ago).

Hrundi V Bakshi · Wednesday Mar 23, 2005 10:13 pm

Dogger Dan wrote:If it looks like rabbit dung its hops, everyone has already told you that though.

Dogger

I don't know what falls from the tails of your Canadian rabbits but in India and Australia I notice they are oval brown oblique spheroids.

Rabbit feed pellets are looking more like hop pellets. What goes into the bunny, not comes out, isn't it?

Pants · Post by **Pants** » Monday Apr 18, 2005 9:19 am

Well, I brewed this yesterday.

According to the instructions which were linked in this thread, I was supposed to boil the hops pellets then let simmer for 2 minutes in 300ml of water.

I did this.

The hops went a off-putting green colour.

Is this what's supposed to happen?

Merlin · Post by **Merlin** » Monday Apr 18, 2005 9:53 am

Hey Pants,

The hops should have been green to start with (

they were, weren't they?) so thats quite normal. The hops will only add flavour and aroma, not colour, so don't worry about ending up with green beer!

Although that might be quite interesting...

Cheers

Merlin

Pants · Post by **Pants** » Monday Apr 18, 2005 10:22 am

Cheers...yeah they were green to start with although not the same green as the eventual liquid.

I chucked in the Black Rock can first, then the 300ml boiled hops, then the brew blend, then the hot water and it looked the way it should.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Monday Apr 18, 2005 4:19 pm

Pants,
I've got a book here with a whole heap of brewcraft recipes in it that came with my brewing kit.

Little Creatures Pale Ale is...

Black Rock Pilsner Blonde
Brewcraft #15 Brew Booster
Finishing hops Cascade pellets 10g
Safale Yeast
20L

Don't know whether this helps or not. Suppose I've only told you what hops...Maybe.

Cheers,
Jay.

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