homebrewandbeer.com

Hi All,

Up until now I have been kit brewing with varied results.

I now want to brew creating my own wort using the concentrate from beer kits. I have the basis of a recipe as follows and would like comments on.

One thing I still don't know how to calculate is how much hops do I need to put in for a 23 litre brew.

The plan is:

1 x Morgans 1.7kg Blue Mountain Larger concentrate.
1 x 1 kg Brew Booster (not sure if I really need this or not)
Cascade Hops to be placed in the pot for one hour after boil has been reached.
Cascade Hops for finishing to be placed in the pot 15 minutes prior to the completion of the boil.
2 x Saflager S-23 Satchels.

How does this sound ?
Do I need to use the Brew Booster ?
How much hops need to be used at each stage ?

The fermentation period will be over a 2 week period where the first stage will be done at 18C and the second stage bought down to 4C.

Am I on the right track for my first real attempt at brewing ?

Regards

Pete

hey Pete there is no need to boil hops for 60 minutes if you are using the blue mountain lager can (as it already has the bitterness which is essentially what you get when you boil hops for 60 mins) unless you want the brew to be more bitter of course

for the 15 minute addition id recommend just starting with around 20g - some would say 12g but as hops mellow over time, you probably wont notice them much once you've finished lagering

using the brew booster would be a good idea if you want a full strength brew

with your fermentation id recommend keeping it at a constant 12*C or so if you can manage it, then after 3 weeks you can drop it to 4*C for lagering (provided you have racked - you don't want it sitting on the yeastcake for a long time)

G'Day Tom,

Thanks a mill for your advice.

So, what ya basically saying is that the initial hops would only be required with an un-hopped concentrate ?

No, I wasn't planning on using a second fermentor for racking. That was the reason why I was only going to ferment for 2 weeks...... what's ya thoughts?

Pete

Geez, 2 weeks in primary. That will get some crazy flavours from the yeast cake.

Hi Chris,

So, what ya recommend ?

I assume buying a second fermentor is the way to go ?

How long should my primary stage be compared to the secondary stage ?

Pete

If I may butt in - you CAN certainly go out and buy another fermentor and thus be able to rack your brew. Those that do it swear by it.

However you don't HAVE to. There has been heaps of discussion about whether to do this or not on here in the past. Personally I don't but may get around to it one day. Leaving your brew on the yeast for the 2 weeks or whatever will not cause any significant problems.

The rackers reckon the big improvement is clarity, but hey I drink my beer, not look at it, so this is not a big deal to me.

As I see it the big advantage of having 2 fermentors is that you can do 2 brews when your stocks need a boost and rack when stocks are OK!

Cheers

FWIW, rather than spend $35 on a second 30L fermenter, I went to Rays Outdoor City (IIRC it used to be Rays Tent City) and bought a 25L water container with a tap for $15. Because it has a small opening at the top, it is harder to clean than my main fermenter but my experience so far is that using it as a secondary, the crap that gets left behind is pretty easy to wash out (I use chlorine bleach or napisan, depending on my mood, followed by a good go with meta). 25L seems to be fine as a secondary because the wort (or is it beer by 2ndary?) doesn't foam up during secondary fermentation so it's fine for capacity. If I get another container for bulk priming, it'd be a toss up between the two.

The advantage of another 30L fermenter would be I can have 2 brews in primary, or add stuff to secondary fermentation without worrying about overflow. The advantage of another 25L water container would be that it'll be easier to convince my wife.

Tom

Gday pgmoscatt.

In regard to your initial post, to me you are still making a kit beer.

Why not try your own exract brew. Get some unhopped liquid malt. And bitter it to your taste, with your own hops. Then add some powdered malt and some dextrose with flavouring hops for aroma.

Thanks to all,

This has been some awsome feedback which I have noted on all topics.

Yes Paleman, I have been making kit beer but during our summer up here in Brizzy was a stinker so I have waited till now to get back into it.

My ulimate goal is to make my beer using malts and hops so I can brew to my design, bit I want to do this in stages, so for now I will leave the full kit beer and enter the world of creating my own wort using the can but using selection of extracts and hops.

This will lead me gently into the good stuff.

Again, thanks to all.

Pete
Brisbane.

I hope i'm not stepping out of line Oliver and Geoff. But pgmoscatt, have a look at this forum, and do some searches, and post some questions.

Some very experienced brewers willing to give advice here. And Grumpys also sell homebrews. Such as Masterbrews ( which are advanced kits ) Extrabrews ( which are basic extract brews) and also cater for the partial and full masher.

And also sell every ingredient, or utensil you could want. Online aswell.

Homepage is http://www.grumpys.com.au

The forum is http://www.grumpys.com.au/phorum.php3

nah bugger searching! Ask away! I hate searching forums! So much crap to wade through! You have a question, ask it and the answer will magically appear...either as a forum link or a direct answer.

With regards to leaving the brew in the primary fermenter for two weeks, I have some direct experience which I can impart.

I did this very thing a couple of times. Beer was fantastically clear. I was kegging then so within days I had great carbonated, clear beer WHICH TASTED LIKE USED BANDAIDS!!!!!

I picked the HBS guy's brains for ages before we worked out that I simply had left it on the trub too long...simple! Now I rack. Clear beer and no bandaids!

How long did you leave your beer in the Primary shane ?

I never rack before a week, never had a bandaid tasting beer. To get this taste, youd have to have left it on the trub for a very long time.

edit, just re-read..two weeks. That is a long time, but not overly long. Ive done a few beers of two weeks or more on the Primary. Havnt had an off one. Maybe ive been lucky.

shane_vor wrote:TASTED LIKE USED BANDAIDS!!!!!

I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, but how do you know what bandaids taste like? I've heard other people mention it, and I've tasted some funny tastes in my beer, I'm trying to work out if its the used bandaid taste. Maybe I should just taste one

ex0ja wrote:

shane_vor wrote:TASTED LIKE USED BANDAIDS!!!!!

I'm not trying to be a smart-ass, but how do you know what bandaids taste like? I've heard other people mention it, and I've tasted some funny tastes in my beer, I'm trying to work out if its the used bandaid taste. Maybe I should just taste one

Ditto !! ex0ja. What the hell is this bandaid thing ?. Ive tasted fruity beer, beer thats too bitter, beer thats acrid.....never have i tasted bandaid beer.

Ive brewed for over 20 years. Bandaid beer is on my to do list. Just out of curiousity

And i can guarentee, leaving your beer on your primary yeast for two weeks, will not give you an off beer. Unless you have done something else drastically wrong. This comes from 20 years of experience.

I also have never chewed band aids BUT this is the normal description for chlorophenols (i.e bad news) .

Obviously I don't know what happened to Shane's beer but with other posters the most common link seems to be using bleach as a sanitiser. Bleach contains chlorine and if its not cleaned out perfectly after sanitising you run the risk of chlorophenols and therefore the much referred to medicinal or bandaid taste that evryone hates.

You can get chlorophenols otherways of course- this just seems the most common.

I used to use 'Pink Stain Remover' which is available from brewshops then heard that bleach was much better - this was all when using kits.

Looks as though it may be better to head back to the pink stuff.


Pete