Help needed

[damian44]

Im preparing my second ever Brew, still havn't tried 1st. Im gonna do a Coopers pale ale ive got a light booster with 250g malt and 250g maltodextrin and cluster 12g could i add something else?

Could you do a 23 litre brew in a 80 litre fermenter? I was thinking of purchasing a bigger fermenter so i could put 3 of the same consentrates at the same time. Would there be any drawbacks with this idea?

[Kevnlis]

Im preparing my second ever Brew, still havn't tried 1st. Im gonna do a Coopers pale ale ive got a light booster with 250g malt and 250g maltodextrin and cluster 12g could i add something else?

If all you are adding is 250g of malt and 250g of maltodextrin you may want to add more malt or some dextrose in as well, the recipe you have there will give you about 3% alcohol, for a mid add half kilo of dextrose or malt. If you add another half kilo of malt you may want to boil some hops with it to add bittering which will counteract the maltyness, but give you a much nicer brew!

Could you do a 23 litre brew in a 80 litre fermenter? I was thinking of purchasing a bigger fermenter so i could put 3 of the same consentrates at the same time. Would there be any drawbacks with this idea?

Certainly could, this would have the advantage of finishing quicker, it would be easier to hit the target pitching temp, and a larger volume of water should hold a more steady temperature. The only drawback I can think of is doing all that bottling in one go

[buscador]

just bottled the other day

Coopers Pale ale can
1.5kg LMDE
500g Dex
200g Joe White steeped crystal for 30 minutes before boil in 2 L of water
20g Goldings hops beginning of boil
40 g Northern Brewer hops throughout boil
20g Cascade hops at flameout
US-05 yeast
22 L

a fun brew to brew. gotta love the cascade hops in a pale ale

b

[damian44]

Thanks for the great advise. I think i might just add another half kg of powdered light malt and 15g of Cascade hops. Should i bring all of the ingrediants including concentrate to the boil for 15min? Or how long should i boil it for? Does that sound OK?

Cheers Damian

[Kevnlis]

15 minutes sounds about right for that recipe. I would do a 4L boil with about half kilo of malt and the hops. Add the hops when the malt and water are at rolling boil, boil for 15 minutes then remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.

[damian44]

Im excited

[KEG]

avoid boiling the kit ingredients.. you'll lose some hop aroma and flavour.

[Kevnlis]

avoid boiling the kit ingredients.. you'll lose some hop aroma and flavour.

If the CPA kit has any...it would be minimal at most and probably not apparent in the final brew.

But none the less it is a good practice to always add the kit at flame out.

[damian44]

Im working my way through a case of CPA longnecks and ive decided its abit bitty. What can i do to make mine not so bitter? Ive decided to put the CPA on hold anyway why i do a Grolsh clone i have purchased a Rapid Creek Lager, 1.5l Light liquid malt, Munich grain, Saaz standard, Tattanger dry and Saflager S23. Is there any need to boil liquid malt or can i just put it in the fermenter? Thanks.

Cheers Damo

[chris.]

...

[damian44]

Is the ESB Extra Special Stout 3kg any good. Do you still have to add malt? I do enjoy a nice Guiness but 1 in 10 pubs poor a good one. How long will beer stay fresh for once its in the bottle? Thanks.
http://www.esbeer.com.au/category22_1.htm
Cheers Damo

[Pale_Ale]

Is the ESB Extra Special Stout 3kg any good. Do you still have to add malt? I do enjoy a nice Guiness but 1 in 10 pubs poor a good one. How long will beer stay fresh for once its in the bottle? Thanks.
http://www.esbeer.com.au/category22_1.htm
Cheers Damo

Can't help you with the kit recommendaion since I've never tried it, however to answer your question regarding how long in the bottle - the longer the beer spends in the bottle, the better it gets. There is virtually no limit to how long you can keep it provided it is well sealed, out of sunlight and within the right temp range (around 14-24, i.e room temp)

For a stout, you would find that leaving it for 6 months+ before drinking would yield best results...of course that doesn't suit everyone!! I would suggest the beer would do most of it's developing mostly well within 2 years, so I wouldn't really keep alot of bottles past then, others may disagree but this is what I've found.

[ryan]

Well, I`ll have to be the first to disagree, if I may. I made 66l. of Belgian beer 14 months ago that came out at 8.2%. They are only now showing out as the beer I hoped for {O.G. 1076, F.G.1019}.
On the other hand, I`ve found with wheat beers and lighter ales with low fg`s the longer they keep,the more they go downhill. Especially wheats. So my method of attack is- BIG beers with BIG gravities, put them away and forget about them for as long as you`re able. Wheats and low gravity mid srengths, lap them up within 2 or 3 months. Especially wheats.

[damian44]

Ive just purchased a 75l fermenter, I need to drill a hole in the top to put the airlock in. What size drill bit should i use? I guess the hole should be a bit bigger than the airlock so the rubbed seal can fit in to. Thanks.


Cheers Damo

[Kevnlis]

I use 10mm then widen it slowly with a hole file.

[damian44]

Kevnlis you the man. Thanks

Cheers Damo

[damian44]

Hi ya guys. I have just purchased (Guiness clone)

Morgans 1.7 Dockside Stout
1.5kg milk stout improver
Goldings hops normal
Muntons Gold yeast
15ml liquorice extract

I was just wondering if i should steep some grains or any other ideas? Thanks

Cheers Damo

[Pale_Ale]

Well, I`ll have to be the first to disagree, if I may. I made 66l. of Belgian beer 14 months ago that came out at 8.2%. They are only now showing out as the beer I hoped for {O.G. 1076, F.G.1019}.
On the other hand, I`ve found with wheat beers and lighter ales with low fg`s the longer they keep,the more they go downhill. Especially wheats. So my method of attack is- BIG beers with BIG gravities, put them away and forget about them for as long as you`re able. Wheats and low gravity mid srengths, lap them up within 2 or 3 months. Especially wheats.

Fair enough, I agree with the wheat thing, they go downhill quickly. As a general rule I don't tend to drink anything under 3 months old, it changes alot in that time and most beers tend to stablise after that. Of course you will get your belgians, stouts and other full bodied brews which with long chain sugars that will mean a much longer maturation time.

[Boonie]

Ive just purchased a 75l fermenter, I need to drill a hole in the top to put the airlock in. What size drill bit should i use? I guess the hole should be a bit bigger than the airlock so the rubbed seal can fit in to. Thanks.


Cheers Damo

Tip, dont push hard or you will crack the lid.......yep, been there . Let the drill do its magic.

Cheers

Boonie

[damian44]

The guy at Country Brewer Casula has cracked a lid too. I left lid on fermentor and drilled. No worries. Can i stick thermometor on 75l fermenter horizontally, as 23l mark wouldnt cover it vertically? Im not sure if thermometor would like to be on such a curve. Is there a spell checker. LOL. Thanks.

Cheers Damo