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Crystal Malt

J

jonewer

Hi all, I'm a new bewer and wish to create a pale/amber ale with loadsahops!

I have a Coopers IPA kit as a base and wish to add 1kg light dry spray malt (brew length 23liters) and also some crystal malt to add some body to offset the hops a bit.

I have 500g of crystal waiting to go, but also want to avoid any cloying sweetness. So how much should I add and what volume to steep in?

Also, is it neccesary to boil/steep the dry malt or should I just chuck it in as is?

Thanks in advance.
 
Welcome to the forums and home brewing -- in short you can modify just about any recipe or kit. But just like in cooking there are some basic rules and guidelines you need to grasp.

Adding some crystal malt might be a good thing - and yes they need to be steeped - in a grain bag like tea.

I highly recommend 3 things:
- First slow down and do a small bit of reasearch
- BeerSmith has a great Blog section and a recent one was an overview of extract brewing
- The answers to a lot of your questions can be found in using BeerSmith software - enter your kit contents as a new recipe

Relax - you try and rush beer brewing and you will end up with no beer
 
+1 on the slow down :)

There are some great podcasts about homebrewing too - check out http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/ & http://www.basicbrewing.com/index.php?page=radio

Also, howtobrew.com is a great online resource - I own the book too!

Welcome to the Homebrew world!

Mij
 
As a quick follow up on BeerSmith ....   in the basic ingredients you are not going to find something exact like Coopers Light Malt Extract - medium or whatever.

But pick a liquid malt extract (LME) that is close ...  light or extra-light etc. and use that in your new recipe. Always keep things as close as possible and you'll be fine. Look under the tips and tricks section to learn how to setup BeerSmith.

Good Luck

If you are really flummoxed you can PM me
 
Yes, my main problem is that I just dont know whats in the kit already....

I have done a pure kit brew which worked quite well, but its rather boring to just pour a couple of tins into a bucket and wait... I need to satisfy my innate desire to tinker and fiddle with eveything ;D

 
Well brewing is all about fiddling and tweaking ... instead of doing an off the shelf kit - which is how many folks start - I had a science teacher (at the school I work at) help me out and I started with extracts and grains from the local brew shop. No doubt that just using extract + hops + yeast + water is still going to give a better brew than a lot of that Mega-Brewed stuff at the local food mart.

But adding some specialty grains is easy and lets you tailor your beer more to taste. The other big boost in my brewing was starting to use BeerSmith --- yes its a bit daunting to start out but its worth the effort.

What kind of kit are you getting ?
 
Hi SleepySam,

The kit is an IPA, about 1.7kg of hopped LME. They recommend 500g DME and 300g dextrose be added.

I plan to add 1kg DME some crystal and some hops.....

Guess we'll see how it goes....
 
Sounds good - keep in mind that DME (when hydrated with water) is actually thicker than LME - or a little bit can go a long way. And a grain like carapils/dextrine or carafoam adds some texture and mouth feel (tastes less watery).

My 2 cents would be something like the following:

stick with the recommended 500g DME

I would go with about 350g of crystal - if its not already crushed it needs to be run over (gently) with a rolling pin.

Put the recommended amount of water for the kit into your brew pot (cold water). Put your grains in a grain bag put the bag in the pot and turn the heat on. Stir occasionally until the water hits 180deg F (82deg C) and pull the bag and proceed to boiling.

Most boils last for 60min  -- since your LME is already hopped you can add some hops at 40min which will add hop flavor --- you can then add hops at 50 or 55min for aroma  - both hop charges could be 20g or less.

Kind of shooting in the dark here --- lastly your wort will need to go thru a fairly fine mesh strainer when you pour it into the bucket to ferment.

good luck

 
My recommendation would be to by a book. 
Putting all your faith in internet research is not wise. 
If you're serious enough about homebrewing to start spending money on equipment and ingredients, then you should spend some money on books as well. 
My first homebrewing book purchase was Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing.  I'd recommend it to anyone.
 
+1 to books (podcasts, etc)

If I were to start over, I think John Palmer's "How to Brew" would be the book I'd own, then I'd pick up Jamil & John's "Brewing Classic Styles" (that helped me a LOT with recipe formulation!)
 
Regardless of your experience, both books are great.  Palmer's starts with a few chapters to get you started, and then further chapters take you as deep as most home brewers care to venture.  And even if you don't do water chemistry, you can read it and know it is there if you have questions.

The styles book really helps you understand what defines a style, making it different from others, and gives a good starting point with a proven recipe.  You can tweak or go in opposite direction from there. 
 
    I agree with getting some books.
I've found that reading first ( I choose, How to Brew. ) is a great foundation. Then if I didn't understand something I thought was to technical, I would ask my question here at Beer
Smith forum to get a clear understanding.
stevemwazup
 
Thanks guys.

FYI, John Palmer's "How to Brew" is available free online at howtobrew.com

Very useful. I now know how to brew  ;D

edit - D'oh! I just noticed Mij recommended that earlier on... where's the facepalm emoticon?
 
In the fermentor now... the green OG sample tastes green and bitter (1.046)... bit like some forbidden tropical hallucinogenic flower your mother told you not to eat when you were a boy......oh look! theres a butterfly!
 
Well, it was extremely lively for the first 24hrs but appears to have calmed down a lot. Is that normal? Temp was probably about 25 but is now down to just over 20.
 
It is normal for the initial hours of ferm to be very active.  Yeast eat the simple sugars first, then eat the more complex sugars, which take longer to break down and eat, slowing down activity.  Plus the yeast tire and start getting drunk too.  The weaker cells retire, leaving the ferm and the cleanup to fewer cells.

25 Celsius, and then 20C?  That's 77F and 68F.  During that initial period especially, the yeast generate a lot of heat, so if the room or outside edge of carboy was 77F, the center of the carboy may have been 10F higher.  Time will tell, but warm conditions like that can create fusel alcohols and lots of esters and phenolics that you did not intend. 
 
It's normal for the fermentation to be more active at the beginning as the majority of the fermentation are consumed.  Once it slows way down(4 days) rack it to a seconday it leave it htere for 10 days or so to finish fermenting and clarify.  As far as the temperature, it depends on what yeast strain you are using.  Check what the mfg. recommends.  I am a bit confused as to what you are making.  Most kits I've sen come with all the fermentables you need, yet your's recommends adding some?  Typically you would only need to add steeped grains to get better body, and flavor.  FWIW, I would stay away from hopped extracts and hop it yourself.  Find some recipes online or in a book that others have tried and liked.  Brew it once yourself without changing it, and only then tweak it to your liking. 
As others have said..read,read,read.  There is a wealth of knowledge out there.  I don't have Palmer's book, but I know it is now in it's third edition and much improved from the online version.
 
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