Getting more from the kit

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Mr T

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Hi Guys

So i have just bottled a Tom Caxton ale kit. I have looked at lots of advice and believe i have a brew around 4.2% from taking the OG and FG readings which i am happy about. I did try a bit when bottling and i think it has potential :cheers:

What i would like to know is how (and if) these kits can be tweaked to improve their flavour / quality. I used brewing sugar instead of cane - does this make a difference?

Should i have used bottled water for example, added anything extra like malt / hops to increase the quality? I am very limited to experience but would like to learn. Are these kits ever going to be "quality" or is AG the only way to produce drinks like the pint of wreckless i had at York train station yesterday that was amazing?

Cheers

Andy
 
Andy
Kits are a lot better now than they used to be, and there is also a big variety out there to choose from, although of course some are better than others. You can add all sorts of fermentables to bulk up the basic kit malt, as you will see on this forum, including liquid and dried malt extract, honey, brew enhancer and even molasses (black treacle) to name a few. Using ordinary table sugar( sucrose) is generally not recommended, since it is considered to give homebrewed beer a cidery taste, unlike dextrose (brewing sugar) which does not. However it is generally better to add some extra malt to one-can kits rather than just sugar alone. If you go for a two-can kit, like a Wherry, you do not necessarily need to add any more fermentables unless you want a higher gravity beer or the kit itself contains extra sugars (like the Youngs American range)
You can also enhance your kit by adding hop 'teas' with hops of your choice, or by dry hopping which basically only adds hop aroma.
As far as brewing water is concerned I use my mains tap water which doesn't taste of anything. Others use bottled water presumably because their water tastes of chlorine or something else. If your tap water doesn't taste too good perhaps you should consider using bottled water too. All mains water should be sterile as it leaves your mains tap, but don't use any water from your hot water system unless it's pressurised mains water.
The move up to BIAB, AG etc is a personal choice and is dependant upon the time you want to invest in your hobby, the space you have to store the kit needed and use it on brew days, and your desire for perfection. I am sure it is worth it if you have the time and space, but personally I have chosen to stay with kits since they can give me what I am looking for from this hobby.
 
Brilliant!

Thank you for the advice, this is only my second brew and the first (coppers lager made with cane sugar) had what I can only describe as a bit of a "twang".

I guess you very much get what you pay for, can you recommend a good quality kit, I like malty and hoppy pale ales as opposed to bitter or lagers.

I want to get another on the go so I have a bit in for Christmas!

Thanks again

Andy
 
Brilliant!

Thank you for the advice, this is only my second brew and the first (coppers lager made with cane sugar) had what I can only describe as a bit of a "twang".

I guess you very much get what you pay for, can you recommend a good quality kit, I like malty and hoppy pale ales as opposed to bitter or lagers.

I want to get another on the go so I have a bit in for Christmas!

Thanks again

Andy

Hi Andy

If you like a hoppy aroma and flavour, you are going to need to get some actual hops. The hoppy-ness just does not survive the process of reduction to a can-kit. Bittering does, but I doubt that is what you are after.

Hop pellets are great for a Newbie kit brewer, as all you need to add to, say, a Coopers Lager kit, is some Dry Malt Extract and some appropriate hops. A 5 minute boil is all you need.

Craig did a video that I found useful and I will post a link in a moment or so.
 
Here we go, this is the one:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uL5IaFD5k7g[/ame]

I can totally recommend this approach.

No need to strain out the hop fragments. I don't mind adding them "one bit" either.
 
Andy
You could try a Woodford's Wherry especially since they are currently on offer for ��£15 (from ��£20) at Wilko's, and don't require any additions. http://www.wilko.com/cider+beer-brewing/woodfordes-wherry-bitter-kit-3kg/invt/0207610 .You may have a Wilko near you. The Wherry is a two can can and a lot of people on here have a good account of it. There is certainly a lot of posts on it for info. It is certainly malty and if you wish you can always use a hop tea to add to the hop 'taste' and aroma, or dry hop for aroma only. The only drawback to this kit is the yeast supplied sometimes 'sticks' at about 1020 so you have to get it going again by a gentle stir avoiding getting air in it which may spoil the brew, and/or put the FV in a warmer place. Also the kit yeast also doesn't settle well in my opinion. The solution is to use another yeast. I have a Wherry to do in my store but will use a GV12 yeast instead of the kit yeast; others use a Safale S-04 yeast. These yeasts will attenuate well and will flocculate (settle) better. Wilko do their own ale yeast which you could try, although I have no experience of this.
Failing that try Coopers English Bitter with 500g DME and 500g dextrose, dry hopped with an 'English' hop e.g. goldings. Personally I find Coopers kits are reliable, but sometimes a bit uninspiring, so you have to experiment.
Finally Tesco Direct have frequent offers for home brew supplies, and so do Wilko, just like at present, although less frequently.
 
Beer is made from malt, hops, yeast and water. You can improve a kit by improving any of these things.

Malt: most one can kits tell you to add sugar. A little sugar is ok, but a kg is too much. It's better to add malt extract. It's even better to get some malted grains and soak them in hot water, boil the resultant liquid and add that instead of sugar.

Hops: kits contain hop extracts. You can really improve a kit by buying some dried hops and either boiling them for a while, and/or adding them to the FV after the fermentation has died down, for a few days.

Yeast: You can buy better yeasts that can make a significant difference.

Water: don't worry about this one just yet!
 
As always some bloody great advice.

I will concur with the general advice; use the best quality fermentible additions you can, brew enhancer is the minimum. Hop additions are an easy and really rewarding addition to any brew. Do some reading, check out what hops are used in the commercial beers you like and try those out. A distinguished forumite previously arranged hop taster packs for us which made it much cheaper to try out different types, look out for phase two of that (hopefully!!).

Good luck with your next brew!
 
Easy way to improve a 1 can kit: brew short to 4 gallons instead of 5 and add half a kilo of sugar instead of the full amount. The beer comes out about the correct strength but with much more flavour and no `homebrew twang'. Also the balance between the hops and malt stays the same but both a bit stronger.
 
Thanks Guys

This is really helpful. I think I will go get a whereby today and do that as standard, it will be good to see the difference between the one can kit and the two.

I'm looking at dme and hops but there's a lot of options, light, dark extra light, I'm going to need to do some more reading on this. Problem is I just want to get another going!

I'm reading about hop teas and dry hopping, I may give it a go, just dont want to ruin it!

Thanks again

Andy
 
You want light DME. You don't ruin it! Just run your plans by us on here. You probably need guidance with hop choice, which will depend on your tastes, and what beers you like.
 
So I picked up a wherry from Wilkos and I'm itching to get this one going now.

I am wanting to add hops to this to improve the flavour to my liking. I'm really enjoying some APA's at the moment especially "reckless" from the redwillow brewery. Looking at this it is described as loaded with citra and Amarillo hops. Would this be suitable? If not what should I add?

The kit suggests to add 6 points of boiling water, is this where I add the hops to this boil? How long should I boil them and should they be in a muslin bag?

Is there a difference between pellets and normally hops?

I'm going to order the replacement yeast as suggested today along with the hops.

I appreciate there's a lot of questions, I just want to get this right.

Thanks

Andy
 
I am wanting to add hops to this to improve the flavour to my liking. I'm really enjoying some APA's at the moment especially "reckless" from the redwillow brewery. Looking at this it is described as loaded with citra and Amarillo hops. Would this be suitable? If not what should I add?

Is there a difference between pellets and normally hops?

I'm going to order the replacement yeast as suggested today along with the hops.

I appreciate there's a lot of questions, I just want to get this right.

Thanks

Andy

Andy
My advice to you is to experiment one step at a time.
So, first, I would definitely change the yeast to a 'better' one.
I would then do the kit and see how it shapes up to your taste.
If you are OK with it then maybe that's the time to experiment with hop additions.
In the meantime have a look on here
http://beerlegends.com/hops
where you will find descriptions of most commonly available hops. There are of course other similar sites which give this info.
Hop pellets are ground, pelletised hop flowers and when immersed in liquid the pellets break up and are then more able to give up their flavour and aroma compared to flowers alone. The drawback is that some of these these hop particles may carry over into the finished product especially if you dry hop since the smaller bits can be reluctant to settle, and may also block your siphon. That's why I use a fairly large muslin bag to dry hop, weighted down with stainless steel spoons, although others don't bother to do this.
 
I'm a Redwillow fan. If you like Wreckless then give Amarillo and Citra a go. Sherry is a British ale with English hops, I believe, so you'll get a mix of hop styles. But this can work well. Cites and Amarillo are assertive hops and will change the wherry flavour a lot.
 
Andy
You could try a Woodford's Wherry especially since they are currently on offer for ���£15 (from ���£20) at Wilko's, and don't require any additions. http://www.wilko.com/cider+beer-brewing/woodfordes-wherry-bitter-kit-3kg/invt/0207610 .You may have a Wilko near you. The Wherry is a two can can and a lot of people on here have a good account of it.

Just bought one of these - thanks for posting as I would have missed it otherwise! Been intending to try the Wherry for ages and now for £15 (I'm sure it was £23-24 in Wilkos earlier this year) with free delivery to my local store and they take Paypal with no surcharge, it's happy days!:cheers:
 
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