Wilko Chocmeister - lost instructions

[EdBrewer]

I've decided to brew using the Wilko Chocmeister kit. I have lost the instructions however....can anyone supply me with a brief rundown? I'm totally lost on how much DME to use if I'm going off-piste with the recipe. I'm going to use Muntons Extra Dark DME but I thought I pimp the kit a bit with some golden syrup, a little muscavado and some espresso. I'm also thinking of brewing it short because I've never found a stout less that 5.5% that I didn't hate!

As far as I can glean from watching numerous YouTube videos of people doing Wilko kits it goes a bit like this:

- Warm the can to loosen up the stuff
- Chuck the contents in the fermenter with 3.5L of boiling water
- Add DME and any extras (syrup, muscavado and espresso in my case)
- Stir in yeast
- Top up with 16L of cold water (as I'm brewing it short, 18.5L total water is a complete guess)
- Ferment for at least 14 days
- Transfer to bottles for conditioning in a cool place.

So if that's the vague process my questions are basically these:
- How much DME and extras should be used if brewing short at 18.5L?
- Do I add more sugar to bottles (I'm using 500ml bottles) for conditioning? I did the last time I brewed, but that was full grain and I ended up with a not undrinkable beer but each bottle, when opened, sprayed about hallf the bottle out! I assume this was because I only fermented for a week.

Does this sound like the ramblings of a fool or a generally good plan for a relatively new brewer? Any and all feedback is appreciated...can't believe I lost the instructions.

 

[terrym]

Most of what you have said is right.
If you use the 1.8kg kitcan, 1 kg DME, 250g Golden Syrup and 120g Dark Muscavado sugar and brew to 18.5 litres it will produce a beer of just over 5.5%. If you substitute the some of the DME with golden syrup, gm for gm, it will be about the same but progressively thinner in taste the more GS you use.
Otherwise make up the wort to the correct pitching temperature say about 20*C, stir well to mix all the sugars, take an OG reading, add the yeast sprinkling on the surface is OK, cover and leave for at least 10 -12 days before taking your first SG reading. However be aware there is chance the fermentation may be a bit volcanic at the beginning so you may need a blow off tube. And leaving it 14 days in the FV is usually seen as good prartice for newcomers provided it has definitely finished fermenting.
More tips in here
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/...de-to-brewing-your-own-beer-from-a-kit.57526/
And use this for calculating your priming sugar amount.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/Typically about 2.5g per 500ml bottle should be about right for stouts a tad more if you serve your stouts chilled.