Adding bitterness to a extract kit

[GibonCZ]

Hello !
I bought a simply pale ale kit (1.8 kg LME with some hop extract added) and I want to improve it a little bit
I've decided that I will use 1kg of beer enhancer instead of the sugar and add 0.9 kg of H&B LME + I have some citra hops so will dry hope it as well .
Not sure how to get some extra bitterness to it...
I know that I will have to boil some of the hops first but I was told that its not recommended to boil this kits.
Could I boil the hops with the beer enhancer and the H&B LME before adding it or just the beer enhancer maybe ?

 

[Sandimas]

Could I boil the hops with the beer enhancer and the H&B LME before adding it or just the beer enhancer maybe ?

Yes, that's what I do to add a bit of extra bitterness to kits. I just tweaked a Wilco Golden Ale with a short 10min hop boil in water with beer enhancer in it, then added it to the kit in the FV.

If you use some brewing app like Brewers Friend, you can put in the ingredients and then work out how much extra bitterness you'd get from a short boil of some of those Citra e.g. 15g boiled for 15mins will give you approx an additional 10 IBUs of bitterness. Not sure of the IBU of the original kit but they're quite low 20ish I'd say so if you may want to add a bit more than that, say 30g for 15mins to give an extra 20 IBU. Worth steeping / dry hopping with Citra too.

 

[peebee]

There is "isomerised hop extract", but go easy with it, it really is powerfully bitter.

I'd always dismissed it as an un-necessary beginners tweak - until I forgot to put the main batch of hops in my beer recently. About 4.5ml in a 20L keg seems to have put right about 14IBU worth of missing hops (Ritchies, it seems to be some 50% more concentrated than another brand I could find). If you can't measure out fractions of a mil, forget it (I used 1ml syringes, without needle, which I could get on eBay).

 

[GibonCZ]

Great thanks guys ! I will boil 20g for 15 min today and see how it goes . Will definitely look for that hop extract for next time

 

[BeerCat]

I have just dosed up a raw beer with ritchies pre isomerised oil. 4ml will increase 23l by 10IBU (info from ritchies). Not tasted it yet.

 

[GibonCZ]

Boiled the H&B LME with the beer enhancer and hops for 20 min :)
I took a SG reading today and it looks like my beer is stuck at 1.018 for past few days , thats bit high right ? OG was 1.050 and the brew is kept at 26 ° C any ideas ?

 

[Dutto]

What to do with a "stuck" brew varies wildly!

Personally, I:

• Take the lid off the FV.
• Batter the wort with a sanitised paddle to increase the dissolved oxygen content. ("Beat it like it owes you money." was advice I receive many moons ago.)
• Add a teaspoonful of Youngs Yeast Nutrient.
• Sprinkle in a sachet of Wilco Ale Yeast.
• Put the lid back on the FV and stick it back in the Brew Fridge at 22*C.
• Check that the air-lock is moving after 48 hours.
• Leave it for at least a week before re-checking the SG.

The 26*C you quote is a bit on the high side for me as I normally brew at about 21*C.

The high temperature may be the cause of the "stuck" brew!

Hope this helps. :thumb:

 

[GibonCZ]

What to do with a "stuck" brew varies wildly!

Personally, I:

• Take the lid off the FV.
• Batter the wort with a sanitised paddle to increase the dissolved oxygen content. ("Beat it like it owes you money." was advice I receive many moons ago.)
• Add a teaspoonful of Youngs Yeast Nutrient.
• Sprinkle in a sachet of Wilco Ale Yeast.
• Put the lid back on the FV and stick it back in the Brew Fridge at 22*C.
• Check that the air-lock is moving after 48 hours.
• Leave it for at least a week before re-checking the SG.

The 26*C you quote is a bit on the high side for me as I normally brew at about 21*C.

The high temperature may be the cause of the "stuck" brew!

Hope this helps. :thumb:

Ill give it a go , thanks !!!