Kid mod/idea for first beer

Right my plans are (and bare with me as i get carried away)
Start with a dark ale kit and replace the suger with golden syrup ferment for as long as is needed then age on charred oak JD chips (rinsed and sterilised) that have been soaked in JD for a month or so. Im thinking a month aging will be enough then transfer to pressure barrel and prime with maple syrup. Feel free to point and laff at my tweeks just aslong as you follow it with good advice. Also any tips on a kit to start with would be greatly appreciated

Thanks Alex

A lot of people think that Golden Syrup doesn't impart much if any flavour, If it was me I would at least replace half the sugar with Dry malt extract.

I have also read similar about maple syrup. IF that is true (and I haven't used either of them adjuncts myself) then you'd be not much better off than using sugar


I am not sure about the JD chip thing never did any type of addition like that in kit or AG.

I am not entirely sure what you are trying to achieve, is there a commercial beer you like or are looking to get similar too??

From what I have read about using oak chips it's a bit of hobsons choice as to whether to santises them or not. If you don't, you risk infection. if you do you. deplete/rinse/can't think of the right word the flavour extraction from the chips

Also haven't tried the oak chips but if they were sterile before being soaked in jd (bearing in mind it's 40% abv) they should be fine.

I'd say chucking the chips in Jack Daniels would be enough sterilisation.

You're aiming to get the effect of aging the beer in Jack Daniels barrels, I suppose. I've never tried this but I think you'd need to leave the beer in contact with the wood chips for quite a long time. If this were me I'd be thinking about aging the beer for 4 to 6 weeks at least. I wouldn't want to leave beer in a plastic container that long because plastic is permeable to Oxygen and you'd run the risk of oxidising your expensive beer.

If I were contemplating this I'd want a light colour beer so I could see the colour off the oak. I'd want a Strong ale, so that the beer would benefit from the maturation. I'd primary ferment for a week then rack the beer off into stainless steel or glass with the wood chips in (perhaps demi johns or a carboy) and I'd leave under an airlock for a long time before bottling. I, personally, would bottle if I'd made this much effort. If you do this take great care not to splash the beer around while racking or you might introduce Oxygen that way.

I have no idea what kit to use I'm afraid. I'm very much out of touch with modern ingredients.

I wonder if you need to go a slightly different route and get a 3kg kit that doesn't take sugar and then add in the oak chips. It sound to me as though you are trying to go for an Innis and Guinn type ale so perhaps a really dark ale might not be where you want to go, perhaps a St Peter's Ruby ale or a Wherry kit.

My theory when trying a new kit mod is to change one thing at once. Then you know what is making the difference.

Cheers

A

HebridesRob said:

I've never tried this but I think you'd need to leave the beer in contact with the wood chips for quite a long time..

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Some kits have 'wood chips' in them. However the wood chips, as reported by other forumites are more like saw dust and so only need the normal brewing time for the beer to have enough contact with the 'chips' (larger surface area and all that). If the OP were to somehow grind his chips into sawdusts he could cut down the brewing time?

I can't help thinking that if it's your first beer that maybe you should make it up as the kit instructions tell you, otherwise how do you think making `improvements' are going to actually improve the kit when you don't know what it's like to start with?
If you must tinker with a first kit, do something simple like use DME instead of granulated sugar, or brew short (to 4 or 4.5 gallons instead of 5). Both these improve the flavour of 1 can kits.

Cwrw666 said:

I can't help thinking that if it's your first beer that maybe you should make it up as the kit instructions tell you, otherwise how do you think making `improvements' are going to actually improve the kit when you don't know what it's like to start with?
If you must tinker with a first kit, do something simple like use DME instead of granulated sugar, or brew short (to 4 or 4.5 gallons instead of 5). Both these improve the flavour of 1 can kits.

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I totally agree with this, get a simple kit with DME to get a baseline of what you could expect and build on that.

Coopers do a dark ale but I never tried it..

Or just try a premium kit such as youngs american oak run ale (someting I gather is similarish to what you were intending)

Agree with above that, as your first brew you should go with a kit as instructed.

Perhaps if bottling, you could add a tiny amount of JD in a couple of bottles, see how that works out?

It is something I have been meaning to do (but with Rum), however keep forgetting on bottling day!

Good luck with whatever brew you do.

Thanks guys what inspired me was i had a bottle of theakstons old pacular with a shot of JD in it and it tasted really nice. so i got thinking and googling and abit carried away

wheazy_joe said:

Agree with above that, as your first brew you should go with a kit as instructed.

Perhaps if bottling, you could add a tiny amount of JD in a couple of bottles, see how that works out?

It is something I have been meaning to do (but with Rum), however keep forgetting on bottling day!

Good luck with whatever brew you do.

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That sounds interesting and by a few quick fag packet calculations you could probably add a shot say 25ml per bottle and not have to worry about killing the yeast for carbonation.

Coopers cerveza kit on the list for the next tesco sale methinks.

DanST said:

That sounds interesting and by a few quick fag packet calculations you could probably add a shot say 25ml per bottle and not have to worry about killing the yeast for carbonation.

Coopers cerveza kit on the list for the next tesco sale methinks.

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Yeah that was my rough thinking, and obviously the concern is not killing the yeast. I will get round to it eventually, I just always forget on bottling day!

I think il try a dark ale with DME to start with then on the next try golden syrup but i think il still prime with maple syrup (i love the stuff) and maybe leave aging untill next time or possably throw the chips in on first fermentation. The comercial beers i like are john smiths guiness and theakstons old paculear so a kit that tasts similar to start with would be nice.

Thanks Alex

http://www.coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/ale/detail/extra-smooth-bitter/

Alside101 said:

I think il try a dark ale with DME to start with then on the next try golden syrup but i think il still prime with maple syrup (i love the stuff) and maybe leave aging untill next time or possably throw the chips in on first fermentation. The comercial beers i like are john smiths guiness and theakstons old paculear so a kit that tasts similar to start with would be nice.

Thanks Alex

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If you want to make JS, try this receipe from coopers website. Haven't tried it myself though

http://www.coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/ale/detail/extra-smooth-bitter/