beer kit enhancers / malt extract - what/why?

[marco491]

Hi again,

I have heard some people add malt extract instead of sugar to get a "fuller flavour" out of their kits, and there are also these things called beer kit enhancers.

- I thought the sugar was for carbonation in secondary fermentation, so does the malt extract play a carbonating role or is it just added flavour? Does it go in after primary fermentation or only at kegging?

- basically if your kit does not ask for extra extract or an "enhancer" do you risk messing it up?

- and finally, if it's all kind of optional for a kit, how do you know which one to use?

Thanks!

 

[Aleman]

Two sorts of kits.

One can kits to which you add a kilo of additional fermentables (Sugar normally suggested by the manufacturer - especially on cheap kits)

2 can kits to which you add nothing

both sorts of kits require a small amount of additional fermentable to create condition in the bottle/keg . . .normally sugar, but some think that malt extract produces better beer (These are mostly deluded Americans to whom adding any sort of sugar to a kit means it will go thin and cidery - or UK brewers that have read John Palmers How to Brew book )

Now the cheaper one can kits if they are well made (like coopers) will contain fermentables derived from malted barley, but teh cheaper ones (like Geordie, betta buy etc) will contain sugar (also look for glucose syrup and barley syrup on the contents). If we stipulate that the more barley malt derived extract a kit has the better the kit is (after all 'real' beer brewed in a good craft brewery is 95% more than likely to contain 100% malt), then adding 50% plain sugar to the kit will reduce the beeriness of the kit . . . And if the kit already contains sugar to which we add more the whole thing just starts to get nasty. So to improve the quality of the beer from one can kits you could consider adding extra 'beeriness' in the form of malt extract.

Beer kit enhancer consists of a mixture of malt extract and sugar, it's just as easy to make your own by buying spraymalt extract and sugar and mix them in the quantities you desire. Coopers do two sorts IIRC one which is 50/50 malt extract and sugar (mainly for lagers) and one which is 70/30 malt extract / sugars for the ales and stouts.

As to which one you use . . . it's down to personal preference. I've made several coopers kits and have not been happy with the lagers using malt extract so prefer to use just 100% plain sugar for those (I think the extract I was using was of dubious quality) . . .with darker beers the results are much better using 100% extract

 

[jasea3632]

I have used spray malts in the past to create a better beer
I usually add a medium to dark spray malt with a cheapy lager kit to make a nice golden ale that dosnt cost a lot to make.
Ading enhancer to a kit will not spoil it it will only ever make it better IMO

 

[JagCrusher]

Have a read of these...

>>CLICK<< How to get the best from your beer kit

>>CLICK<< How to make a Premium Beer kit

>>CLICK<< Beer Kit Enhancer Threads
...these are the results of a search so not all the threads may be pertinent :hmm:

 

[marco491]

Thanks for the good responses, guys, that's much clearer. My German supplier was suggesting adding light malt extract to a Coopers IPA but I prefer to put my trust in you lot :-)

 

[DirtyCaner]

I made the Coopers IPA using the extra light spray malt and it was excellent. :thumb:

 

[marco491]

So here's the situation:

one 1.7 kg tin of Coopers IPA concentrate
one 1.5 kg tin of Brewferm light malt extract (liquid)

The IPA instructions call for 500 g of dry malt extract and 300 g sugar.

-Can I just use 800g of the Brewferm?
-Do I just mix them both together in the FV?
-Do I need to add any sugar?

thanks!

 

[Dave1970]

Another question along these lines...

What is the weight equivalent between sugar, DME, Malt Extract?

If a kit calls for 1kg of sugar what would be the right amount of DME to use?
If a kit calls for 1 kg of sugar what would be the right amount of tinned extract to use?

 

[marco491]

bump

 

[JagCrusher]

Marco,
Have a look here... >>CLICK ME<< ...and here... >>CLICK ME TOO<<

PB2 is basically Mr. Coopers - his advice is as valid as it gets. So you could make their 'Authentic IPA' recipe with your 1.7kg can of IPA + all of the 1.5kg can of LME (Liquid Malt Extract) & 500g of sugar (ignore the wheat malt extract bit in the first thread... that's just a different type). You could brew it to 23litres and it'll be very slightly weaker, alcoholically.

HTH.

 

[JagCrusher]

Another question along these lines...

What is the weight equivalent between sugar, DME, Malt Extract?

If a kit calls for 1kg of sugar what would be the right amount of DME to use?
If a kit calls for 1 kg of sugar what would be the right amount of tinned extract to use?

Dave,
I think 'they' say that liquid malt extract is ~20% H20 so that would imply a 1.5kg can of LME ~= 1.2kg of dried malt extract (from above... >>CLICKY<<). But usually it's either 1.5 kg LME or 1kg of DME.

Again, the 'usual' equivalent for 1kg of sugar is 1kg of DME (or 500g of each).

There are no hard & fast rules; the outcome - i.e., your beer - being very much subjective. You might love it, I might hate it. The best idea is to experiment and keep notes of what you do, so next time you can tweak a good recipe into an excellent one.

HTH.

 

[marco491]

Thanks, Jag!

 

[brewnoob]

Hijacked.

I've got some Cooper's IPA which I should be starting on tomorrow. The instructions call for 500g of spraymalt and 300g of sugar which obviously only comes to 800g total. Why only 800g of fermentables rather than the usual 1000g?


Dan

 

[Archtronics]

I don't imagine there is any real reason, you could add more fermentables if you want a stronger % per pint. 1kg is a standard size for a bag of sugar hence most company's try to make the recipe as fool proof as possible.

My 2pc

Mark

 

[brewnoob]

Okay cheers, think I'm going to go for 500g of spray malt and 500g of ordinary sugar then :P

Yummy yum yum