Best Guinness Extract kit?

[thrums1]

I would like to make a kit (+ additives) to resemble a Guinness type stout. There seems to be very little out there that can produce a creamy head and dry bitterness.

Does anyone have any experience of this and can suggest a kit and or add-ons, please?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I use the Range kit when I make stout. I add cocoa nibs, lactose, molasses and coffee but you could just add brown sugar. It's a 2.2kg kit for £15.

 

[thrums1]

I use the Range kit when I make stout. I add cocoa nibs, lactose, molasses and coffee but you could just add brown sugar. It's a 2.2kg kit for £15.

How much of the oither stuff do you add and when?

 

[terrym]

Coopers Irish Stout
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/coopers-irish-stout-review.17818/

 

[Horners]

I would like to make a kit (+ additives) to resemble a Guinness type stout. There seems to be very little out there that can produce a creamy head and dry bitterness.

Does anyone have any experience of this and can suggest a kit and or add-ons, please?

Lot of folk posting about stouts at the moment - guess its that time of year. For those searching for that elusive creaminess there really is no alternative to getting a stout tap and nitro set up from what I can tell - not cheap but if that was all you drank then a good investment, my latest oatmeal stout comes out exactly like a pint of guinness.

 

[terrym]

Lot of folk posting about stouts at the moment - guess its that time of year. For those searching for that elusive creaminess there really is no alternative to getting a stout tap and nitro set up from what I can tell - not cheap but if that was all you drank then a good investment, my latest oatmeal stout comes out exactly like a pint of guinness.

If you have PB that doesn't leak they can dispense stouts with a creamy head. When mine were functional that's all I used them for.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

How much of the oither stuff do you add and when?

For my sweet stout I brew 13 litres with
2.2kg Range Stout kit
250g brown sugar
100g lactose
100g molasses
All the above to the fermentation bucket
I add a hop tea before topping up to 13 litres
After 3-4 days I add 100g of cocoa nibs in a muslin bag
When I move to the 2FV I add 350ml of coffee.
I do not use the kit yeast but I dry hop with the kit hops.

 

[Begbie]

For my sweet stout I brew 13 litres with
2.2kg Range Stout kit
250g brown sugar
100g lactose
100g molasses
All the above to the fermentation bucket
I add a hop tea before topping up to 13 litres
After 3-4 days I add 100g of cocoa nibs in a muslin bag
When I move to the 2FV I add 350ml of coffee.
I do not use the kit yeast but I dry hop with the kit hops.

I've just been discussing The Range Irish Stout kit on another thread. I'm going to do this one again, so I'm VERY interested in your brew! A few questions, if I may?

The Irish Stout instructions calls for a 23 litre batch. So are you saying that you only brew with a 13 litre batch? That's very short. What is the OG? Does it work because you're not adding the 1kg dextrose, but instead replacing with smaller amounts of fermentable sugars?

Could you explain the hopping details? The way I read your post is that you make a tea with hops (if so, which type?), then dry hop with the supplied kit hops? If so, do you dry hop as per instructions i.e. after 7 days? I actually let my fermentation go for 2 weeks (following the 2/2/2 rule) and added hops at 11 days.

 

[Cheshire Cat]

I've just been discussing The Range Irish Stout kit on another thread. I'm going to do this one again, so I'm VERY interested in your brew! A few questions, if I may?

The Irish Stout instructions calls for a 23 litre batch. So are you saying that you only brew with a 13 litre batch? That's very short. What is the OG? Does it work because you're not adding the 1kg dextrose, but instead replacing with smaller amounts of fermentable sugars?

Could you explain the hopping details? The way I read your post is that you make a tea with hops (if so, which type?), then dry hop with the supplied kit hops? If so, do you dry hop as per instructions i.e. after 7 days? I actually let my fermentation go for 2 weeks (following the 2/2/2 rule) and added hops at 11 days.

Yes I'm only adding 350g of fermentables (lactose doesn't ferment) to the 2.2kg kit to make 13 litres. The OG was 1058 and FG 1016 (because of the lactose).
For the hopping I boiled 25g of Target with some sugar for 20 minutes. I dry hopped with the kit hops with the nibs after 3 days in the primary.
I used CML Beoir yeast.
ABV was 5.4%.
This Is currently carbonating

 

[Begbie]

Yes I'm only adding 350g of fermentables (lactose doesn't ferment) to the 2.2kg kit to make 13 litres. The OG was 1058 and FG 1016 (because of the lactose).
For the hopping I boiled 25g of Target with some sugar for 20 minutes. I dry hopped with the kit hops with the nibs after 3 days in the primary.
I used CML Beoir yeast.
ABV was 5.4%.
This Is currently carbonating

Thanks, much appreciated. One last question - did you roast the nibs prior to this or chuck them in straight from the packet?

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Straight from the packet.

 

[Begbie]

Straight from the packet.

Excellent, thanks for all the feedback. This is on my 'to do list', after my American Mocha Porter is bottled this weekend and the MJ Pink Grapefruit IPA (which is en route from B2B) is bottled. I need more FV's in my life!

 

[Begbie]

Going back to the American Mocha Porter, I had a bottle last night and detected a slight metallic taste to it. Has anyone else experienced this and will it disappear with conditioning time?

 

[Begbie]

To answer my own question - the American Mocha Porter is by far the best kit that I've brewed. It has gone down a treat with anyone that's tried it. And as for the metallic taste - gone. I'll definitely be doing this kit again.