Coopers Julebryg

[Sone]

Hi guys, I wanted to get this going for christmas time - http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/strong/julebryg. I was going to use a coopers dark ale kit with everything else mentioned. Have a couple of questions though:

1) I have 250g of crystal malt lying around, would it be ok to add if I steeped it before boiling everything or should I leave it out?

2) Would this benefit from dry hopping with the same hops (saaz). If so how much should I use?

Excuse my ignorance but I've only just started adding extras to kits :thumb:

 

[RobWalker]

1) If you like i guess, there's a decent amount in the dark ale kit and amber malt, but it won't hurt it.

2) I wouldn't personally. You want the malt and spice flavours to shine through, hops will confuse things too much and it's out of style for a winter ale.

 

[Sone]

Great, thanks! Will leave the dry hopping and just add the crystal malt :thumb:

 

[lovelldr]

I made this last year using the coopers English bitter, and used crystal malt too. 150g iirc. Came out really nice... Took a few good months to get to its best, so if I were you, brewing by June at the latest would've been better. But should still be ok for Christmas, will just be better as a winter warmer in February :p

 

[Sone]

Yeah I realised it would have been better to get this on earlier but hopefully should still be good Will update how it all goes, glad to hear it turns out nice! Cheers :thumb:

 

[Davybarman]

You could always brew and leave for Xmas 2014 hehe :whistle:

 

[Sone]

Could be an idea to keep a couple back until next year, well try at least!

Started this yesterday, swapped the yeast for Safale S04 and it has taken off like a rocket! Krausen has reached the lid of the fv and covered it on the inside, it hasn't escaped out yet.

Should I replace the lid or just leave it as it is for 2 weeks until bottling? Everything was sterilised with star san :thumb:

 

[RobWalker]

have a look in. i'd bet that the fermentation has subsided a bit, if so just replace the lid and leave it, totally worry free :thumb:

if not, you could always attach a blow off tube...

 

[Sone]

Cheers, should have said that I don't have an airlock fitted in this fv so I just don't fully snap the lid down. I can tell fermentation has subsided already, would you still replace the lid? I suppose nothing should happen, just looks a bit messy