Wilko IPA

[mancer62]

just bit of info here please.

last brew I done was a Wilko IPA made with 700g enhancer and 500g brewing sugar then dry hopped with 25g citra 25g cascade. The beer is delicious and is a triumph served from my new corny c02 set up.
i went to make another batch today but have discovered I only have 300g enhancer and 1.5kg brewing sugar left in my cupboard. I would like to get this brewed asap in time for the Cheltenham Festival in 5 weeks time.
I will not be able to get to wilkos during the week and was wondering what your recommendations would be. Brew or not and if so with what amounts of what? cheers

 

[Slid]

You could use all your enhancer, a tad more brewing sugar (580g) and brew a few litres short? Say 20L vs 23L or some-such.
I did a fag packet calculation and it should come out at the same strength and with the same proportion of malt to sugar.

 

[Dutto]

Has the missus got any Golden Syrup in the larder? It makes a decent adjunct in place of sugar.

 

[mancer62]

no syrup i'm afraid think i'll just try the 580g brew sugar & 300g enhancer thank u lads.

 

[mancer62]

just double checking...I'm not looking for a brew that's super strong but one that's between 4%/5%.
to achieve this last time I brewed 700g enhancer and 500g brewing sugar.
Because of what I have in stock u recommend brewing to 20l using 300g enhancer(which is all I have) and 580g of B/S.
I have plenty more B/S (1.5kg in total) and could use more.
Can u confirm what I would need to add to achieve this ABV? ty

 

[LarryF]

I think as Slid said earlier, 300g of Enhancer and 580g of sugar brewed to 20L should give you somewhere between 4 & 5%.

 

[mancer62]

Ty

 

[terrym]

My advice; wait until the weekend and get into Wilkos and buy some DME or into Holland and Barrett and buy a jar or two of their liquid malt and use that, to boost the malt in your beer. The few days less in the brewing cycle will be worth it. Brew enhancer is an expensive way of buying dextrose, some spray malt and perhaps maltodextrin, and is a poor substitute against using more malt. If I'm doing a one-can I never put more sugar into the brew compared to the malt top up; and its usually quite a lot less.

 

[mancer62]

The prices of dme as far as I can see are around £6 per kg....2 jars liquid makt extract from h&b are also £6...unless Im missing something arent they about same price?
Is one more preferential than the other?

 

[Drunkula]

The prices of dme as far as I can see are around £6 per kg....2 jars liquid makt extract from h&b are also £6...unless Im missing something arent they about same price?
Is one more preferential than the other?

If you can get dry malt extract for £6 a kilo that's pretty good It's better than the liquid because per kilo you'll get more malt because the dried doesn't have the water, plus there's the chance the liquid might be old, which means it might not taste too good. H&B have a 100% barley malt extract for £1.99 for 370g which works out cheaper than the other 2 they have on the website.

Brew enhancers, depending on the type are a mixture of dextrose (brewing sugar) and maltodextrin, or brewing sugar, maltodextrin and DME.

Maltodextrin is a sugar which doesn't brew out so leaves 'body' which basically means residual sugar.

Brew enhancers are only an enhancement over more brewing/table sugar whereas malt is actually giving you more real beer. As some enhancers have 40% maltodextrin, 60% dextrose if you add a kilo you're only getting 600g of fermentable material so it's something you've got to be aware of. Other enhancers are typically 50% brewing sugar, 25% maltodextrin and 25% dme.

I also think brewing sugar is a complete waste of money and you can use normal sugar instead. The cidery thing seems to have been well debunked.

 

[Sandimas]

The prices of dme as far as I can see are around £6 per kg....2 jars liquid makt extract from h&b are also £6...unless Im missing something arent they about same price?
Is one more preferential than the other?

You generally need more liquid malt than you do dried malt for the equivalent volume, because of the water content, hence brewing LME coming in 1.5kg cans and DME in 1kg bags. So you'll be getting more malt from your 1kg DME than 2 x 454g jars of LME.