IPA Enhanced KIT

[escapizm]

Found this whilst surfing around. My eventual intention is to go all grain but the below allows you to tweak a kit. Ill give it a try when I’ve a few brews under my belt but would be interested in anybodies experiences.

Riggers' Original 1790 I.P.A.
Enhanced Kit Version
I suggest starting out by purchasing a good quality IPA kit or Pale Ale/Bitter kit. There are numerous choices and the final decision is yours. If you choose to use a pale ale kit, rather than an IPA kit, then more malt extract and hop will need to be used to achieve the necessary alcohol and hop levels required for this style. There really isn't much that can be done to enhance a kit beer but here are a couple of things that I have tried and I think are worthwhile.
1. Substitute 1 kg (1.5kg if using a pale ale kit) of Light Malt Extract for the sugar or dextrose normally used.
2. Put half a litre of cold water in a saucepan and add 500 gms of British Crystal Malt and heat up SLOWLY (over a 15 to 20 minute period) until just short of boiling. Strain the liquid into your fermenter, and discard the grain residue.
3. Put half a litre of cold water into a saucepan and add 25gms of fresh "Noble" British hop pellets (in my opinion there are only two to consider and they are Goldings and Fuggles), bring to the boil as quickly as you like, and boil for 5 minutes. Add the strained liquid into the fermenter and discard the residue.
Follow the usual kit instructions for the remainder of the brew. This version will have much better malt and hop profile and more body or mouth feel than a straightforward kit alone.

original courtesey of
http://www.grainandgrape.com.au/BeerOTM ... ersIPA.htm

[stevezx7r]

I can't see a problem with that recipe.

The crystal improves mouthfeel and adds colour (depending on which level of crystal you go for). Substituting spray malt for sugar is common practice and is probably the first step in improving any kit. Adding hops, I would say, is the third on the list for improving a kit, the second being using a better yeast

[WeegieBlue]

This looks great. I've done 3 kits so far and feel comfortable with the process now, to the point where I almost feel I'm cheating, so this is a nice little step into adding bits and bobs to make the ales more my own.

I'm keen to do an IPA as it's definitely my type of ale, and I was looking at using the Brewers Choice IPA kit. Does anyone think this recipe is a better option or should I give the Brewers Choice a pop?

[sam c]

I'm keen to do an IPA as it's definitely my type of ale, and I was looking at using the Brewers Choice IPA kit. Does anyone think this recipe is a better option or should I give the Brewers Choice a pop?[/quote]

hi,
i was thinking along the same lines and was wondering if it is worth adapting some coopers IPA with dme and some hops rather than doing a 3kg kit like muntons gold IPA?which will end up better? they both seem to end up costing about the same.

[Black_Sheep]

I love agood IPA too, I like the sound of this method. Would it work with an EDME bitter (1.8kg) and a Brupaks Pale Malt extract (1.5kg), 500g crystal malt, I was thinking of Goldings hops and a hopped pale ale spray malt to condition it?