Brewferm and Sugar

[Padalac]

making candi sugar is a piece of cake.. just dump the sugar in a pan top up with water to create a syrup, add a dash of lemon and then boil the bastard until it starts going brown. no need to let it harden just make it at the same time as you're doing the brewferm kit

[HantsBrewer]

I'm following this thread with interest as I've got 4 Brewferm kits to make before I begin a life of all-grain brewing.
I've been checking my stock of ingredients and have come to the conclusion that without investing in any more fermentables the following recipes are my best bet:

2 x Brewferm triple + 1Kg BKE, brewed to 15L (I actually put this lot in the fermenter a couple of days ago)

2 x Brewferm Abdij + I tin of Dark LME, brewed to 15L

This will be the first time I've made Brewferm kits without Candi sugar, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the results are just as good, or at least close.

As with previous Brewferm beers, I will be leaving these alone for a few months to condition.

I've recently aquired an AG recipe for Chimay, so once the AG process is perfected I'll tackle that bad boy!

[Pinto]

Both sound good to me Brewed to 15l, they're going to be rather stong (i'd guess around 9% abv) but should have some nice depth - maybe a tiny bit malty with the LME as they're designed for straight sugar - but hey, its your brew, your way

+1 on the AG - im going extract in the next few months and AG in the near future so hope to be making some handsome brews soon

[jim_chillin_3_grans]

[quote="Pinto"][quote="Pinto"].....( and now you've made me think about it... might have to crack a sample tonight just to see how its getting on )[/quote]

Well, the test is over (8 weeks conditioning).

A reasuring PSSSST ! when I twisted off the crown cap ended my worries about the recycled twist off stubbies gained from Tescos finest had kept pressure with standard crown caps I was suprised by the clarity - even through the green glass I could see straight through the bottle.

The pour..... perfect amber gold with good head and carbonation ..so on to the tasting...



I've created (to my tastebuds) what I'd describe as a perfect glass of leffe blonde with benefits the flavour has more pronounced herbal notes and what I can only describe as a smooth, buttery mouthfeel and flavour...and from one stubby i can tell it's going to be wickedly powerful I have 40 more of these to go ! - and im sure you can tell currently im rather chuffed I find it hard to beleive that something this good has come from my own efforts !

BIG reccomend on the trippel - this one was made with 500g of extra light DME,500g of Dextrose and 400g of Golden Syrup - also used tesco mineral water for the whole brew.[/quote]

Hi Pinto,

I'm pretty new to all this and at the bottom of a very steep learning curve. I'm thinking of trying out your take on the trippel as I'm a big fan of Leffe blonde. Just a quick question though - you say you used 500g of extra light DME, 500g of dextrose and 400g of golden syrup. Was this for the standard size kit? The instructions I have say to use 500g sugar for a 9L kit and another 90g for priming. Did you use 2 cans and add the 500g sugar and 500g DME for primary fermentation then 400g of syrup for the priming?

Thanks,

Kevin

[Pinto]

I think I wrote the above after about 4 of the above trippels I think i got my quantities a bit mixed up

Just checked my brew log to see what I actually did - according to my records, I brewed with 500g of extra light SME and a 400g of golden syrup as at the time, i didnt have any scales to measure the 250g of syrup off - so in went the tin as I didnt think it would hurt (and it certainly didnt )

I'd certainly reccomend going for the GS/SME mix as I think it added the "Buttery" charecter to the brew which is very to my taste; if you want to be purist, then just go for 750g of golden syrup. The main think to remember is that its a brew that deffinately improves with age - i wouldn't reccomend touching it until its 10-12 weeks in the bottle

[jim_chillin_3_grans]

Hi Pinto,

So you reckon 500g extra light spray malt + 400g golden syrup in a one or two can (i.e. 9l or 18l) brew? What did you use to prime?

Sorry to ask stupid questions, I've made a couple of brews since I've started and neither have turned out very well so I'm trying hard to get this one right!

Thanks,

Kevin

[Pinto]

Funnily enough, this Trippel was the kit I made a big effort with because I wanted it to be right Hence I even brewed with mineral water. Still got it wrong but in a good way

If you use SME as your sugar source, then you need to use 125% of the quantity of sugar - so if it says 500g of sugar (i must have misread the instructions for 700g), then use 625g of SME, or 500g SME / 125g of sugar/syrup. For priming, its wasteful to use anything but granulated/caster sugar as its there to provide CO2 to the beer, not for alcohol or flavour charecter.

I used over the top, sugar wise, but the OG came out pretty much where it was expected to, so it should happily go to 500 SME, 250-400g Syrup depending on how strong you want it. Double kit requires double the sugar/SME mix

[jim_chillin_3_grans]

Ok, thanks. I'll give it a bash. The hardest part will be the waiting I fear!

Cheers,

Kevin

[Pinto]

Ok, thanks. I'll give it a bash. The hardest part will be the waiting I fear!

Cheers,

Kevin

Its worth it, trust me

In the meantime, give Turbo Ciders a go if you havent - I can reccomend (and so can lots of people I know) my Cranberry, Raspberry and Apple one - and its ready to go in about 14 days If you use 5l mineral waters for the brew, you'll have a few fermentation demi-johns to use too

[jim_chillin_3_grans]

I'm not really a cider drinker. Although I have a friend that is, and he's been nagging me to make him a batch of cider since I started this lark. Maybe I should be kind to him and give him case of headaches in waiting...

I'm also loathe to use mineral water for brewing. The tap water here is so good (I'm in glasgow) that it's seems such a waste. And I'm too much of a tight arse!

[Pinto]

Fair enough Just remember to draw off all 25l into a spare fermenter/bucket (if you can) and treat it with 1/2 a crushed campden tablet to remove and chlorination and associates from the tap water.

[jim_chillin_3_grans]

Should I be doing that even with soft water? I haven't been so far, do you think that's a factor as to why my brews haven't been turning out well so far? I put it down to the fact that they're still quite young and I think I stirred up the sediment when I was syphoning it off. Both so far have smelled quite "yeasty" (that's the best way I can describe it) and tasted quite watery. I've been moving the fermenter prior to syphoning it off but have since read somewhere else on here that I shouldn't be. How much of the beer should I be leaving in the bottom of the fermenter when I syphon it? I've been trying to get as much as possible out. I've also been shaking the bottles after priming and capping, but have read since that I shouldn't be doing that either.

[Pinto]

If you bottle from the primary, you'll end up with some sediment going into the final bottles no matter how careful you are - I syphon to a secondary and let it stand for a few days to minimise this myself. "yeasty" is usually a sign of a young beer and fades with conditioning, although watery beer is usually down to using sugar ( granulated stuff in the worst case) instead of SME or LME.

As to the water, soft or hard , its all chlorinated by the water company to sterlise it - which remains in the water as chlorine or reacts with nitrogen compounds to form chloramines - none of which are good for beer. You can usually tell high levels if you get a "chemical" note to the beer like TCP or phenol. Using the crushed campden tab will drive this off

[jim_chillin_3_grans]

I haven't noticed any chemical tastes from the beer so far. Maybe once the yeasty smell fades a bit I might!

I've been using a 50-50 mix of brewing sugar and light spray malt. Do you think I should go for all light spray malt generally?

All good advice though. I'm learning all the time here. Don't know how people learned anything before the internet was invented.

[Pinto]

Best to try an match your malt to the kit colour - hence light ales and lagers with a pale through to extra dark for a stout