Morgans Blue Mountain Larger Kit.

[Jimothy_Bobbins]

My wife has bought me a Larger kit to have a go at for my second kit but I'm not sure it has everything I need? On the can it says to add 1kg of dextrose, malt extract, or morgans master blends... Do I add one of these in place of sugar as ther is no mention of adding sugar to the kit. Also, it says about bottling it but nothing about putting it into a pressure barrel - can lager be put into a barrel like the wherry I made or must it be bottled? Any tips for using this kit would be appreciated - also, anyone know if the pint is going to be any good? Was thinking about making it up and then leaving it until around April/May time before tasting?

Cheers.

[sidneybigbrew]

largers are normally bottled to get high carbonation i dont think a barrel will give you that authentic larger fizz

[wren10]

The dextrose, malt extract etc are a (better) alternative to using sugar in the recipe. I wouldn't personally try to put lager in a barrel, better in bottles for ease of chilling and better carbonation.

[Jimothy_Bobbins]

Ahh right thanks guys. I am just a little worried about bottle bombs.. How common is this? I have 40 pint bottles which I have saved so could use them - trouble is it doesn't tell me how much sugar to put in a pint bottle and I don't want to get it wrong and have them go bang!!

Have either of you done this particular kit and if so which alternative to sugar do you find to be the best? Do they all create the same taste and fizz?

Sorry to sound stupid..

[sidneybigbrew]

just good old white sugar is fine i use 1 level t spoon per bottle and have had no problems at all but i do store all my bottles in plastic storage boxes with lids just incase .. there are various methods of adding priming sugar to bottles but this way suits me just fine..

[sidneybigbrew]

let me know how your kit turns out jimo i was looking at same brand myself gets some great reviews over seas ..

[Jimothy_Bobbins]

I will be sure to let you know of the results - I was hoping to hear back what alternative to sugar would be best.. Any ideas anyone? Dextrose, malt extract, or morgans master blends?

[sidneybigbrew]

any just dont use sugar as this will give you a sour taste ...

[Jimothy_Bobbins]

Ok, great. Will order some malt extract and get the brew going..

[thedeckking]

I've always prefered my lager made up with dextrose (it's cheaper than malt extract too!) but it's down to personnal taste. I've not got a pressure barrel so all my brews, both ale and lager get bottled. I always rack off into a spare FV containing the priming sugar dissolved in a bit of boiled water to ensure it's well mixed in rather than trying to measure out for 40 bottles. I've also got a bottling stick to attach to the tap on the FV which is worth every penny (about £5 from my LHBS including the tap) and makes bottling so much easier. For ales I use around 85g of sugar to prime and lagers I use around 150g. I've gone upto 350g with a cerveza I did for the summer as I like my drinks really cold which I find supresses the fizz. I use a real mix of bottles and have never had one explode yet .

Hope this all helps. I know when I first started this forum really helped and it's nice to be able to pass on what I've learnt so far. Good luck and let us know how it all goes.

[Jimothy_Bobbins]

I've always prefered my lager made up with dextrose (it's cheaper than malt extract too!) but it's down to personnal taste. I've not got a pressure barrel so all my brews, both ale and lager get bottled. I always rack off into a spare FV containing the priming sugar dissolved in a bit of boiled water to ensure it's well mixed in rather than trying to measure out for 40 bottles. I've also got a bottling stick to attach to the tap on the FV which is worth every penny (about £5 from my LHBS including the tap) and makes bottling so much easier. For ales I use around 85g of sugar to prime and lagers I use around 150g. I've gone upto 350g with a cerveza I did for the summer as I like my drinks really cold which I find supresses the fizz. I use a real mix of bottles and have never had one explode yet .

Hope this all helps. I know when I first started this forum really helped and it's nice to be able to pass on what I've learnt so far. Good luck and let us know how it all goes.

Thank you thedeckking for your very good advice. I hadn't considered racking off into a spare FV with the priming sugar and then bottling! What a good idea. How much is 'a bit of boiled water' though? Won't water dilute the brew? I don't have a tap on my FV's and I don't know what a bottling stick is but I can just syphon it into bottles after mixing it with the priming sugar I guess?

When I searched on the internet for dextrose it came up with some sports supliments - do you have a link to a specific dextrose that you use so that I can be sure to order the right stuff please?


Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it.

[Garth]

you could use something like this, it's half dextrose, half spraymalt..

Beer Enhancer

[thedeckking]

Thank you thedeckking for your very good advice. I hadn't considered racking off into a spare FV with the priming sugar and then bottling! What a good idea. How much is 'a bit of boiled water' though? Won't water dilute the brew? I don't have a tap on my FV's and I don't know what a bottling stick is but I can just syphon it into bottles after mixing it with the priming sugar I guess?

When I searched on the internet for dextrose it came up with some sports supliments - do you have a link to a specific dextrose that you use so that I can be sure to order the right stuff please?


Thanks again for your help, I appreciate it.

I put my priming sugar in a jug and then mix in just enough boiled water to disolve it in. It only takes around 100ml give or take so doesn't water down the brew. Some people on here put sugar and water in a pan and boil up the whole thing, let it cool and then mix it in. Depends how worried about infections you are.
If you're going to syphon into the bottles then pick up a medicine syringe from a chemist (or ebay!!http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BD-Syringe-Steril ... 0439034811) to measure the priming solution out with. But for a fiver I think it's def worth getting a bottling stick. I use one like this:

http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/de ... GEN2147353

It's basically a length of rigid tube with a little valve at the bottom. You open the tap on the barrel and the tube fills up, when you touch the tube against the bottom of the bottle it opens the valve and lets the beer out. If you stop when the beer reaches the top of the bottle, the beer displaced by the volume of the stick leaves a perfect airgap at the top of the bottle too. I got mine from my local home brew shop (LHBS)Julies Homebrew, 881 Oldham Road, Manchester, M40 2EE. 0161 2056513. It's well worth having a look in the phone book and find one near you as you can't beat the advice you get there. This is also where I get my brewing sugar. I buy a bag with the kit if needed and keep a bag on the go for priming too. It's commonly sold as brewing sugar but is also called Glucose Dextrose Monohydrate or Dextrose. Have a look here:

http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/de ... P20032782&

If you don't have LHBS and need to buy online I've heard good things on here about hop and grape, but have never used it myself. If you're searching for stuff on the net include the word "homebrew" with what you're looking for and you'll get better results.

[thedeckking]

It's also worth having a look at this thread from weejock:
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=27541&start=0

[Jimothy_Bobbins]

Thanks very much for your help guys, I appreciate it. Can't wait to get the brew going!