Top 10 kit brewing tweaks?

[orlando]

Or, how many ways can I "pimp my kit"?

Brew Club is having a collective kit brew, at the end of it everyone is bringing their beer for appraisal and the ensuing discussion is designed to give all the members a glimpse into how good kit beers can be if they follow a few simple, or not so simple tips. The question is what are they? You don't have to give me ten but if you have one or two that you think will get them on the road to kit heaven then that will do. I can then aggregate the best 10 and present them on the night.

I will obviously point them in the direction of the "Ditch's Stout" thread so you can leave that off your list.

[barneey]

My thoughts:-

Don't mess with the tap water.
Fermentation Control
Storage Afterward / bottling - kegging
Don't use "white" granulated sugar
Don't be an AG snob -kits are now very good

[orlando]

Not even a camden tablet?

[LeeH]

Yeah, not sure on the tap water. I always put mine through a carbon filter.

Proper temp control in a brew fridge has been my most recent improvement. V

[twentyfootwilf]

If you has my tap water you'd maybe do something about it. I always use cheap bottled water nowadays. It costs a couple of quid but it's nice and easy to use and doesn't have chlorine and chloramine in it. Kit additions I have to to like are 1: soft dark brown sugar, 2: an addition of a small amount of liquid molasses up to 200g per 23 litre brew as per Coopers Extra smooth bitter recipe. I've got a keg of Coopers English Bitter made with 2 jars of honey, 200g of molasses, 100g crystal malt and an EKG hop addition, very nice.

[Brewbitz]

I always use tap water, but, I put slightly more than I am going to need into a bucket 24 hours before I am going to use it, that gives time for chlorine, etc to disipate and it makes so much better wine, beer, lager & cider (if using kits).

[Aleman]

Temperature control,

'Proper' Yeast . . . and plenty of it

Depending on the kit a short boil with decent (Fresh) hops.

Chlorine removal from water (by whatever way you choose to do it )

I made a couple of lager kits last year (Barons and Brupaks and Here with mods) with the above and the results were very, very good.

[barneey]

Not even a camden tablet?

That's sorta my point, try a kit first with just using the bare kit with full control over temps.

Use that as a bench mark to see how it tastes.

I would suggest maybe that "funds" permitting of say getting 2 or 3 identical kits and brewing them for your next meeting, one stock - one with a Camden - and one which you alter according to home brewers folklore , calculators , mineral additions, fairy dust, Wolfs nipple chips, Larks tongues, Wrens livers, Chaffinch brains, or my personal favourite the addition of "Jaguars Ear lobes" (ground into a paste of course - not whole) , anyway you see fit to try an improve the kit.

Do a blind tasting with all 3 brews publish the results - would be interesting to see the results, if the same brewer i.e. you, brews them on the same day with the same control the results should be more representative as apposed to different brewers with the same kit.

Good luck with the meeting, if I were closer I wouldn't mind attending

[orlando]

Good luck with the meeting, if I were closer I wouldn't mind attending

All good stuff, I will let you all know how it goes, I'm really looking forward to it as I haven't brewed a kit in decades. Your last comment reminded me that I must post an invitation to "local" brewers and those looking to learn on here. I would certainly welcome anyone off here who fancied coming along, if they were holidaying around here for example.

[orlando]

Double post

[AnthonyUK]

Basic water treatment only e.g chlorine removal
Quality two can kits or one can +dme/lme. Little or no simple sugar.
Fresh hops in hop tea, short boil or dry hopping.
Correct amount of rehydrated yeast.
Fermentation temperature control.
Conditioning time as I find kits take longer to reach optimal condition over AG.

[razzrockbolt]

I followed Ditch's example and use a paint stirrer fixed to a drill mix the wort. Really gets the air in and is kinda fun.

Also

Adding half a Camden tablet to the liquor does seem make a major improvement to tap water.

[6470zzy]

I find that kits can be greatly improved with the addition of steeping grains and also hops just tipped into the FV. The quality of kits has come so far over the years, I recommend that anyone who hasn't done one in 10 or 20 years to give it a go even if its just for a lark, I think that you would be pleasantly surprised. (Just dont forget the steeping grains and hops )

Cheers

[Monkeybrew]

~ Ignore the overly optimistic kit instructions, when it comes to timescales.

~ Look after the yeast that comes with the kit, don't let it sit roasting in your shed over the summer month's. Keep the sachet in the fridge, but let it come up to room temperature before use.

~ Treat your tap water with half a Campden tablet the night before to remove the chlorine.

~ Fermentation temperature control is a must, even if the Coopers instructions say you can brew at 30C with their yeast, you can but it will still taste like shite!

~ Start brewing with decent 2-can kits, avoiding the temptation to add 1kg of Tate & Lyle.

~ Don't rely on poxy air locks, hydrometer hydrometer hydrometer.

~ Taste a bottle/pint of your brew once a week from week 1, to learn how conditioning improves the brew.

~ If adding hops, try adding them to blander style kits (Sundew is a good 2-can base kit) to allow particular hop flavours to stand out.

~ If hopping more flavoursome kit's, try matching the correct style hop to enhance the flavour, rather than confuse it.

I'm sure that I will think of some more as soon as I hit the 'submit' button.

Cheers

MB

[orlando]

~ Ignore the overly optimistic kit instructions, when it comes to timescales.

~ Look after the yeast that comes with the kit, don't let it sit roasting in your shed over the summer month's. Keep the sachet in the fridge, but let it come up to room temperature before use.

~ Treat your tap water with half a Campden tablet the night before to remove the chlorine.

~ Fermentation temperature control is a must, even if the Coopers instructions say you can brew at 30C with their yeast, you can but it will still taste like shite!

~ Start brewing with decent 2-can kits, avoiding the temptation to add 1kg of Tate & Lyle.

~ Don't rely on poxy air locks, hydrometer hydrometer hydrometer.

~ Taste a bottle/pint of your brew once a week from week 1, to learn how conditioning improves the brew.

~ If adding hops, try adding them to blander style kits (Sundew is a good 2-can base kit) to allow particular hop flavours to stand out.

~ If hopping more flavoursome kit's, try matching the correct style hop to enhance the flavour, rather than confuse it.

I'm sure that I will think of some more as soon as I hit the 'submit' button.

Cheers

MB

Another one and you would of hit 10 Joking aside a good list. Everyone has given me some excellent advice to pass on next month. If you can keep 'em coming.