Spray malt question

[james_m_r]

I have today taken delivery of a large order from Hop & Grape and among the goodies was 1kg of light spray malt.
Apart from my first couple of attempts at homebrewing I have always used 2 can kits & have never used spray malt before. I was going to make up a Coopers lager with this but would like to know if there would be much difference in the finished product if I used 500kg spraymalt & 500kg glucose compared to 1kg spraymalt only?

What are your thoughts/findings?

[james_m_r]

So would 750g spraymalt & 250g sugar be a better bet than 1kg spraymalt in your opinion?

[Barley Water]

Interesting response to the question posed Daab. If I read the thread correctly, I think you are saying that it is ok to use sugar at a ratio of 1:3 in a lager only (which implies that is not the case for an ale). It seems to me that I see more sugar being added to ales than to lagers (for example English ales and Belgium high gravity abby type ales). I assume that you guys also brew yellow fizzy lagers over there (but don't brag about it), is it the custom there to add a bunch of sugar to make them lighter (we use flaked corn or rice over here)?

This thread reminds me of the first homebrew I ever made (more than two decades ago). I used one can of liquid extract and several pounds of corn sugar. It was terrible tasting because of the "twang" DaaB mentions but it sure got the job done. I would say I was feeling no pain after just a couple of twelve ounce bottles (gave me a pretty bad headache latter though).

[james_m_r]

So would 750g spraymalt & 250g sugar be a better bet than 1kg spraymalt in your opinion?

Only if you were making a lager.

I will indeed be using this for a lager. Just wish I would have bought 3 bags now.

Cheers for the tips.

[sparky Paul]

Regarding how much sugar you can add to a lager kit though, I'm basing my advise on how much sugar I think you can 'get away' with and try to make it represent a commercial larger, not making it too heavy on the pallet yet avoid the thin extract twang that is associated with kit brewing of old.

That's the key point, DaaB's reasoning is spot on. I made up a Cooper's Heritage Lager Kit last year with the recommended 1.6Kg can of light liquid malt extract. Although the taste was good, for my taste it had too much body and was far too heavy for the style, almost cloying. Even made with 1Kg of light spraymalt, I find lagers turn out too heavy.

I would say that DaaB's 75/25 ratio is about right, but I have gone as low as 50/50 with the Coopers kits with good results, that ratio is light spraymalt to brewing sugar, not table sugar. I suspect you wouldn't get away with the 50/50 ratio with all lager kits.

If anyone making kit lagers is looking for the taste of a commercial lager, then I would also seriously consider adding hops (I use Saaz hops) for taste and aroma - if you have a search of the kit section for lager, you should find a few threads where DaaB describes the simple process of adding hops to kit beers. It really does make a big difference.

Oh, and stick to bottling...

[Curious Brew]

There's Carling Black Label which may well be of English origin but that's equally as bad as the previous examples so we aren't likely to brag about that. Fwiw the recipe I have for it is 70% lager malt and 30% table sugar.

Carling was originally Canadian but Black Label was designed for the American market way back in 1933.

[dan_olo]

I assume that you guys also brew yellow fizzy lagers over there (but don't brag about it)

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by 'you guys' - us on the forum or the 'big' breweries. I think it's worth pointing out that, though the situation might be different in the USA, the kind of people who seem to homebrew in the UK are certainly not the kind of people who would drink yellow fizz.

Cheap commercial lager is widely available in supermarkets and pubs and probably works out a lot cheaper, not to mention less effort, than making it yourself. A pint of thoughtfully-brewed and well-served ale is certainly not as common. Perhaps the biggest thing that makes homebrewing worthwhile is the satisfaction of sitting down with a glass of something which couldn't be ordered in your local pub.

[louthepoo]

Perhaps the biggest thing that makes homebrewing worthwhile is the satisfaction of sitting down with a glass of something which couldn't be ordered in your local pub.

hear hear, well said that man