Brewmaker Scottish Wee Heavy

[Jackdaw]

Hi,
I'm quite new to the hobby & only made three other brews from kits.I bought two Brewmaker Scottish heavy kits from tesco yesterday.My plan is to put both kits into the fermenter along with Both packets of yeast & 1kg of Brewers sugar.Thinking of making thirty pints instead of forty.
I've heard that I should do an ABV test before adding the yeast then I can add extra sugar to alter the ABV.Is that correct?
I don't expect it to turn out like my favourite drink Mcewans Champion ( along with Old Tom) but I would like a bit of a kick to it.Well a lot of one actually lol I don't have any other ingredients apart from what I've already mentioned.
Any help/advice much appreciated.
Cheers,
Jack

[scotsloon]

Unless you have already bought the Brewers Sugar I would suggest you use ordinary sugar, most kits require 1Kg per kit and its a hell of a lot cheaper than Brewers Sugar. The supplied yeast will be sufficient for that kit. Brewing short by 10 pints may well be over doing it, I'd start with 30 pints then add a pint at a time checking the SG after every additional pint (and stirring in) until you get to somewhere around 1.075, that should give you a 9.2% brew which is only 0.1% off the Championship, thats estimating that it will finish fermenting around 1.008 which is the case in most kits. You can also add a hop tea to give the beer a different flavour and make it exclusive to yourself.

Hop teas are easy to make if you have a large 1L coffee cafetiere, just weigh out about 25g of hops, boil a kettle, add the hops to the cafetiere pour in the water stick on the lid and leave for 30 mins or so. After the 30 mins press the plunger down and pour the tea into the brew before you add the yeast. Don't forget to check the temp before adding the yeast, the temp should be below 25*C. I also blitz the hops so they are a fine dust before adding to the cafetiere. My favourite hop for this is Citra but many others are also good.

[Jackdaw]

Many thanks for your help pal.It's very much appreciated & I will re read it until I start the brew.I'm thinking of getting it going about mid week.Excellent cheers:)

[Jackdaw]

Hi.
I've just done the brew up to 19 litres & the sg before adding the yeast was 1.070 so I'm happy with that.I'm thinking of topping it up to 25 litres in a few days once it settles but I'm not sure.How long you reckon I should leave this in the barrel before I crack it open?
Cheers:)