A couple Of Cheap Lager Kits

[mtmcndrw]

Hello there,

My local brew shop was selling John Bull lager kits at 2 for £10, which was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Just wonderin if anyone has any experience with brewing these kits. Are they oK as is or are there a few tips on improving the final product. I also got a tin of Coopers light malt extract at the same time and could use this in any modified recipes that may come up.

Thnx in advance.

Matt.

[pauljmuk]

No doubt they can be massively improved by using a specialist yeast and a very light spraymalt instead of sugar in instructions - great price!

[mtmcndrw]

Well couldn't wait ant longer to start brewing. so went with the John Bull's Kit with the Coopers Light Malt Extract.

After mixing all together the original gravity was 1.044 at 29 deg, corrected to 1.046. If I can get the final gravity down to a decent level them I should end up with a lager/beer around 5-6%. Here's hoping on success!

Matt.

[JayBee]

I`ve just had a great result with a cheap Geordie lager kit, something I thought I would only buy if it was the last can in the shop, and then expect to put it in a cupboard to be forgotten over time.
I reckon cheapo lager kits are great to use as a base for experimenting, they`re lowly bittered and hopped so add what you think might go with it and see how it turns out. It definitely needed hops.
I added a kilo of light spraymalt to mine, 500 grams of lite candi sugar, 20 grams of saaz boiled for 20 minutes and a hop tea of tettnanger. Brewed to 20 litres with a sachet of T-58 and its turned out a real treat, I`ll get another soon and maybe add dark spraymalt and some other bits or maybe even brew 2 together.

[GARYSMIFF]

I have 2x 1.5Kg Muntons Premium Lager kits kicking around, thinking of adding some grains, Hops "Nelson S" or even using a S-33 or a T-58 to pep it up a bit.

Any one got any Ideas, My Grains /Adjuncts/Hops/Yeast store is well stocked so could experiment quit a bit, and hey ho thats what I do do.

[ianac1]

Hello there,

My local brew shop was selling John Bull lager kits at 2 for £10, which was an offer I couldn't refuse.

Just wonderin if anyone has any experience with brewing these kits. Are they oK as is or are there a few tips on improving the final product. I also got a tin of Coopers light malt extract at the same time and could use this in any modified recipes that may come up.

Thnx in advance.

Matt.

Hi Matt

Check here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=24592

I take it you shop at the innhousebrewery on Dumbarton Road too?

I got a couple of these kits, one in primary just now made up to 32 pints with 1kg brewing sugar and 340g honey added and it's bubbling away nicely so can't comment on quality or taste yet but it seems to be coming along well and if nothing else it'll knock me sideways!

[mtmcndrw]

Thnx for the reply Ian.

Read through your post that you provided the link for. Will be reading with intrest to see how things go. If you end up with a succesfull brew then i may end up following your recipe. With the kits being so cheap its well worth the experimentation. And yes you are right, i did buy them at GlenBrew on Dumbarton Road. They only had about 8 left and I wish I had bought another couple. I normally go in there every couple of weeks so hopefully they will get some more offers in.

Matt

[mtmcndrw]

Hi all,

Almost at the stage where I'll be kegging my brew. The instructions for the kit says that adding finnings will speed up the clearing of the lager when in the keg. I've got some Ritchie's Bentonite and the instructions are to add 1/2 tsp to the must. Has anyone used this stuff, and if so what is the advice on using it in a keg.
i.e. When to add and how much.

Thnx Matt

[mtmcndrw]

Hi all,

Well the brew was at a SG of 1.000 this morning and no indication of further fermentation. Decided to bottle up two pints with a spoonfull of sugar in each and put the rest in the King Keg along with 120g of sugar. Only problem was putting the brew in the bottles as there seemed to be a lot of CO2 disolved in the liquid. By the time I put the crown caps on I felt as if I was handling UXB's, so put them in a cupboard in the garage to be safe. The king Keg has already vented off once in the garage and gave the wife the fright of her life. . First time that has ever happened. Here's hoping for a succesfull brew.

Matt.

[ianac1]

Thnx for the reply Ian.

Read through your post that you provided the link for. Will be reading with intrest to see how things go. If you end up with a succesfull brew then i may end up following your recipe. With the kits being so cheap its well worth the experimentation. And yes you are right, i did buy them at GlenBrew on Dumbarton Road. They only had about 8 left and I wish I had bought another couple. I normally go in there every couple of weeks so hopefully they will get some more offers in.

Matt

Hi Matt

I just bottled mine yesterday and stuck them back in the boiler cupboard (about 21 degrees c) where i'll leave them for at least a week, maybe just a week will do them i think then move them out to the shed.

It was bubbling away very nicely for at least the first 4-5 days but i think leaving it longer the yeast has still been working away as i took a cg reading after about a week and was a wee bit dissapointed but the reading before bottling was 0.998! I think the yeast that comes with this stuff is great.

That gives this lager 6.83% ABV

Think i'll only need about 2 pints of this stuff.

Sounds like yours is coming along nicely too, happy drinking!

[ianac1]

I actually forgot that i added an extra 140g of honey to this while it was still fermenting so ABV will probably actually be a wee bit higher.

Just a heads up incase you do want to follow this recipe because this stuff is not really for the faint hearted.

Just depends how you like your lager i suppose.

Can't wait to try it!