Brewferm Diabolo & Grand Cru - Extras?

[oldskooladdict]

I want to brew the Diabolo and the Grand Crew from Brewferm, however, will the kits have everything necessary or will I require other bits and bobs? (ingredients that is not equipment!)

Here are the two I am looking at, in most cases on the site they say if other stuff is needed.

http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk/brew ... u-kit.aspx
http://www.thethriftyshopper.co.uk/brew ... o-kit.aspx

I get the feeling Belgian Candi Sugar should be added? - Is there any alternative to this - it seems hard to get hold of and expensive! - If I wanted 1kg of it then it looks like it would cost me 12 quid delivered from other HBS

[scottmoss]

Here is a copy of the instructions which teels you if you need any sugar:-

[oldskooladdict]

Thanks Scott, very helpful, where did you get that from? - I looked on the Brewferm site and couldn't find anything!

Does it not seem wierd that the water required is less than the volume it makes in every case?! - I would have thought 9l = 9l water, not 5!

So, the 500g which I need for each, does this have to be Candi Sugar or can I use sometthing else (not just granulated sugar, I know that's frowned upon:D)

[fractureman]

That is the pdf which is the instructions from the brewferm website, same as what you get with the tin. I know a Kg of candi sugar is less than the equivalent of normal brewing sugar. I have brewed 3 brewferm kits & used 500g bags of light spray malt cos already measured out.
The reason water 1 is 5l is cos you have already added 3l of hot water in the previous step. Then the 1l which is the kit itself makes the 9l brew length

[oldskooladdict]

Ahh sweet, so I can use spray malt as the 'sugar' then. I'm guessing two of these will do the jobbie then?
http://www.simplynatural.org.uk/acatalo ... ntons.html

What's the taste impact of using the spray malt vs the elusive candi sugar?

[fractureman]

no you only need 1 of those cos required quantiy for 1 bew is 500g I have no idea what the taste difference is between spray malt & candi sugar. I know someone on the site put upsome instructions of how to make candi sugar. As said I know you need to use more candi sugar to get the same effect as using 500g of brewing sugar

[fractureman]

Looks like I was talking rubbish about needing to use more candi sugar than the equivalnet brewing sugar form this thread viewtopic.php?f=4&t=26210&p=287830
also for candi sugar H&G have it http://www.hopandgrape.co.uk/catalog/ca ... SUG2125747

[oldskooladdict]

sorry, I meant 2 as I am intending to do both the diabolo and the grand cru

I've read on another thread that golden syrup is an alternative to candi sugar (and therefore spray mait), on yet another thread someone said candi SUGAR was a bit rubbish and that candi SYRUP was the real deal lol - but that post included a link to a foreign sight and they only seemed to have dark.

Very tempted by the golden syrup route, also a very cheap route - it costs £1 for 1k in tesco atm!!

[oldskooladdict]

thanks for the hop and grape link, as with the other sites, postage is just the killer here - 4.70, making it nearly 8 quid when the kit only costs just under 10 quid! (If I order tonight from thrifty that is!)

[fractureman]

yeah know what you mean, I use shops with free postage, & my local HBS. Not tried any of my own Brewferm kits as they are still conditioning in the bottles. Looks like golden syrup is a good substitute, but maybe only try 1 with that & 1 with light spray malt in case the syrup one doesn;t turn out good