Brew UK recipe kits

[chivelegs]

Afternoon.

I've only done 3 kits, but having been given Charlie Papizans Joy of Homebrewing, I've been inspired to switch to extract brewing. it seems to be a lot simpler than I feared, and although more expensive, very much worth it.

Any thoughts on these recipe kits from Brewuk? Anyone tried them out as a way to move across from kits?
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/index.php ... k-new.html
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/index.php ... -pack.html

[OldSpeckledBadger]

I can't see any advantage over just buying the ingredients.

[chivelegs]

Good point, but not living anywhere near any home brew stores (the Great London HBS Desert) , it's tricky to get only 25g of hops. Also, it works out cheaper than buying them individually. not by a huge amount, but still cheaper.

[Chase24]

I'd give one a try and see if you like it. Once you've tried a couple of recipes - and if you're still keen - then you'll find it cheaper to buy your own ingredients in bigger quantities. Hops can be easily stored in the freezer so if you'll soon find it no problem to by in 100g or even 500g bags at a time.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Good point, but not living anywhere near any home brew stores (the Great London HBS Desert) , it's tricky to get only 25g of hops. Also, it works out cheaper than buying them individually. not by a huge amount, but still cheaper.

The smallest quantity you can buy hops in is 100g. Use what you need then put the rest in the freezer ready for the next brew. Hops in the freezer will keep for a year easily. Likewise speciality grains are usually sold in 500g bags, which will be enough for several brews depending on the recipes.

[mandyandnick]

Hi there!

I have recently made the Amarillo recipe and must admit to being impressed by the results thus far (bottles have been in cold storage a week now and from last nights' sample already crystal clear and tasting great - distinctly different from an English IPA and the yeast seems to impart an unusual 'tang' in a very good way! A bit young still, I reckon it needs another 4 weeks at least...)

To echo what others have said, I bought this recipe kit as it was my first extract brew for a few years (got a new boiler for Xmas). SO I wanted to get back into extract without any waste of hops or grain. I think it is the recipe which was important and that the fact that I bought only exactly what I needed for one batch was a matter of convenience only. However I now know that I am going to like this stuff, so will consider purchasing larger amounts of ingredients to reduce costs in future as well as trying it with a British ale yeast to see how different it is.

BTW I also have a Summer ale pack at home ready to go when I have time - this seems a sensible recipe as it looks like it will tollerate adaptation in a variety of ways (quantity and choice of both malt extract and hops as well as final volume etc) so I hope the same result will come of this. I really enjoyed making the Amarillo, and it was fairly simple.

Do try the recipies, whether you decide to buy the pack or not - and let us all know how you get on. I for one think this is an easy way into extract brewing!

Nick.

[chivelegs]

Nice one, exactly my position, I'm not sure if I've got the time or space for getting masses of ingredients and if I find the whole extract route to be too much, there's nothing wasted.

Good to know someone has tried the recipes, I'm also going to try the summer ale, maybe with additional elderflower when they come into season! I'll let you know how it all goes.

[fractureman]

wow great thread cos just about to move up to extract brews from kits & the amarillo was gonna be me first one becoz of ease of all the bit being in there. Will post my brewday in here when I get it on. Prob early next month.

[mandyandnick]

I also forgot to mention that if you've been doing kits thus far you will probably be amazed at the head formed on the Amarillo by the yeast in the FV! I'm sure someone more experienced could confirm this but I think that the Safale US-05 included must be a top worker. Instead of the lovely clean creamy white head produced by some kits, this took on the appearance a bubbling mud pool (like the ones in geothermal areas) - most impressive. And the aroma - so much nicer than kits throughout the whole process.

Nick.

[mandyandnick]

Further to this, I decided to make up the Summer Ale pack today. In contrast to the Amarillo recipe - where I hit the suggested OG bang on - this came out with an OG of about 1.034 as opposed to the suggested 1.040-1.045. Luckily I had 500g light spray malt hanging around and the addition of this at the last minute before pitching the yeast brought the OG up to that which is suggested. I tried inputting the recipe into Beer Engine and it confirmed my figures (I know it is designed for AG breing mainly) both with and without the extra 500g spraymalt. I'm fairly sure I didn't loose much concentrated wort as I added the extra water through the hops ( which I place into muslin bags for convenience) to sparge / rinse through.

So maybe the recipe underestimates the quantity of extract required - anyone with a bit more experience confirm that 2kg spraymalt plus 350g crystal malt (steeped for 30 mins) is unlikely to give an OG of 1.040 - 1.045 for a 23 litre batch?

Glad I had the bag of spraymalt handy, will have to get some more as was going to beef up a kit with it!

I'll let you know how it turns out

Nick.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

So maybe the recipe underestimates the quantity of extract required - anyone with a bit more experience confirm that 2kg spraymalt plus 350g crystal malt (steeped for 30 mins) is unlikely to give an OG of 1.040 - 1.045 for a 23 litre batch?

2Kg would not be enough. That combination will give an OG of 1.033. Are sure the brew length is 23 litres?

[mandyandnick]

That's a very insightful thought! Especially as their Amarillo IPA goes to 21L.

Just checked the recipe again, it is 5 gallons (converts to about 22.7 litres according to the converter I found). I actually always brew about half to one litre short as would rather have slightly stronger/hoppier brews than risk another weak / incipid experience (Milestone IPA, you know I'm TALKING ABOUT YOU!) So I reckon I was brewing to about 22 litres.

I've emailed the HBS to see if anyone else has had any probs with their recipe, will await a response.

Thanks for confirming what I thought 'Badger!

Nick

[OldSpeckledBadger]

It might be US gallons. That would be about 19 litres.

[chivelegs]

Well. It's in the cellar now with just the fishtank heater and a tub of water for company. I changed the recipe and the method slightly to the one here
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/index.php ... erican-ipa
by first steeping 400g of light crystal for half an hour at 65c. If you're going to move over from kits, might as well do it properly

Also, as I had a 20 quart (US I think) pot I could put much more water in than the 6 litres suggested avoiding any nasty boiling-over problems. In fact my kitchen hob could only just keep the thing boiling.

Turned out roughly 1054 OG, which will hopefully make it about right

Anyway, the whole flat was full of lovely hop steam so I think the kids may sleep well tonight. Will report back with more details as and when!

[mandyandnick]

Re Summer ale recipe.

Graham from Brew UK has adjusted the recipe to make up to a smaller volume. So do check on the website before starting your brew!

N