Real ale; two can

[davidamorton]

I've got a coopers real ale kit, a tom caxons real ale kit, some liquid malt extraxct, detrose and some dried fuggles.

I was thinking of adding the two cans and some other fermentables, anyone got any ideas on how much more I'd need to add?

Thanks in advance

[davidamorton]

And ive got some wilkos gervain yeast

[rootsbrew]

1 kit, 1 can LME and 0.50kg dextrose will make 25 litres of good beer. Brew it shorter if you want it a bit more hearty. If you want to dry-hop, rack on to them on or after day 10.

[davidamorton]

1 kit, 1 can LME and 0.50kg dextrose will make 25 litres of good beer. Brew it shorter if you want it a bit more hearty. If you want to dry-hop, rack on to them on or after day 10.

So using both kits at once wouldn't work??

[rootsbrew]

So using both kits at once wouldn't work??

It would but the difference between a kit and LME is that kits have a specific flavour. By using two kits to make one beer you would mix the two flavours - this may not be a problem with the two kits you have. However, imagine if you had a lager kit and a stout kit, to produce a lager you'd mix the lager kit with some pale/extra-pale LME and to make a stout, mix the stout kit with some dark LME; unless you wanted a dark lager (use yeast from lager kit) or rather odd stout (use yeast from ale kit), you'd keep the kits separate.

Essentially, there's no point putting two 1-can kits in the same brew. Use LME as the 2nd tin. If I were making a beer with two cans of the same kit, I'd bung 'em in together, though - and probably save one of the yeasts.

Also, kits include yeast, supposedly of the correct strain for that type of beer.

The alternative is make 3 x 12 litre batches:
- 1 x Coopers kit + 0.25 kg dextrose + 12 litres,
- 1 x Tom Caxton kit + 0.25 kg dextrose + 12 litres,
- 1 x LME + 0.25 kg dextrose + 12 litres + 20g Fuggles @ 60 mins + yeast + 20g Fuggles @ 10 days.

Couple of other tips...
What's your water like? For the first couple of brews, I'd suggest using bottled water - I think ASDA have 16 litres for £2.50 at the moment. It just removes one of the unknowns and gives you a very neutral starting point.

Rehydrate the yeast in a Large (sterile) glass (e.g. pint) with a teaspoon of dextrose and a couple teaspoons of water. This is a good first job while the gloop is warming in a bowl of warm water.

[davidamorton]

Thanks for the input, I've read a few other forums and I think im just going to risk it and give using bith kits a try, I'll let you know how it turns out!!

[tteknulp]

Hi David , i have a 2 Can on at the moment 1x coopers wheat + 1x Mexican cerveza , +1kg wheat spraymalt with sa 33 ,it started 1072 ,so i hope to get it down to 1020 ,some people say boil the can that`s most bitter to help mellow it , but i just put them in . 10 days primary , had a taste and its seems ok ,its potent stuff , Dry hopping at the moment in clean F.V. for another 7 days with 50g cascade then into bottles.

Michael

[davidamorton]

Hi David , i have a 2 Can on at the moment 1x coopers wheat + 1x Mexican cerveza , +1kg wheat spraymalt with sa 33 ,it started 1072 ,so i hope to get it down to 1020 ,some people say boil the can that`s most bitter to help mellow it , but i just put them in . 10 days primary , had a taste and its seems ok ,its potent stuff , Dry hopping at the moment in clean F.V. for another 7 days with 50g cascade then into bottles.

Michael

Wow! Sounds cool. When you say boil the cans you mean boil one of the cans with water to get rid of the bitterness? How would you go about that exactly?

Cheers

[Rookie]

You can mix together any combination of kits, extracts, grains, sugars, and hops that you think would be to your liking.

[tteknulp]

Hi , I never did it , but id imagine with a couple of litres of boiling water for 20-30 mins or so,you could put hops in also

Michael