While brew one is maturing i'm now thinking about my second. This time i'm gonna use spraymalt instead of brewing sugar. While checking prices for this at various online shops one place, Brew Genie, recommended using 1kg spraymalt AND 1kg brewing sugar. The spraymalt for the taste and the brewing sugar for extra strenght. Has anyone tried this and if so how did it turn out.
Paul
Spraymalt and brewing sugar
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Beer Monster
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BigEd
Re: Spraymalt and brewing sugar
Paul, any recipe that suggests a 1:1 ratio of malt extract to sugar is from the bad old days of homebrewing. Small additions of sugar, say 5-10%, are fine when it suits the recipe but in general ignore that 1:1 advice and build the beer with malt extract instead of sugar. Cheers and welcome to the hobby.Beer Monster wrote:While brew one is maturing i'm now thinking about my second. This time i'm gonna use spraymalt instead of brewing sugar. While checking prices for this at various online shops one place, Brew Genie, recommended using 1kg spraymalt AND 1kg brewing sugar. The spraymalt for the taste and the brewing sugar for extra strenght. Has anyone tried this and if so how did it turn out.
Paul
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Stonch
Paul, I concur with BigEd.
We just took up this homebrewing lark and in the last two months have made up five kit brews (sixth started fermenting yesterday).
On the first we used all cane sugar - the brew tasted very cidery and not too much like beer, although it was drinkable. Fun for a first effort, but never again.
The second was an expensive Brupaks all-malt two can kit (so the fermentables are in the cans in liquid form, you don't add anything). It turned out sublimely - better than several commercial stouts I could name.
The third was a budget kit made up with about 750g spray malt and 500g sugar. It's strong but tastes thin, with a very slight cidery twang. It's still clearing now and should be a quaffable summer brew but nothing to get excited about and not the result we wanted.
The fourth was a budget kit made up with Geordie Beer Kit Enhancer, a 1kg bag of a mix of spray malt and brewing sugar. It definitely has that cidery twang, but not as bad at brew #1.
The fifth was a decent Coopers Stout one can kit made up with 1kg light spray malt. It's currently conditioning but we sneaked a taste from primary when we kegged and bottled the batch, and it tasted lovely.
So - just avoid the sugar all together on most English-style kit beers. I believe sugar can be a good thing with Belgian kits. Go for the spray malt. For a couple of extra quid you'll get an excellent brew.
We just took up this homebrewing lark and in the last two months have made up five kit brews (sixth started fermenting yesterday).
On the first we used all cane sugar - the brew tasted very cidery and not too much like beer, although it was drinkable. Fun for a first effort, but never again.
The second was an expensive Brupaks all-malt two can kit (so the fermentables are in the cans in liquid form, you don't add anything). It turned out sublimely - better than several commercial stouts I could name.
The third was a budget kit made up with about 750g spray malt and 500g sugar. It's strong but tastes thin, with a very slight cidery twang. It's still clearing now and should be a quaffable summer brew but nothing to get excited about and not the result we wanted.
The fourth was a budget kit made up with Geordie Beer Kit Enhancer, a 1kg bag of a mix of spray malt and brewing sugar. It definitely has that cidery twang, but not as bad at brew #1.
The fifth was a decent Coopers Stout one can kit made up with 1kg light spray malt. It's currently conditioning but we sneaked a taste from primary when we kegged and bottled the batch, and it tasted lovely.
So - just avoid the sugar all together on most English-style kit beers. I believe sugar can be a good thing with Belgian kits. Go for the spray malt. For a couple of extra quid you'll get an excellent brew.
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louthepoo
To be honest i've stopped shopping at Brewgenie as the woman who works there hasn't a clue about homebrewing - when they ran out of Pale Malt (again) she told me i could always take the next step up in homebrewing by trying Extract Brewing!
Now i've got nothing against extract brewing but i wouldn't class it as the next step up from all grain.
I'm always one for using local shops but i'm afraid thats one too many pieces of wisdom she's tried to impress me with (there have been many others!)
I sometimes need advice so tend to go to Harris Home Brew in Gornal or Hamstead Brewing Centre just outside Brum
Now i've got nothing against extract brewing but i wouldn't class it as the next step up from all grain.
I'm always one for using local shops but i'm afraid thats one too many pieces of wisdom she's tried to impress me with (there have been many others!)
I sometimes need advice so tend to go to Harris Home Brew in Gornal or Hamstead Brewing Centre just outside Brum
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Beer Monster
Cheers guys, I'm definately gonna stick with just the spraymalt for the next brew me thinks.
As for buying the stuff online, by complete chance on Saturday morning i found a shop practically on my door step that sells it along with loads of other brewing accessories/ingrediants and kits
Fantastic.
Paul
As for buying the stuff online, by complete chance on Saturday morning i found a shop practically on my door step that sells it along with loads of other brewing accessories/ingrediants and kits
Fantastic.Paul
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EYE JAY
sugar and dme
I always use 1kg of brewing sugar and 500g of light spray malt as this gives my beers a extra 25% strength without upsetting the balance of the beer as the light spray malt is what it says it is light 
everybody has their own way of making kits and it's just a matter of time untill you find your own style .
everybody has their own way of making kits and it's just a matter of time untill you find your own style
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Hi
I always used to recommend that people use 50/50 500gms sugar and 500gms dried malt rather than just 1kg brew / cane sugar (yes I know the beer used to brew a little weaker) and go from there.
By the look of things brewers are a bit more receptive to this kind of brewing these days, when we had the shop they used to think I was just trying to get them to buy something else which was more expensive than sugar - truth was I just wanted them to produce better beers.
I can't for the life of me see why a anyone (let alone a shop) would recommend both 1kg of sugar and 1kg malt - advice like that is what gave homebrew a bad name due to all strength and no quality ales being produced.
With regard the stronger brew my advice always was use the same amount of sugar or extract (or both but pref extract on its own) as you usually would use but cut back on the amount being brewed. Try 35 pints to start with and if stronger is required next time cut back to 30 pints.
Not the most perfect method I know but I would argue it would produce a better beer than just whacking in another kg of sugar.
I always used to recommend that people use 50/50 500gms sugar and 500gms dried malt rather than just 1kg brew / cane sugar (yes I know the beer used to brew a little weaker) and go from there.
By the look of things brewers are a bit more receptive to this kind of brewing these days, when we had the shop they used to think I was just trying to get them to buy something else which was more expensive than sugar - truth was I just wanted them to produce better beers.
I can't for the life of me see why a anyone (let alone a shop) would recommend both 1kg of sugar and 1kg malt - advice like that is what gave homebrew a bad name due to all strength and no quality ales being produced.
With regard the stronger brew my advice always was use the same amount of sugar or extract (or both but pref extract on its own) as you usually would use but cut back on the amount being brewed. Try 35 pints to start with and if stronger is required next time cut back to 30 pints.
Not the most perfect method I know but I would argue it would produce a better beer than just whacking in another kg of sugar.
cheers & best regards
Marc
Marc
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EYE JAY
yes cutting back on the amount of water used is another way of brewing beer to add strength.
But as I said in my post everyone after a period of time will find their own way they like to make kits to suit their own taste.
experiment with kits,sometimes it will work out ok sometimes it won't.
Have fun, try new ways, and let us know how you get on.
But as I said in my post everyone after a period of time will find their own way they like to make kits to suit their own taste.
experiment with kits,sometimes it will work out ok sometimes it won't.
Have fun, try new ways, and let us know how you get on.