Can I brew anything with this lot?

[Wilfy]

Local home brew shop has just recently started stocking grains so I picked up what I could from limited stock. Can I make a worthwhile brew from the following :

3kg Maris otter
5kg Carapils
500g Golden promise
5kg caramel malt EBC 120
500g roasted barley

100g Fuggles
113g Goldings
113g Styrian Goldings
113g Challenger

Safbrew S-33
Safele S-04
Safbrew F2
Danstar Nottingham

Will be my first AG brew as well. Any help appreciated.

[ArmChair]

Off top of my head an ESB

23ltr around 3.6%

3kg Marris otter
500g golden promise
450g carapils
250g crystal

35g challenger 60min
20g fuggles 15min
20g Goldings min
15g fuggles 5min
15g goldings 5min
30g Styrian goldings flame out

Danstar nottingham yeast

[Wilfy]

Thanks for that, any chance of getting something a bit stronger?

[keith1664]

If you wanted stronger you could cut the size of the batch, or knock up a little invert sugar.

[Chicken Dipper]

Golden syrup is partially inverted syrup and will do the job, but the Maris Otter and Golden Promise is your base malt and provides the greater part of your strength. The other malts compliment this strenth in varying degrees, but while adding to the final volume will spoil your finished brew if you use too much of them. The syrup will add strength without adding much flavour and will. Lighten the finished product.
I wouldn't however concentrate on too a high a volume, certainly on your first batch. Getting the processes right is a skill which is really important to master early on, and a well balanced beer tasty beer will be a far greater achievement than a rocket fuelled pint which tastes of harsh alcohol. Good luck mate, and happy brewing, Chris

[Normski]

buy some more Maris Otter.

[Rookie]

Thanks for that, any chance of getting something a bit stronger?

Increase everything 25% and make an Imperial ESB.

[Piscator]

To make it stronger you need more sugar for the yeast to ferment - this means either using more malt or an adjunct. Some adjuncts provide starch that is added to the mash and the enzymes in the pale malt convert it into sugars during the mash - this includes things like flaked maize, flaked oats, torrified wheat etc.
Another type of adjunct is sugar which is already in a form that the yeast can ferment - this does not need converting by enzymes so does not need to go into the mash. Instead sugars can be added directly to the bulk of the wort in the boiler. It is best to do this towards the end of the boil and turn off the element while you are adding it - add it gradually and stir thoroughly to dissolve it before turning the element back on for the last bit of the boil. Doing it this way prevents undissolved sugar from sitting at the bottom of the boiler and scorching on the element.

You can use ordinary white table sugar - as long as you don't add too much it will not adversely affect the flavour or mouthfeel of your brew. Adding about 150 - 200g to the recipe ArmChair suggested should give you a brew of about 4% give or take a bit. If you use too much the beer can end up a bit "thin" and cidery as the yeast is able to digest all of the simple table sugar - some of the sugars from the mashing process cannot be digested as easily/quickly and are left behind giving the beer some "body".

The reason it is difficult to be more precise is that until you have done a few brews and have some idea of how efficient your process is, it is hard for us to know how much of your malt will be converted into sugars and rinsed into your boiler during the sparge..... and therefore how strong your beer will end up. That recipe on my set up would give me a beer of about 4.4% without any extra sugar - ArmChair has made a reasonable assumption that being your first AG brew your effciency will be relatively low (expect it to increase as you get more practice). I would say get the first brew made and dont worry about how strong it is - apply what you learn to AG#2 and make that one to your chosen gravity based on what you have learned about your process.

Cheers
Steve

[Wilfy]

Thanks lads, got another 2kg of Maris otter on order. Will attempt brew this Saturday if i can find the right connector for my chiller.