Brewers Best American Pale Ale - please share your experience with it ~

Hi -

My dad gave me this kit for my birthday, and I've been kinda-sorta sitting on it while I gain knowledge and experience. Thanks to the folks here, I've gained some good knowledge, and I've brewed a 1-gallon, all-grain batch of Chocolate Maple Porter that I will be cracking open this coming Sunday, if all goes well. I'll probably brew at least one (possibly two or three) more 1-gallon batches by the end of the month.

With that in mind, I'm guessing that it's time to take this 5-gallon American Pale Ale kit from Brewers Best seriously:

http://www.eckraus.com/brewers-best-recipe-kit-size-american-type-pale-ale.html

I believe that I have most of the necessary 5-gallon equipment, thanks to this K7 equipment kit that my wife got for me from BSG Handcraft:

http://bsghandcraft.com/index.php/e...kits-beer-and-wine/k7-beer-equipment-kit.html

I've also picked up a few, very basic things along the way from my limited brewing experience, and have plenty of bottles, caps etc.

The main things that I would like to know pertain to whether anyone has made this, how it went, what they thought of the end product, any tips, advice, tricks, general impressions etc. that might come in handy and so on.

One thing I am sure that I will need is a bigger brewing kettle, and my question is: does it have to be a 5-gallon kettle, or (being a partial-mash (I think?) kit) will a smaller one suffice? If a 5-gallon kettle is necessary, will my porcelain-lined canning kettle work, or would I be better off getting my hands on a stainless steel one?

Thanks in advance -

Ron

You might get more and better responses on the Extract Brewing forum since that's what this kit is. But to answer your question, I got away with using a ~3gal pot to brew 5-gallon extract and PM kits for years. That's about the minimum that will boil half the volume without immediate boilovers. If you already have a 5-gal pot then I think you will be in good shape. There's no reason you can't use one with a porcelain lining.

Thanks, Brick - I'll re-post it over there. I thought it might be a partial-mash as there is are a couple of grounds of malt, but wasn't sure.

Looking forward to getting it going, it looks like it could be a good beer to try.

Most kits like that come with "steeping grains." The distinction is that steeping grains provide flavor above and beyond what is possible with a malt extract, but you aren't attempting to convert the starches to sugar. (And those are typically specialty grains only without adequate diastatic power to convert their own starches, anyway, so don't waste time trying.) You just soak them while the water is heating instead of mashing at a controlled temperature. With a partial mash kit you do mash the grains (which include some base grains with the right enzymes to convert) at a controlled temperature in order to get sugars in addition to the desired malt character.

Regardless, get that kit going! We tend to quibble about details around here but no matter what you're going to wind up with beer.

That kit was my first ever brew experience. It ended up being a green apple, banana and band aide bomb! It wasn't the kits fault though, I fermented way too hot. I've made several Brewers Best kits and have found them pretty quality kits over all.

I've been brewing with the BB kits for almost a year and have never had an problems yet. I actually brewed this same kit about 6 weeks ago with a 10 gallon pot, I added 7 gallons and rinsed the specialty grains with another gallon of preheated water. Ended up with exactly 5 gallons in the fermenter, after 7-10 days I transferred it to a bottling bucket with an ounce of Citra hops for another 7-10 days. I bottled 6 and kegged the rest. It turned out super clear and fantastic. Also, with these kits I try to pitch the yeast around 66-68 Degrees F and ferment around 64-66 degrees F.

As far as taste, it wasn't my favorite BB kit, back when I was doing them, but it was certainly a decent beer. My favorite of their kits was the DIPA, but only after I gained experience and..."tweaked" it a little.

That was my first beer that I brewed. I thought it came out pretty good, but nothing over the top. With that being said I'm sure it is a way better beer than how mine turned out. Maybe one day I'll brew it again just to see how it would turn out now.

dobes said:

Maybe one day I'll brew it again just to see how it would turn out now.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I'm doing now. I've got an American Amber Brewers Best kit going now. Full volume steep and boil along with temperature controlled fermentation. Just to see how good I can make a kit lol.