Coopers Lager + speciality grains

So I have thought experimenting with speciality grains so a few questions:
For a batch of 21l(5.5gal), how many speciality grains should I use, eg carapils for example?

Inital recipe:
Coopers Lager kit
S-04
0,5kg DME + 0,5kg Dextrose
25g hop tea + 25g dry hop (Saaz)
Steeping some speciality grains(like carapils)

The minimum weight I can get is 1kg(2.2pounds) of the carapils and I think it would be too much for a 21l batch?Also how much water should I add when steeping the grains, because I've read that adding too much will extract tannins.

Too much water is an issue for mashing, not steeping. You can steep in as much water as you would like. (Steeping is basically just rinsing, whereas in mashing you benefit from a specific amount of water per lb of grain.)

And yes, I agree that a kg of carapils is probably too much for your recipe. Do you know anyone who would like to share the carapils? You could each take half?

I know lots of people have a soft limit on how much crystal they will put in a recipe based on grain bill (no more than 10%, for example). I'm not experienced enough to know that offhand, but I would guess somewhere in the 8oz range (450g, I think) would be appropriate.

And I'm re-reading your post. Do you mean you have a kit and you are ADDING 0.5kg of dextrose and 0.5kg of DME? Because 0.5 each of dextrose and DME will not give you much fermentable material.

Just checking.

axivanax said:

So I have thought experimenting with speciality grains so a few questions:
For a batch of 21l(5.5gal), how many speciality grains should I use, eg carapils for example?

Inital recipe:
Coopers Lager kit
S-04
0,5kg DME + 0,5kg Dextrose
25g hop tea + 25g dry hop (Saaz)
Steeping some speciality grains(like carapils)

The minimum weight I can get is 1kg(2.2pounds) of the carapils and I think it would be too much for a 21l batch?Also how much water should I add when steeping the grains, because I've read that adding too much will extract tannins.

Click to expand...

I've used a lot of Cooper's cans in my recipe experimentations brewing AE. I'd drop the dextrose & just use 1kg of plain light DME. Munton's works well with the Cooper's. And 28g=1oz,if I remember right,so 28g of each hop would be a bit better. 1/2lb of carapils is the norm for that amount of wort. You really don't need any more than that.
What other specialty/crystal grains are you planning on using? Anyway,steep the grains at 155-165F for 30 minutes in 2 gallons of water. Sparge with 1 gallon 165-168F water for a total boil volume of 3 gallons. Sparging the grains will give you more wort to work with,rather than adding plain water.
To do hop additions in the "normal" way,bring the grain wort to a boil,& add half the DME. Stir till all clumps are dissolved while pouring it into the brew kettle. Add the saaz at 20 minutes left in the boil.
At flame out,quickly stir in the remaining DME & the Cooper's can till all are dissolved & no KME (the Cooper's can) remain on the bottom of the kettle.
Since it's still boiling hot,cover & steep at least a few minutes to pasteurize,which happens about 162F. Then place kettle in ice bath to chill down to 65-70F. Clean & sanitize fermenter,pour chillled wort & top off water through fine mesh strainer into fermenter in a circular motion. This makes the liquid come out the strainer like rain,aerating it while helping to mix. Stir roughly for 5 minutes to mix & aerate the wort/top off water well.
Take hydrometer sample,pitch yeast,& seal'er up.
This is how I do it with Cooper's cans to get lighter color,& cleaner flavor.

Thanks for clarifying guys.
To freisste; yeah I'll probably add some more dextrose.
To uniodr : I don't know what speciality grains would work with this coopers lagers batch other than carapils.A list of speciality grains that are available in my brew shop are : caraamber, caraaaroma, carabelge, carabohemian, caramunich, carahell.

axivanax said:

To freisste; yeah I'll probably add some more dextrose.

Click to expand...

That's not what I'm saying. Based on your post, I couldn't tell if you had a base kit and you were adding DME and sugar or if you were starting with ONLY DME and sugar. If it is the former, no issue (but like union said, it might be better to add 1kg of DME instead of 0.5kg each of DME and sugar). If it is the latter, you will need more than 0.5kg each of sugar and DME. Like I said, presumably you are adding these to the extract in the kit in which case you are fine.

Carahell is a German crystal malt that enhances the malt flavors & aromas. They like to use it in lagers,pilsners,& other light colored beers. I used a little of it in a black pseudo lager I'm about done fermenting now.
Caramunich is the crystal version of munich malt,& has three versions listed as I.II,& III. CaramunichI is 30-48 Lovibond (the "L" to the right of a number;higher the number,darker the color). It's a maltier crystal malt with increased fullness & heightened malt aroma. full round flavor & deep color. use 5-10% of the malt bill in dark beers,1=5% in light/pale beers.
CaramunichII Medium color compared to I,42-49 Lovibond.
CaramunichIII is the darkest of the three,53-60 Lovibond. All three are from Weyermann's of Germany. All can be steeped,as they're crystal malts.
CaraAmber is also from Weyermann's of Germany. It produces a red color,is 20-25 Lovibond,& works well in red ales,amber ales,& other darker styles of beer.
CaraAroma sounds like another version of carahell. The others I'm not familiar with,but sound like crystal versions of Belgian & Bohemian malts.
So .5lb of carapils,& no more than .5lb of carahell would work well for richer malt flavor & aroma,while the carapils will give better mouthfeel & head. The other crystal malts would give different flavor qualities & colors as well. Depending on what color you intend to get.
But all can be steeped. Use a paint strainer bag to fit the kettle so you can stir the mash,but don't forget to crush the grains first. Steep for 30 minutes at 155-165F with the lid on. I get mine up to temp for steeping or partial; mash. Then wrap the kettle up in my thinsulate lined winter hunting coat.
The temp actually goes up 1 degree rather than down several degrees during the steep or mash. Mashing is different than steeping by the way. I just wrap the kettle up the same way no matter which one I'm doing. It maintains temp way better & far more easily.
Then remove grain bag,place in collander over kettle,& sparge with up to 1.5 gallons of 165-168F water to rinse more goodies out of the grains. I prefer doing this to just adding plain water to the wort. Def raises OG a little.