BeerChimp

Recipes 

Hi, please excuse what is likely to be a stupid and noob-tastic question.

I'm very new at this, and have only done a couple of brews not from kits.

I wanted to try John J Palmer's Port O'Palmer recipe, but couldn't find any reference to sugar or DME in the recipe, I wasn't sure if all the sugars the brew needed can be find in the various malt extract and malted grains, or if it needed an additional amount of sugar/spray malt?

The recipe is: 3kg malt extract (liquid); 227g crystal malt; 227g chocolate malt; 113g black patent malt (and hops).

Should I add 1kg of sugar to this as well?

Would appreciate any help or explanation before I go and brew 40 pints of exceptionally alcoholic/alcohol-free beer!!!

hoppymonkey

Recipes 

Only add sugar if you want to thin out the beer and make it higher in alcohol. All the sugars needed are i nthe malt extract and little from the crystal malt.

Paradigm

Recipes 

Well the reason you aren't finding a need for DME is because you're using LME. Which is DME and water.

Revvy

Recipes 

Some recipes/styles call for it, like Belgians. But unless a recipe calls for it, you don't really want to add any.

But like 'monkey says, often kit beers like Cooper's will have you add some sugar. But most recipes, unless it's style specific, don't need it.

In the case of DME, it and liquid malt extract are pretty much the same thing, just one is in liquid form and the other dry (and because of that you use different amounts depending on which.)

But with a John Palmer recipe you don't really want to alter it, that's like putting a mustache on the Mona Lisa.

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BeerChimp

Recipes 

Righto! Thanks a lot, much appreciated, that makes a lot of sense!

jonmohno

Recipes 

huh?You use the liquid malt ectract as stated in the recipe. If your asking and you only have dry malt extract you would use a little less.Not shure the exact amount but i would guess a little over 5 #.
The recipe knows what its doing i dont get why you are asking to use additional amounts?

BeerChimp

Recipes 

...mainly because I just wanted to check - I've never brewed before without using at least some sugar, so I wanted to be sure before I went ahead. I wasn't questioning the recipe as such, just making sure it wasn't a given that I would add some sugar at some stage.

Revvy

Recipes 

Nah.

But I figured being from the UK you brewed cooper's kits, right? So adding sugar would be quite common to you.

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Like my snazzy new avatar? Get Sons of Zymurgy swag, here, and brew with the best.

Revvy's one of the cool reverends. He has a Harley and a t-shirt that says on the back "If you can read this, the bitch was Raptured. - Madman

I gotta tell ya, just between us girls, that Revvy is HOT. Very tall, gorgeous grey hair and a terrific smile. He's very good looking in person, with a charismatic personality... he drives like a ****ing maniac! - YooperBrew

BeerChimp

Recipes 

Spot on, that's absolutely right!