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jawats · 03-05-2009, 11:37 AM

So, I bought and "brewed" a Muntons Gold IPA last night. Hops were mixed in with the malt. I bought 8 oz. of smoked malt, steeped them for 25 mins at 155 deg. in 1 gallon of water, then drained the malt, boiled, added it to the two cans of hoppy malt, stirred to dissolve, then added 4 gallons of cold water and tossed the yeast at 70 degrees.

My wife was amazed - "You're done," she said, "in less than an hour?"

Anyone else tried one of these kits?

-Jonathan

Bob · 03-05-2009, 12:44 PM

Yup.

My warm-weather 'lawnmower beer' - listed in my recipe book as Summer Fizz - consists of a tin of Cooper's Draught, a pound of Muntons Wheat DME, an ounce of Hallertau pellets, and Nottingham yeast.

Bring 1 gallon liquor to boil. Switch off heat. Stir in extracts until dissolved. Add hops. Strain to cold liquor in fermenter. Ferment until complete. Package. Consume when ready.

Yeah, it's my dirty little secret. But I like it! It's fresh, tasty and just the thing after an afternoon doing outside work.

Bob

jawats · 03-05-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NQ3X

Yup.

My warm-weather 'lawnmower beer' - listed in my recipe book as Summer Fizz - consists of a tin of Cooper's Draught, a pound of Muntons Wheat DME, an ounce of Hallertau pellets, and Nottingham yeast.

Bring 1 gallon liquor to boil. Switch off heat. Stir in extracts until dissolved. Add hops. Strain to cold liquor in fermenter. Ferment until complete. Package. Consume when ready.

Yeah, it's my dirty little secret. But I like it! It's fresh, tasty and just the thing after an afternoon doing outside work.

Bob

Inexpensive AND refreshing - the ultimate combination.

dangerbrew · 03-05-2009, 05:18 PM

Muntons Gold FTW

love that yeast too. never fails.

jawats · 03-05-2009, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dangerbrew

Muntons Gold FTW

love that yeast too. never fails.

I called my wife at home, and she said it's bubbling away! Less than 12 hours for ferment start. Nice.

jawats · 03-07-2009, 08:40 PM

BTW, I got an OG on this of 1.050 - I am still learning to read my hydrometer. Does that make sense?

jawats · 03-08-2009, 07:06 PM

Okay - instructions said when the bubbling stops, bottle. However, I took a SG reading and had 1.020, giving me roughly 4%. I moved it to secondary, adding a cup of corn sugar.

ssabin · 03-08-2009, 07:38 PM

Jawats,

Three quick comments for you:
1) I think you moved the beer too soon. Should wait at least a week - femrentation continues after the bubbles slow and stop. In fact, you may want to slightly increase the fermentation temp when activity seems to slow to help the yeast work on the dicetyl it created during the furious early fermentation.

2) You don't add corn sugar until you are bottling. Transferring to secondary was a bit early, but would be acceptable. No need to add the corn sugar at this point, unless it was for an "alcohol boost", in which case 1 cup isn't going to do a whole lot.

3) Read the material here on the forums. Especially the stickies and the FAQs. After spending about 15 minutes doing that, you will certainly know not to trust the instructions that come packaged with kits!

You're in good shape with no major worries about this batch. Just make sure your fermentation is really done before you bottle, and use your hydrometer to know that it's done (should read close to the recipe FG).

Good luck to you!

jawats · 03-08-2009, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ssabin

Jawats,

Three quick comments for you:
1) I think you moved the beer too soon. Should wait at least a week - femrentation continues after the bubbles slow and stop. In fact, you may want to slightly increase the fermentation temp when activity seems to slow to help the yeast work on the dicetyl it created during the furious early fermentation.

2) You don't add corn sugar until you are bottling. Transferring to secondary was a bit early, but would be acceptable. No need to add the corn sugar at this point, unless it was for an "alcohol boost", in which case 1 cup isn't going to do a whole lot.

3) Read the material here on the forums. Especially the stickies and the FAQs. After spending about 15 minutes doing that, you will certainly know not to trust the instructions that come packaged with kits!

You're in good shape with no major worries about this batch. Just make sure your fermentation is really done before you bottle, and use your hydrometer to know that it's done (should read close to the recipe FG).

Good luck to you!

True - I should just ignore the recipe. The addition of the sugar was called for by the recipe, as was moving to secondary in 3-5 days when the bubbling stopped....

ruffdeezy · 03-08-2009, 07:51 PM

I've been doing cooper's kits, about to tackle my first recipe with extract, grain, and real hops. Kits are simple but they are almost too easy. I'm really looking forward to getting it going, but I need a nap first.