Cheap experiment

A local store that sells homebrew supplies had a cart full of nearly expired Mr. Beer ingredient kits for $2 each. It looks like each bag does about a case of beer so I thought, what the hell. I got two bags of a "canadian red". My thinking was I could do a 5 gallon batch with the two kits. Would it be worth adding a little amber or dark DME and some hops to the kit? (I'm guessing canadian red is fairly light).

I just figured this was a cheap way to get some beer.

Why not brew it and see what the gravity is? I'd certainly add a few hops to freshen the aroma, but it is summer time and a nice lawn mower beer makes sense.

david_42 said:

Why not brew it and see what the gravity is? I'd certainly add a few hops to freshen the aroma, but it is summer time and a nice lawn mower beer makes sense.

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It is lawn mowing season so maybe I'll just hop it up a bit.

I'm fairly new to this (getting back into it after a long break). I can only boil 3 gallons right now and I've added that to 2 gallons in my carboy for previous brews. Is there a way to measure the OG of the 3 gallons in the pot and make some calculation to figure out what the OG would be when added to the remaining 2 gallons? Thanks

make up a sample to test the full thing, 3 parts finished wort + 2 parts water and measure the gravity of that. to make it easy, use .25 of a cup, 3/4 wort and add a half water, that should get you super close to an accurate reading.

wadel said:

It is lawn mowing season so maybe I'll just hop it up a bit.

I'm fairly new to this (getting back into it after a long break). I can only boil 3 gallons right now and I've added that to 2 gallons in my carboy for previous brews. Is there a way to measure the OG of the 3 gallons in the pot and make some calculation to figure out what the OG would be when added to the remaining 2 gallons? Thanks

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I use Beer Calculus for all of my recipes and it does what you are looking for and more.

be careful now though.... fresher ingredients do have some importance to your final product and it takes quite a bit of your time to brew a batch... don't be pennywise and pound foolish unless you just want to get hammered...
if that's the case tho, go for it I guess... also make some apfelwein!... there's no better buz for the cost, i suppose...

Just as a follow-up: skidaddytn was right. I added 1 lb of dark DME, an ounce of hops and fresh yeast. Beer is drinkable but that's about it. Not much body, can taste the alcohol, etc. Not really worth the time. Only good thing is I only went in $15 for the batch.

Live and learn.

Blueberryspies said:

I use Beer Calculus for all of my recipes and it does what you are looking for and more.

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What an awesome tool!! Thanks for the link to beer calculus; I just found out about my final product of Golden Ale w/ addition of 1.5 lbs of light DME to the AHB recipe. You ROCK, dude!