Just wanted to know if it's possible to add flavours to beer despite using a refill kit? Heard people talking about peanut butter and chocolate, thought I'd like to test the chocolate one. Just to say I have. Obviously all these recipes are for making it using own ingredients. I dont think I'm ready to plunge into that just yet. Need a bit more experience first I think. Thanks
new to homebrew quick question
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Scut_Monkey
Well-Known Member
I'm not sure what you mean by a refill kit or what that is. Yes you can add ingredients like peanut butter and chocolate. For chocolate you usually want to stay away from the chocolate you would eat and use cocoa nibs or cocoa powder as the cocoa butter will not make it in to ruin head retention and mouthfeel. With peanut butter I am not exactly sure but I believe I have seen some people mention a peanut butter powder? Again, the whole idea is to get the flavor of the ingredient but avoid the oils that come with the standard product as they can negatively affect the beer.
ongreystreet
Well-Known Member
Oils will ruin the head, among other things.
I think the biggest piece of advice as far as adding adjuncts or whatever you call it, is to check out the make-up of the ingredient. I think there was a thread about adding a butterfinger or butter cup, sure you might want a chocolate and peanut butter taste, but what about all those other ingredients, all those colors, oils, acids, chemicals, and possible preservatives.
I think the biggest piece of advice as far as adding adjuncts or whatever you call it, is to check out the make-up of the ingredient. I think there was a thread about adding a butterfinger or butter cup, sure you might want a chocolate and peanut butter taste, but what about all those other ingredients, all those colors, oils, acids, chemicals, and possible preservatives.
joetothemo
Well-Known Member
Word to the wise: make good beer first; then start to tinker.
You need to be able to make a good base beer before you can start adding funky adjuncts and flavors. Otherwise, you are going to end up with bad beer that is made worse by whatever else you are throwing in there.
***This is from experience. I tried to freelance on my first batch. After I ruined that in a million different ways, I decided to learn to crawl before trying to qualify for the Olympics.
You need to be able to make a good base beer before you can start adding funky adjuncts and flavors. Otherwise, you are going to end up with bad beer that is made worse by whatever else you are throwing in there.
***This is from experience. I tried to freelance on my first batch. After I ruined that in a million different ways, I decided to learn to crawl before trying to qualify for the Olympics.
A refill kit isn't that what it's called? Malt in a can add water and yeast. Again sorry for not explaining better, like i said still new to me.
Was just thinking if it was possible to put some cocoa powder in secondary whilst the brew is conditioning, wether it would give a chocolate taste. I have a barrel conditioning now and a tester bottle. Seeing what the difference is thought I'd put some powder in and see. I don't think doing a 5g brew with chocolate flavour would be good as I might hate it.
Was just thinking if it was possible to put some cocoa powder in secondary whilst the brew is conditioning, wether it would give a chocolate taste. I have a barrel conditioning now and a tester bottle. Seeing what the difference is thought I'd put some powder in and see. I don't think doing a 5g brew with chocolate flavour would be good as I might hate it.
smizak
Well-Known Member
+1,000,000
Please do yourself a favor and make a couple of easy, simple recipes first. Don't add a bunch of weird stuff, it will make it complicated when you try and refine your process. Do a couple of pale ales, bitters, blonde ales, etc... When those beers are good, then make your peanut butter, triple decocted, double chocolate chipotle BBQ stout.
joetothemo
Well-Known Member
"Extract Kit" is what that is called.
For cacao flavors, people use this: Cacao Nibs
Really though, drink your first beer first. See how it turns out before you start messing with it.
Think of it this way, you have baked your very first cake. You mixed up the ingredients from a box. It is baking away in the oven. You haven't even tasted it yet. Yet you are already thinking of going back and adding ingredients.
If I were you , I would eat that cake the way it was intended to be made. Then, next time around think about what I would do differently.
For cacao flavors, people use this: Cacao Nibs
Really though, drink your first beer first. See how it turns out before you start messing with it.
Think of it this way, you have baked your very first cake. You mixed up the ingredients from a box. It is baking away in the oven. You haven't even tasted it yet. Yet you are already thinking of going back and adding ingredients.
If I were you , I would eat that cake the way it was intended to be made. Then, next time around think about what I would do differently.
joetothemo
Well-Known Member
There are a couple ways to fight this urge. I've been known to employ all 3 at a time.
1. Buy some good commercial beers that can inspire your next batch.
2. Check out some books and read up on process and techniques.
3. Get yourself another fermenter and another kit and start brewing that second batch. Fill that pipeline!
1. Buy some good commercial beers that can inspire your next batch.
2. Check out some books and read up on process and techniques.
3. Get yourself another fermenter and another kit and start brewing that second batch. Fill that pipeline!
cimirie
Well-Known Member
I come down somewhere in the middle on this discussion. Logically, tinkering before you really know what's going on with your process could result in problems.
On the flip side, my first batch ever was a PM pumpkin ale, complete with spice, whose recipe I totally designed myself. To this day, it is still considered by friends and family one of the top 5 beers I've made. I happened to get lucky, but tinkering before you know what you're doing doesn't have to be a bad thing.
My advice if you want to use chocolate or peanut butter, find an established recipe on this site (or a prepackaged kit) and stay true to that recipe. If you know that you are going to be a "kit" person or simply follow other's recipes for your brewing enjoyment, I don't see the need to strictly adhere to the "crawl before run" philosophy. If, on the other hand, you suspect that developing recipes yourself will be a big part of your brewing experience, I 100% agree with the above posters: start with simple beer, simple ingredients, and learn as much as you can about individual contributions.
Just my 2 cents.
On the flip side, my first batch ever was a PM pumpkin ale, complete with spice, whose recipe I totally designed myself. To this day, it is still considered by friends and family one of the top 5 beers I've made. I happened to get lucky, but tinkering before you know what you're doing doesn't have to be a bad thing.
My advice if you want to use chocolate or peanut butter, find an established recipe on this site (or a prepackaged kit) and stay true to that recipe. If you know that you are going to be a "kit" person or simply follow other's recipes for your brewing enjoyment, I don't see the need to strictly adhere to the "crawl before run" philosophy. If, on the other hand, you suspect that developing recipes yourself will be a big part of your brewing experience, I 100% agree with the above posters: start with simple beer, simple ingredients, and learn as much as you can about individual contributions.
Just my 2 cents.
At the moment I'd say it'll be just extract kits with a bit of tinkering perhaps until I get enough experience with it. Really struggle with waiting that's why questions start to come into my head. For the recor I don't plan on making peanut butter beer can't stand the stuff was just using it as an example of what I had saw.
was just using it as an example of what I had saw.
incog
Active Member
Cheers to that brother!
uncommonsense
Well-Known Member
joetothemo said:
Not that I think your wrong because your not. But I never used a kit. I alway write my own based on a style guide then put a twist on it and so far I've like all my beer and so has my friends. To me useing kits is like baking a cake frome a box.
joetothemo
Well-Known Member
Most people bake a cake from a box...or from a trusted family recipe before diving headlong into recipe formulation....dontcha think?
biggerthanyou83
Well-Known Member
Word to the wise: make good beer first; then start to tinker.
You need to be able to make a good base beer before you can start adding funky adjuncts and flavors. Otherwise, you are going to end up with bad beer that is made worse by whatever else you are throwing in there. QUOTE]
Very true.... I felt like "tinkering" with my stout by adding honey.... little did i Relies that I add twice the amount of sugar in the beer before bottling. I would definitely be patient and get the brewing techniques down first…. And ALWAYS ask before you do something. Don’t learn the hard way. Like me!
uncommonsense
Well-Known Member
joetothemo said:Most people bake a cake from a box...or from a trusted family recipe before diving headlong into recipe formulation....dontcha think?
To me half the fun is making recipes. I don't know maybe I'm wrong, if all I brewed was John Q. Pale ale id get bored of brewing.
Most people bake a cake from a box...or from a trusted family recipe before diving headlong into recipe formulation....dontcha think?
+1.
My take on this is that there is a difference between true experimentation and throwing things together "willy nilly." I have noticed on here is that a lot of noobs think what they are doing is experimentation, when in reality they are just throwing a bunch of stuff against the wall and hoping it sticks.
Throwing a bunch of stuff in your fermenter and seeing what you get at the end, and ending up making an "is my beer ruined" thread is not the same thing as experimenting.
To me, in order to experiment truly, you have to have an understanding of the fundamentals. You have to know how the process works somewhat. You have to have an understanding of how different ingredients or processes affect the final product. You may even need to know, or at least understand something about beer styles, and what goes into making one beer a Porter and another a pale ale. And where your concoction will fall on the continuoum.
To me it's like cooking or even Jazz. But going back to the cooking analogy. Coming up with a balanced and tasty recipe takes some understanding of things...just like cooking...dumping a cup of salt will more than likely ruin a recipe...so if you cook, you KNOW not to do that...it's the same with brewing...you get an idea with experience and looking at recipes, brewing and playing with software how things work..what flavors work with each other, etc...
That to me is the essence of creating...I have gotten to a point where I understand what I am doing, I get how ingredients work or don't work with each other, so I am not just throwing a bunch of stuff together to see what I get.
I have an idea of what I want it to taste like, and my challenge then is to get the right combination of ingredients to match what is in my head. That's also pretty much how I come up with new food recipes as well.
uncommonsense
Well-Known Member
^ that's more or less what I do. I'm not as good as you revvy but that will come with time. But what I do is I look at style guides to see what's in them and what the common amounts for them are. And to make it my own I look at add something. But be for I do I look around to see if its been done. Then figure out how I'm ganna use this new addition based one what I found in my research. And if it turns out how I hoped great, if not ill tweeck it just a bit next time. Ofcourse I'm still new to brewing, but learn from each brew is kinda the point I think. And when all else fail, there's always this place with some pretty cool people to help. Cheers!
Ps. Op if you wanna choco up your beer check it out and roll with it, nothin wrong with trying.
Ps. Op if you wanna choco up your beer check it out and roll with it, nothin wrong with trying.
uncommonsense
Well-Known Member
smizak said:double chocolate chipotle BBQ stout.
some how this needs to be made
And that's exactly why I asked the question, to get a bit of info to learn how to add and work stuff out. Only been on this forum a few days and I'm picking up some useful information. Glad that alot of people are understandable about new brewers.
+1 on the chocolate chipolte stout.
I have just one batch in bottles and a second about a week away from bottles. I was talking to a buddy with more brews under his belt about experimenting and he came up with a good suggestion. This is unusual for him since they mainly just get me in trouble. Like when he suggested that I chug the dump pitcher at the wine party he was hosting but I did come away w 5 bucks and a headache.
Anyway this time instead of testing on a 5 gal batch he suggested doing a good base beer and then trying secondary fermentation experiments by filling a couple growlers with the base. The base is a hef and I now have 1 Growler of it fermenting with 2 blood oranges and another with about 1/2 lb of peaches.
Worst case scenario...1 gal of garbage but 4 gals of a decent hef. A sampled a bit prior to moving some to the growlers. This gave me the courage to try the experiment.
Cheers and good luck!
I have just one batch in bottles and a second about a week away from bottles. I was talking to a buddy with more brews under his belt about experimenting and he came up with a good suggestion. This is unusual for him since they mainly just get me in trouble. Like when he suggested that I chug the dump pitcher at the wine party he was hosting but I did come away w 5 bucks and a headache.
Anyway this time instead of testing on a 5 gal batch he suggested doing a good base beer and then trying secondary fermentation experiments by filling a couple growlers with the base. The base is a hef and I now have 1 Growler of it fermenting with 2 blood oranges and another with about 1/2 lb of peaches.
Worst case scenario...1 gal of garbage but 4 gals of a decent hef. A sampled a bit prior to moving some to the growlers. This gave me the courage to try the experiment.
Cheers and good luck!
