steppenwolph
Well-Known Member
Hi All,
This is my first attempt at a partial mash, and my first attempt at brewing anything at all. My wife won a Brew's Best Oatmeal Stout kit at our local homebrew club Christmas party (Thank you Buzz Homebrew!) and she promptly donated it to me to brew for her. I think I understand the process well enough, but I want to tweak the kit a bit so it turns out more to our liking. Here is what I am thinking about:
1) The kit includes 1 lb. of maltodextrose for a standard five gallon batch. I understand that this is nonfermentable, and is supplied to provide for 'body' for the finished brew. My concern is that this will be sweeter than what we are looking for. My wife and I both prefer our brews on the drier side, not bone dry, necessarily, but def not sweet. I want to decrease this to about 1/2 lb. Will the 1 lb. be noticeably sweet?
2) The projected starting gravity is supposed to be from 1.048 to 1.056, but the ABV is projected to be about 4.6% I would like to increase this to something up around 7%, plus or minus a couple points. The kit includes 3.3 lbs of LME and 3lbs of DME. I was thinking of adding 2 lbs of DME to boost the ABV. I am concerned about too much malt body in the brew, though. Should I use less DME and maybe some corn sugar?
I would appreciate any feedback. And thanks in advance for any advice.
This is my first attempt at a partial mash, and my first attempt at brewing anything at all. My wife won a Brew's Best Oatmeal Stout kit at our local homebrew club Christmas party (Thank you Buzz Homebrew!) and she promptly donated it to me to brew for her. I think I understand the process well enough, but I want to tweak the kit a bit so it turns out more to our liking. Here is what I am thinking about:
1) The kit includes 1 lb. of maltodextrose for a standard five gallon batch. I understand that this is nonfermentable, and is supplied to provide for 'body' for the finished brew. My concern is that this will be sweeter than what we are looking for. My wife and I both prefer our brews on the drier side, not bone dry, necessarily, but def not sweet. I want to decrease this to about 1/2 lb. Will the 1 lb. be noticeably sweet?
2) The projected starting gravity is supposed to be from 1.048 to 1.056, but the ABV is projected to be about 4.6% I would like to increase this to something up around 7%, plus or minus a couple points. The kit includes 3.3 lbs of LME and 3lbs of DME. I was thinking of adding 2 lbs of DME to boost the ABV. I am concerned about too much malt body in the brew, though. Should I use less DME and maybe some corn sugar?
I would appreciate any feedback. And thanks in advance for any advice.