Magic Hat #9

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tampa911

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Has anyone tried the Magic Hat #9 extract kit from Austin Homebrew Supply?

I am thinking about ordering this for my second kit, as I have a taste for #9 and have a bunch of friends that love it.

How close was the kit to the real deal following the instructions to the letter? Did you choose any options (different yeast, extra alcohol, etc)

Any recomendations to improve on the recipe?
 
I was thinking about getting that kit as well. I love #9 and would like to brew it at some point. For the most part the recipes review seems positive. The biggest problem i see is just about everyone has different tastes and it seems like everyone brews a little different. That being said opinions and results vary. You kinda just have to try it and see how it goes and tweak the recipe form there.
 
I recently bought this kit and will be brewing next weekend. I'd also appreciate feedback from anyone who has brewed this kit. I'll add the recipe based on the contents of the kit when I have a minute so you can comment even if you haven't made this yourself, but have some suggestions.
 
Placed my order tonight. I opted for the Wyeast, Yeast fuel, and the 1% alcohol bootst. Hoping it makes it here for this weekend as I am itching for my 2nd brew day.
 
So here's the recipe. I will be steeping the grains in a 5 gallon paint strainer bag, doing a full boil, adding 1/3 of the LME at boil and 2/3 with 15 minutes left, adding Irish moss with 10 minutes left, and otherwise following the printed recipe.

I ended up buying US-05 yeast for my kit.

Grains:
1/2 lb Crystal 60L Malt
1/2 lb 2-Row Malt

Malt Extract:
7 lbs Extra Pale LME

Hops:
Bittering - 3/4 oz Cascade (60 minutes)
Flavor - 1/2 oz Cascade (15 minutes)
Aroma - 1/2 oz Cascade (5 minutes)

They sent me 2 oz of Cascade, and was thinking about using the extra 1/4 oz at some point in the process. Probably aroma since I don't really want this to be more bitter.

Flavoring:
3 oz apricot flavoring (added before bottling)

I'd appreciate any input you have.
 
Ok so I brewed this last Saturday (9 days ago) and first impressions were that it turned out pretty good. I ordered the kit with the 1% Alcohol boost, and the Wort was a bit sweeter than I would have expected. The beer finished up with an OG of 1.063 vs the anticipated 1.051 (not sure if this is due to the alcohol boost, or failure to completely mix the top off water before the reading was taken.)

The fermentation kicked off a little over 24 hours after moving to the primary and was moderately active for the first week. The fermentation has slowed to about a bubble every 45 seconds or so with the krausen all settling out. I am thinking about racking to a secondary in the next day or two, but had a question about the recipe.

The kit came with 3oz of Apricot Flavoring, and calls for the addition before bottling. Should this be added with the priming sugar or when racking to the secondary? The instructions lead me to belive it is to be added with the priming sugar as they include instructions to rack to a secondary, and then later have a section titled "flavoring to add before bottling".
 
Thanks Adrenalin....

Should I boil the additive with my priming sugar, boil it seperate, or just add it to the bottling bucket with the priming sugar?
 
OK so I racked to a secondary tonight after 10 days and took a gravity reading. The beer was at 1.013 (which is the final gravity specified in the recipe). Beer was pretty tasty. The sweetness has subsided quite a bit, but it is still quite cloudy. I will give it another week and a half to two weeks in the secondary and see how things go. I am contemplating a cold crash as my first brew is making some SERIOUS yeast cakes in the bottom of the bottles.
 
Unless you dont like waiting the yeast will fall out of suspension after a while. Thats usually te route i take and it lets the flavors develop a bit more and even out.
 
I have been drinking this for a few weeks now and it is pretty darn good and is definitely reflective of the flavor of a #9. From the first bottle I felt like there was some kind of an "off" aftertaste but couldn't really put my finger on it, so I did a side by side tasting with Magic Hat's #9.

The magic hat #9 has a much more pronounced apricot flavor, and aroma, and I think this is due to the aftertaste I was picking up on. When tasting them side by side I feel like I was able to better identify the aftertaste. It is an "alcohol flavor" for lack of a better description and now that I have identified it I pick it up in the aroma as well. It is almost like the aroma you get from a cheap vodka or tequila where you sort of smell the alcohol evaporating in the glass. Is this what people are referring to when they talk about esters?

I let this thing ferment in my basement, and was able to keep it around 74 degrees most of the time, but as I was not using any dedicated temperature control there are days that it probably got a little bit warmer. I am curious if this is the reason for the slightly off flavor, or if it was the dextrose addition for alcohol boost.

I have a chest freezer with temp control now so I think I am going to brew this one again and see how it compares, but am debating whether to do it exactly the same (with the 1% boost) or omit the dextrose.

Either way even with the aftertaste this is an extremely drinkable beer, and I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on it and its resemblance to #9.
 
I have been drinking this for a few weeks now and it is pretty darn good and is definitely reflective of the flavor of a #9. From the first bottle I felt like there was some kind of an "off" aftertaste but couldn't really put my finger on it, so I did a side by side tasting with Magic Hat's #9.

The magic hat #9 has a much more pronounced apricot flavor, and aroma, and I think this is due to the aftertaste I was picking up on. When tasting them side by side I feel like I was able to better identify the aftertaste. It is an "alcohol flavor" for lack of a better description and now that I have identified it I pick it up in the aroma as well. It is almost like the aroma you get from a cheap vodka or tequila where you sort of smell the alcohol evaporating in the glass. Is this what people are referring to when they talk about esters?

I let this thing ferment in my basement, and was able to keep it around 74 degrees most of the time, but as I was not using any dedicated temperature control there are days that it probably got a little bit warmer. I am curious if this is the reason for the slightly off flavor, or if it was the dextrose addition for alcohol boost.

I have a chest freezer with temp control now so I think I am going to brew this one again and see how it compares, but am debating whether to do it exactly the same (with the 1% boost) or omit the dextrose.

Either way even with the aftertaste this is an extremely drinkable beer, and I have gotten a lot of positive feedback on it and its resemblance to #9.

I brewed an apricot wheat last year that turned out fantastic, i used 3pds of canned apricots pureed with some honey and steril water into secondary. I also ended up using the extract for aroma @kegging but only around 2oz of the stuff.

IMO what your tasting is the artificial flavoring alcohol base. Apricots grapes and raspberry extract all have a great "real" flavor to them but if youve ever had say strawberry or grape extract you would know what im talking about. You also fermented a little on the hot side which would produce some off flavors and "hot" fusel alcohols

also you hit it right on the head with that last bit. Dont just use dextrose (this is all that "boost" is) to up your ABV it provides no mouthfeel and will actaully help to dry out your beer, something you do not want on this style.
 
Magic Hat #9 is really a simple, simple beer. When done in the brewery, it's 98% Marris Otter and 2% Crystal 60l. I'm not sure how that translates to the extract recipe (I doubt they have Marris Otter extract) but what you can do for some variety is Blueberry extract (EXTRACT, not "flavoring") instead of Apricot. Split the batch if you want since you add it at bottling/kegging. I did this recently and it turned out very good.
 
Just to follow up, I brewed the Austin homebrew extract clone a couple months ago and it turned out great. Better than the original by everyone who tried them side by side. Great summer, easy-drinking beer.
 
Just bottled up some #9 myself which is my second brew ever. Kit came from my local shop DIY Brewing. Tasted after OG was calculated which I screwed up by the way not mixing water in and taking a sample from the top. Was only 1.038 lol! Tasted very bland and watery of course. Decided to do a half and half apricot and blueberry flavoring right before bottling. Took a taste of each and I was pleasantly surprised, very smooth. Final gravity was 1.008 after 2 week ferment at 70 degrees in primary. Can't wait to test one in a couple weeks.
 
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