true brew red ale

im going to do this kit tomorrow. it contains:


3.3lbs muntons hopped malt extract
3.3lbs muntons light malt extract
4oz melanoidin malt grain
1oz hop pellets
1 pack muntons ale yeast

it says to steep grains for 30 minutes, 30 minute boil for roughly half the hop pellets, 2-3 minute boil for the rest of the hops.

any recommendations on improving this kit with the current ingredients plus maybe some spices? i dont want to have to go back to the lhbs for hops or anything, im just looking for something to help make this beer stand out a little.

nobody has any ideas? not even add a teaspoon of cinnamon or nutmeg or anything like that?

If you want to brew a spice beer, then buy a spice beer kit. I wouldn't mess with a kit that was designed to make a tasty beer.

enderwig said:

If you want to brew a spice beer, then buy a spice beer kit. I wouldn't mess with a kit that was designed to make a tasty beer.

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im not necessarily looking to do a spice beer, just thought maybe there was something out there that could help make a kit a little better. those where just something i though of, im just thinking of trying something a little different but dont have the experience to make up my own recipe yet.

this was my first brew i made. it came out real well. dont add anything to it. enjoy it for what it is, trust me!

I have this kit too. As soon as I can locate and procure me a brewpot I'll commence my first batch. Let us know how it turns out.

its fermenting right now, ill let you know in about 6 weeks!

That was the second kit I brewed. You won't be let down with leaving it as is.

When I first started brewing, I wanted to do all kinds of crazy things. Really, my best beers have been very simple (KISS).

I also did this brew for my first batch started 31 Dec 2008 - excellent as is and I will do it again in a few days :0) I like the red ales I must admit. I thought it took a longer time to carbonate then I expected - over 3 weeks before it formed good head.

mine went to bottle last week, have to wait a little longer before i find out how good it is!

I have made the trew brew red ale a few times and every time I enjoyed it just as is. Now am am trying out a irish red ale.

I tried the non-grain version of this. It's in my garage now carbonating in the bottles. It tasted great early, but now is a bit yeasty. I'm hoping that over the next few weeks, it will settle down. I saw monster brew just made a new double IPA kit. If this red ale turns out ok, I may try the double IPA.

This was also my first kit.It turned out great as is and was liked by all that tried it.

This was my first brew as well, it took a while longer then what they say, but it keeps tasting better each time i try it.

Well, I haven't tried this kit yet (...actually I haven't done any kits yet....bummer) but I did brew up a red ale yesterday.

the recipe I went with had 3.3 lbs unhopped muntons amber liquid extract, 1.5 lbs amber DME, 1 lb crystal malt, 1/2 lb roasted malted barley, 1 oz cascade hops (boiling) and one ounce willamette hops (flavoring). Oh yeah... I used SafeAle 05 yeast.

I'm hoping this one comes out great...

My first batch is/was a TB Red Ale with US-05 yeast. It is in its third week of primary. It will stay for one more, then a week in secondary, then 3 weeks in the bottle.

...is it done yet?

Corkster said:

Well, I haven't tried this kit yet (...actually I haven't done any kits yet....bummer) but I did brew up a red ale yesterday.

the recipe I went with had 3.3 lbs unhopped muntons amber liquid extract, 1.5 lbs amber DME, 1 lb crystal malt, 1/2 lb roasted malted barley, 1 oz cascade hops (boiling) and one ounce willamette hops (flavoring). Oh yeah... I used SafeAle 05 yeast.

I'm hoping this one comes out great...

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Post agian when you start drinking! I brewed almost the exact recipe but I used all liquid extract and Wyeast Amercian Ale 2 and a few other speciality grains in my steep. I just racked it the secondary last weekend, its looking real good. This was my first brew in a pot large enough for a complete boil so Im looking forward to see how it turns out.

OG 1.050
FG 1.016

nvr2low, have you tasted any of yours yet? I'm interested to know if you get the same yeast flavor I'm getting. At first, this tasted really good, but now there's too much yeast flavor. I'm going to give it a few more weeks and see what's up.

How are you pouring the beer? Are you leaving about half-inch behind and not pouring too quickly?

This is also my first brew. It has been in the primary 3 weeks now and I'll bottle it in the next few days. I'm gonna let it sit 3 weeks before I try it. I'm hoping it comes out as good as a few of you say.

I used a racking cane to bottle mine and did leave the bottom part with the yeast cake, etc in the bucket. Did I dig too deep? There is some yeast in the bottom of the bottles. I thought that was normal though?

If it's just something that needs to age, I'm patient. If there's something I should do to save it, I'd love to get that going now.

tried one yesterday, its only been in the bottle 2 weeks so it was a little green but it was really good already!

jaynik said:

I used a racking cane to bottle mine and did leave the bottom part with the yeast cake, etc in the bucket. Did I dig too deep? There is some yeast in the bottom of the bottles. I thought that was normal though?

If it's just something that needs to age, I'm patient. If there's something I should do to save it, I'd love to get that going now.

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I meant when you pour it into the glass, it might be possible that you're swirling the yeast up with the pour and that could be contributing to the "yeasty" flavor.

It IS normal to have yeast at the bottom of bottles, you might want to try a careful pour leaving a 1/2 inch or so and see if you get less of the yeast flavor.

Sounds like your bottling procedure was normal, and assuming you didn't throw in 9 packets of dry yeast or anything I'd have to think an overly yeasty flavor would come from maybe stirring up sediment in the bottle during the pour.

Gotcha. I was careful on the pour. Actually let the bottle rest for 20 minutes before the pour, and poured about 25% into the glass to taste. That top 25% was already yeasty.

Is this thread dead? How did it come out?

I am thinking of making this my second try after I free up some space from my first couple..

We just started this one - it suggests primary for only a week, does this sound right to those who have done it? seems quick. Then a 3 week bottling period...

(we did our first batch as a Hefe from True Brew and it turned out solid)

just bumping this - again the question is, it says primary for a week, then bottle for 3 - that seems like a quick ferment, any ideas?

I'm no expert, but I've been told already that the instructions on many kits are simply too quick.

Are you saying the instructions are to ferment for a week, then bottle, let carb for 3 weeks, then drink?

I would be leery of bottling after only a week, too much of a chance that fermentation isn't 100% complete at bottling time.

If you are talking about primary for a week, then secondary for 3 weeks, then bottle, that makes more sense, although a week in the primary is still probably a little short, and I think many here would say to simply leave your beer in the primary for the whole time...

Really the instructions should say, "Ferment until it is done fermenting." Under "ideal" conditions, you might get away with bottling after a week, but really you ought to give it more time.

thanks for the ideas - so essentially fermentation will be done when it completely stops bubbling? (sorry for being a n00b!)

I am on my 4th batch of brew. I was told from multiple people that 2-2-2 is the best timing out there FOR ALES. 2 weeks in primary fermenter, 2 weeks for bottle conditioning and 2 weeks in the fridge. All of my batches of brew have turned out GREAT. I do not use a secondary fermenter for Ales... the yeasties do the cleanup work themselves!

by the way, if anyone is looking for one of the best beers Ive ever drank... Trubrews "Oktoberfest Ale" is one of the best. Easy to brew and was great in color, smell and taste. I highly recommend it for all the new brewers out there!

cdif911 said:

thanks for the ideas - so essentially fermentation will be done when it completely stops bubbling? (sorry for being a n00b!)

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I wish it was that easy but bubbles or the lack thereof in the airlock isn't a very good indicator of fermentation happening or not. What you want to do is give the beer a couple of weeks in primary then sanitize your beer thief and take a gravity reading and record it. Do this until you get three days in a row of the same reading. At that point, you can consider fermentation done, the yeasties have done their best. At this point, you can rack to secondary if your recipe calls for it, leave it alone for another week or so to clear up ( even if the yeast isn't doing much, it is still working on that beer and cleaning it up for you, no harm in leaving it on the yeast a little longer) or you can rack into your bottling bucket and bottle. Remember to give your beer at least 3 weeks in the bottle to carb up and mellow out. I have found that most beers are a little green before three weeks in the bottle.
Cheers!