6 cans of hopped lme to play with..ideas

Started my first batch of beer last friday "brewers best American light", all is going good as of today. I was at the supply store for supplies and scored 6 3.3lb cans of Muntons amber hopped lme cheap. The cans were dented pretty bad and they couldnt sell them. I also picked up some packs of safale s-04 yeast. I want to turn this into beer..lol. I want to make 5 gallons. I am experienced in wine making and have lots of gear. Can I make a beer out of this? If so, how much do I use? Or Can I use 2 cans and corn sugar to get proper OG for 5 gallons?. I also have corn sugar. Hope this makes sense lol. Thanks

Thanks for the info Uniondr. I will check out your recipe page. And looks like its back to the store for more supplies

you might not need to go back to the store. 2 cans should give you 5 gallons of 1.042 - 1.051 (depending on the PPG, i'm seeing different values online). that's plenty for a nice drinkable beer, you could always use 3 cans if you want to make an imperial something or other. it's already hopped, so you're good to go there.

if you want to keep your life simple, you could simply use the cans & water. if you want to get fancy, you could add some steeping grains and make the beer more of a porter instead of an amber, or you could add some hops and make a dark IPA'ish beer.

not that i'm trying to take away your excuse for going to the store. always fun to hang out there.

Great recipes uniondr! Going to do the summer shandy for sure once I learn a bit more.
Quick question. Will I need hops? These cans say "hopped amber".. sorry, new to beer...making, not enjoying..

chachi44089 said:

Quick question. Will I need hops? These cans say "hopped amber".. sorry, new to beer...making, not enjoying..

Click to expand...

you don't need to add hops. the extract is pre-hopped. however, if you like hops, you may want to add more. chances are the level of hopping in that can is relatively conservative. a hop-head wouldn't be satisfied, but many beer drinkers will be. if you do add your own hops, i would add them late in the boil - during the last 10 minutes, even during the last minute. this will add flavor and aroma to your beer, something that pre-hopped extract can be low on.

Ok, I am getting a game plan together.. I will try two cans of the lme and water. I do like my beer a bit hoppy. Any advise on a hop choice and quantity? Here is my plan.. Please critique...
Bring 2.5 gallons of water to a boil.
add 2 cans of lme and return to light boil.
boil 40 minutes.
add hops, boil 10 minutes.
chill wort to 70f.
strain into primary.
add cool water to 5 gallons try and get og to between 1.042- 1.051 at 70f
pitch yeast.
ferment at 68f

Any tips or changes?

unionrdr said:

If those Munton's cans are anything like Cooper's Original Series (I call OS) cans,then they're bittered only,& not much at that. I used pre-hopped Cooper's OS cans with Munton's plain DME & hops to make what I wanted out of them. That's the basis of my recombinent extract recipes. So it depends on what kind of hopping the cans actually have. There site should say something of that. Otherwise,follow what I did with the Cooper's cans & it should turn out well.

Click to expand...

I am definitly going to try your recipes too. I will have 4 more cans to experiment with after a 2 can experiment. This will be fun..

chachi44089 said:

Ok, I am getting a game plan together.. I will try two cans of the lme and water. I do like my beer a bit hoppy. Any advise on a hop choice and quantity? Here is my plan.. Please critique...
Bring 2.5 gallons of water to a boil.
add 2 cans of lme and return to light boil.
boil 40 minutes.
add hops, boil 10 minutes.
chill wort to 70f.
strain into primary.
add cool water to 5 gallons try and get og to between 1.042- 1.051 at 70f
pitch yeast.
ferment at 68f

Any tips or changes?

Click to expand...

sounds like an excellent plan, looks like you've got all the steps there. i didn't see sanitation mentioned, but i'll assume that's all in there.

you have a 10 minute hop addition, i'd consider adding a 1 minute or zero minute (flamout) addition. an ounce for each of your two additions should make things nice and tasty.

as to which variety of hop to use, it really depends on what you like. cascade is the classic american hop, centennial is another one. go with fuggles or east kent golding if you prefer british hops. there are several over-the-top flavorful new hop varieties like citra, amarillo, simcoe, mosaic, etc that are amazing in my opinion (but i like my hops intense). ask the guys at the supply shop for their opinion, they're always good for advice.

All good with sanitation, much practice from wine making.. As to a "flameout".. Could you explain that a bit more for me? When do I do it? What do I do? what does it do? ect.. Thanks so much for the help and advise. I will post my progress and results here as I go.

flameout hops = zero minute hops = hops you add just as you stop the boil.

hops that are boiled for 60 minutes give bitterness - all the flavor and aroma are boiled away. hops that are boiled 10-15 minutes contribute mostly flavor - delicate aroma compounds are mostly boiled away, but flavor remains. hops boiled for 5 minutes or less provide mostly aroma. so adding hops at flameout means that they are barely boiled and provide the most aroma. you can further enhance aroma by dry-hopping: throwing hops in to your fermenter once fermentation is done. leave them in there for 3-7 days, then rack off to a bottling bucket or keg.

I picked up "4" 1oz packs of hopunion cascade hops. I am thinking of adding some at flameout for nice aroma sinse the LME is already hopped and I should be ok on bitterness? Does this sound ok? How many ounces should I add? I like hoppy, just not over the top. Though I actually dont know this for sure having never drank many craft beers.. Just going for something average. Wow, I have a lot to learn..

Sounds like a plan. I will be starting this in a few days.. Will post results..
Thanks again for taking the time to help a noob..

What's the reason for the first 40 minutes of boiling if hops are only being added for the last 10?

So I dont need to boil if the lme is already hopped? Or just bring to a boil to add the aroma hops?

DHdriver said:

What's the reason for the first 40 minutes of boiling if hops are only being added for the last 10?

Click to expand...

Right-o! I believe, if it is pre-hopped LME, then there is no need for a full-length boil. So, you determine the length of the boil based on what you want from the hops you are using, like Uniondr mentioned.

Ok, starting to make more sense. What kind of plan would you use if you were going to use 2 cans of hopped lme and some hopps for aroma? Sorry if it seems I am asking you everything but coming here and doing it..lol.. I just dont want to mess it up. And I am learning alot in this thread and reading others.

Sounds good. I will hold off until I get some dme. Then I can just follow one of your recipes. I will start after Christmas on this. Thanks for all the help. I have learned alot, but have alot to learn. I will post here when I am ready to start if I have questions. Thanks for being patient.