Extract kit conversion

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jcounter

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Hello all,

New Brewer here, still fermenting my first brew and already planning my second. Here lies my dilemma, I was gifted all of my brewing supplies and a few extract lots for Christmas. The person gifting did an awesome job, I've always wanted brew and now I can. It's going to be a long hobby haha. The last of my kits is a Midwest Oktoberfest extract kit. From what I can gather it requires a lot more skill than I currently have, more equipment (secondary fermenter), and better temperature control for lagering and what not. Things I cannot accomplish at the moment. I do not want it to go to waste. So I ask forum members is there a way to frankenkit this and make it an interesting brew by changing the yeast or adding some other specialty grains or other malt extract additions? I'm still so new I'm not sure what the best route is. I don't have the full list of what the kit includes but I can post tomorrow. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
 
jcounter said:
Hello all,

New Brewer here, still fermenting my first brew and already planning my second. Here lies my dilemma, I was gifted all of my brewing supplies and a few extract lots for Christmas. The person gifting did an awesome job, I've always wanted brew and now I can. It's going to be a long hobby haha. The last of my kits is a Midwest Oktoberfest extract kit. From what I can gather it requires a lot more skill than I currently have, more equipment (secondary fermenter), and better temperature control for lagering and what not. Things I cannot accomplish at the moment. I do not want it to go to waste. So I ask forum members is there a way to frankenkit this and make it an interesting brew by changing the yeast or adding some other specialty grains or other malt extract additions? I'm still so new I'm not sure what the best route is. I don't have the full list of what the kit includes but I can post tomorrow. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

You can use ale yeast, ferment it as cool as you can, and then bottle it. You can even lager it in the bottle after it carbs up.

If you can put it somewhere that is around 50 degrees (a cool basement, unheated shed, etc), you can make it just as written .
 
Nottingham yeast ferments cool for an ale yeast. It is often used only lager styles as it ferments with a clean flavour profile. It can achieve at a ferment temperature of 57 degrees, but can be taken down to 54 degrees.
 
Essentially what I'm trying to do is either add or take away from the kit to brew something at a higher ferment temp 60-70 ish without having to use a secondary (not in the budget yet) while still being able to use this Oktoberfest kit. I just am unable to do several of what the kit recipe calls for.
 
No need for a secondary. You can probably just use whatever dry lager yeast came with it. Probably still cleaner than an ale yeast. Worst case you can put it in a big water bath with frozen bottles and maybe even a swamp cooler. If you can get temps under 60 degrees and maintain it you will be ok. At worst maybe switch out yeast for something like wlp029..
 
I would ferment as low as possible with Nottingham and leave it in the FV for 3 weeks. Ie 2 weeks to allow it to ferment out and 1 extra for good measure.

Then bottle, carb up for 2 weeks. Then chill the bottled beer (as many as you can) for a couple of weeks before drinking.

You should still end up with a clean, lager tasting beer.
 
Ferment it with WL029 kolsch yeast. I love that one for my hybrid lagers. It's fermenting sweet spot is 65-69F, which also gives a very lager-like flavor balance. Also gives that bit of crispness on the back. And I agree with yooper that bottling, then lagering for some 2 weeks in the fridge will work quite well. That's what I do.
Let it ferment out to a stable FG, then give it 3-7 days to settle out clear or slightly misty before bottling. Then give it 3 weeks or so in a 70F or better spot to carb & condition. Then about 2 weeks fridge time for " lagering", allowing any chill haze to form & settle. Besides compacting the yeast & trub on the bottom of the bottles to make for a cleaner pour.:mug:
 

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