Brewers Best American Pale Ale Kit - Please share your experience!

[TasunkaWitko]

Hi -

My dad gave me this kit for my birthday, and I've been kinda-sorta sitting on it while I gain knowledge and experience. Thanks to the folks here, I've gained some good knowledge, and I've brewed a 1-gallon, all-grain batch of Chocolate Maple Porter that I will be cracking open this coming Sunday, if all goes well. I'll probably brew at least one (possibly two or three) more 1-gallon batches by the end of the month.

With that in mind, I'm guessing that it's time to take this 5-gallon American Pale Ale kit from Brewers Best seriously:

http://www.eckraus.com/brewers-best-recipe-kit-size-american-type-pale-ale.html

I believe that I have most of the necessary 5-gallon equipment, thanks to this K7 equipment kit that my wife got for me from BSG Handcraft:

http://bsghandcraft.com/index.php/e...kits-beer-and-wine/k7-beer-equipment-kit.html

I've also picked up a few, very basic things along the way from my limited brewing experience, and have plenty of bottles, caps etc.

The main things that I would like to know pertain to whether anyone has made this, how it went, what they thought of the end product, any tips, advice, tricks, general impressions etc. that might come in handy and so on.

One thing I am sure that I will need is a bigger brewing kettle, and my question is: does it have to be a 5-gallon kettle, or (being a (partial-mash?) (extract?) kit) will a smaller one suffice? If a 5-gallon kettle is necessary, will my porcelain-lined canning kettle work, or would I be better off getting my hands on a stainless steel one?

Thanks in advance -

Ron

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Anyone?

 

[petersusaf]

I would recommend using at least a 5 gallon kettle for doing extract batches. You'll probably boil anywhere from 2.5 to 4 gallons of water and having that extra space just helps prevent boil overs.

I've had better success boiling more water initially rather than adding it after.

Also, I'm not sure how well a porcelain lined kettle would work. Hopefully someone here has experience with one. I have a 6 gallon aluminium put which works great. They're also a bit cheaper than stainless steel ones.

I hope this helps some.

 

[72hw]

Yeah, I agree with petersusaf - minimum 5 gallon kettle. I'm only doing 2.5 gallon extract batches and quickly realized my boiler was just too darn small. Recently upgraded to an 8 gallon kettle and am really happy! No boil overs and it leaves me room to do 5 gallon boils once I get my outdoor AG setup going.

Wish I knew more about the kit you will be making, I'm sure it will turn out to be a toxic bucket of waste. If so, send it my way to dispose of!

 

[TallDan]

I used that kit for my first ever batch of homebrew about two years ago. I was pretty happy with the results. I did add some extra cascade hops late in the boil, but I don't think that's necessary by any means. Ignore the fermentation advice given with the kit's directions and just let it sit in the primary until it's done.

As far as a pot goes, I started with a 4G pot for partial boils, and after 3 batches switched to a 8.5G pot. I used my 8.5G pot for only a few batches before finding a deal on a used 10G Blichmann and now the 8.5G is my HLT. I would say to not get anything smaller than 8.5-10G.

As i recall, if you have an enameled canning pot, that will certainly work as long as there are no chips in the enamel and you're careful not to get any chips in it while brewing.

 

[JohnSand]

The enamel pot should be fine. Be careful about boilovers, but you don't have to do a full volume boil with extract. I've even done 5gal AG batches in a 5gal pot, topping off with sparge water, and again in the fermenter. Do a few batches before upgrading your pot. I made that kit and messed it up somehow, a sharp unpleasant bitterness that took a long time to condition. But I made a lot of mistakes my first year. I think Brewer's Best has a forum also, you might check over there.

 

[normivey]

I brewed this kit last summer. I had some fermentation issues (started slow and took about 3 weeks to reach final gravity), but I think I was fermenting too cool. I like the flavor, but it was a little more bitter than I expected.

 

[Hollysbt]

I'm drinking the first of my batch of this as I type this. It's great as far as I'm concerned. I just followed the directions without modifications other than skipping the secondary. I just let it go in the primary for 3 weeks before I botteled. It did take an extra week to carb more than I expected (3 weeks) but it's great. I'd use this kit again in a second. I've done 5 of the Brewers best kits so fast and have been happy with the results on all so far. I have their holiday ale in the primary now. Can't wait to try that one at Christmas!

 

[Philsberry]

I have brewed this one many times.
It will turn out fine.
As TallDan said, make sure it has finished fermenting before you bottle.
I use a cheap 5 gallon stainless pot for my extract batches and the only time I have had a boil over is when I am not paying attention.
The two things I do different from the instructions are that I rehydrate the yeast and I dry hop with 2oz of Citra.

 

[eadavis80]

That was my third kit and I really thought it made a good beer and my wife liked it too. I would toy with doing it again. As for your kettle, I'd say 5 gallon is minimum as anything smaller just invites boil overs. Always watch your kettle (especially at extract and hop additions). I have found that literally putting in only a few hop pellets at a time is the way to go - just slowly sprinkle them in over about a 1-minute window. Also, keep a bottle of water/sanitizer solution handy if the kettle looks like it will erupt. A quick addition of cold will help settle that angry wort to prevent boil overs. If possible, remove the kettle from heat. As the saying goes, "The unwatched kettle will always boil over." But, the kit itself was tasty. I just sprinkled on the dry yeast and had a good fermentation, but that was 15 kits ago. Now I always rehydrate dry or make a starter with liquid.

 

[gshahram]

Can anyone experienced with this kit tell me if its normal to not see any airlock (fermentation) activity after 12 hours?

 

[JohnSand]

Lag time will often be more than a day. Airlock activity is not a good standard, as even a new fermenter often does not seal airtight. Try putting the fermenter in a dark room (it should be anyway) and shining a bright flashlight through the top. You will see the foam when it starts forming. But if you pitched yeast into cooled wort, it will ferment.
Welcome to a great hobby, read up on this forum, there are plenty of stickies about good process.

 

[Chadwick]

I strongly suggest picking up a spray bottle and filling it with water for when you do your boil. And this is why.

When you do your boil you will notice that a thick looking foam will start forming in the moments immediately before the wort reaches the boiling point. This foam will very suddenly rise and grow and grow, even out grow the height of your pot. It can very easily boil over the side of your pot and make for a very sad day.

To remedy this problem. You start spraying that foam with the water in the spray bottle. Think of it as a whip and you are snapping it at the lion, keeping that lion in line. It will prevent the foam from boiling over the side of your pot and ensure your day remains a happy one. There is nothing worse than trying to take up a new hobby, like brewing, and have an unfortunate event, like a boil over, ruin all hope of support from your significant other. A simple spray bottle with water can make all the difference. If you don't have one, get one.

 

[LI_Matt]

I just made my first Brewer Best kit this weekend. And I boiled over a little at the first hops addition. Really have to watch the pot. Wish I knew the spritzer bottle thing a few days ago.

 

[JohnSand]

Hi Matt. You can also lessen the boil-over from hop additions if you add them a few pellets at a time. It won't take more than a minute or affect your bitterness.
John in Rocky Point.

 

[TasunkaWitko]

Why the heck haven't I brewed this yet?

I don't know!

Will try to get it done sometime in the next month or two - hopefully before Christmas.....

 

[JohnnyBeers]

Like many others it was my first brew and currently only brew. It's going through it's first week of fermentation and today I did a gravity reading and it's spot on with the directions. I tasted the beer and it had a slight off flavor, not infected just...off. So I'm gonna let it sit longer so hopefully the yeast works it's magic and cleans it's up. Overall easy kit!

 

[TasunkaWitko]

The stated IBUs are 32-36 for this beer.

The instructions say to add 2 oz of Cascade hops when the boil starts, then 1 oz of Citra hops with 5 minutes left in the boil.

If I wanted to knock the bitterness back to around to something more balanced (maybe 25 IBUs), should I cut the Cascade hops in half, or perhaps split Cascade hops into 60 minute and 30 minute additions?

Thanks -

Ron