I just picked up an extract + SG kit from Northern Brewer, Dead Ringer IPA. It's supposed to be a clone of Bell's Two Hearted Ale, and everything looked right until I plugged it into Beersmith.
The destructions call for a 2.5 gallon boil with this hop schedule:
1oz Centennial, 60 min
1oz Centennial, 20 min
2oz Centennial, 5 min
1oz Centennial, Dry Hop
The provided Centennial hops are 9.2% AA. According to Beersmith this schedule at such a low boil volume would land me a pathetic 30 IBU. Bell's beer is 60 IBU.
Two things:
1. RAWRRRGHHHH!!! (getting the rant out of the way first) Look, I get it. Home brew suppliers try to make the instructions sound easier than they are, e.g. saying a 2.5 gallon boil is fine when in fact I need a 6 gallon boil for this hop schedule. Really all they've done here is saved themselves 1oz of Centennial per kit and pissed me right off. Anybody had a good experience trying to get bad kits fixed by Northern Brewer? This directly affects the answer to my other question...
2. What's the best way to salvage this brewday considering I can't get more hops tonight and I cannot possibly boil more than 4 gallons of wort? I could use the 1oz of hops that would be dry-hop and add them @ 60 minutes in a 3 gallon boil, or else I could use one half ounce that would be finishing hops and add them @ 60 in a 4 gallon boil (although 4 gallons is begging for boilover in my pot). Both of these would get me into range, but would leave me short on hops. If people think that it is reasonable for me to try to get Northern Brewer to mail me a piddling ounce of hops, I might just go ahead with the former option.
Otherwise the latter option spares me the trouble of begging .03 kg of vegetable matter off of them. How much do you think cutting a half an ounce of finishing hops would affect smell & flavor in the finished process?
Thank you for tolerating my anger. What have I learned?
1. Beersmith was the best $20 I ever spent considering it already saved me from a disappointing batch.
2. Never trust the destructions.
3. I'm not waiting for a birthday. Next paycheck I go out and buy a 9G pot. :rockin:
The destructions call for a 2.5 gallon boil with this hop schedule:
1oz Centennial, 60 min
1oz Centennial, 20 min
2oz Centennial, 5 min
1oz Centennial, Dry Hop
The provided Centennial hops are 9.2% AA. According to Beersmith this schedule at such a low boil volume would land me a pathetic 30 IBU. Bell's beer is 60 IBU.
Two things:
1. RAWRRRGHHHH!!! (getting the rant out of the way first) Look, I get it. Home brew suppliers try to make the instructions sound easier than they are, e.g. saying a 2.5 gallon boil is fine when in fact I need a 6 gallon boil for this hop schedule. Really all they've done here is saved themselves 1oz of Centennial per kit and pissed me right off. Anybody had a good experience trying to get bad kits fixed by Northern Brewer? This directly affects the answer to my other question...
2. What's the best way to salvage this brewday considering I can't get more hops tonight and I cannot possibly boil more than 4 gallons of wort? I could use the 1oz of hops that would be dry-hop and add them @ 60 minutes in a 3 gallon boil, or else I could use one half ounce that would be finishing hops and add them @ 60 in a 4 gallon boil (although 4 gallons is begging for boilover in my pot). Both of these would get me into range, but would leave me short on hops. If people think that it is reasonable for me to try to get Northern Brewer to mail me a piddling ounce of hops, I might just go ahead with the former option.
Otherwise the latter option spares me the trouble of begging .03 kg of vegetable matter off of them. How much do you think cutting a half an ounce of finishing hops would affect smell & flavor in the finished process?
Thank you for tolerating my anger. What have I learned?
1. Beersmith was the best $20 I ever spent considering it already saved me from a disappointing batch.
2. Never trust the destructions.
3. I'm not waiting for a birthday. Next paycheck I go out and buy a 9G pot. :rockin: