What else can I make from a Dead Ringer IPA kit. Not an IPA fan

[mcfire12]

When I ordered my original brew kit there was a deal going on where I got this dead ringer IPA kit for free. Problem is that I don't care for really bitter IPA beers. I'm trying to figure out what I can make with it. Kit comes with 5 bags of 1oz Centenial hop pellets, a 6.0 and 3.15 gallon jug of gold malt syrup which has a G on the label. And the specialty grain is 1 pound of briess caramel. I thought about brewing the kit but not adding all the hops maybe? I just am NOT a fan of the really hoppy bitter beers. Any ideas? Can I plug my ingredients into the brewsmith software somehow? Just looking for ideas, sorry this is only going to be my second brew so i'm pretty new at it!

 

[RM-MN]

The time that hops boil plus the alpha acid determines how much bitterness the beer gets. You can adjust the hop addition to use a hop with lower alpha acid and boil for the 60 minutes or you can use the original hop and boil it for less time or use a combination. Post the hops used, the AA (alpha acid) percentage, and the schedule that they are to be added and someone can assist you better.

 

[mattd2]

BierMuncher Centenial Blonde is a popular beer on here, maybe something similar:

...Batch Size: 5.50 gal
Boil Size: 6.57 gal
Estimated OG: 1.044 SG
Estimated Color: 3.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 16.8 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 70.0 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5.00 lb Extra Light Dry Extract (3.0 SRM) Dry Extract 83.3 %
1.00 lb Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 16.7 %
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (45 min) Hops 7.8 IBU
0.25 oz Centennial [9.50%] (20 min) Hops 5.1 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (10 min) Hops 2.5 IBU
0.25 oz Cascade [7.80%] (5 min) Hops 1.4 IBU
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

Use the 6# of LME in place of the DME and if you don't have the cascade, sub in Centenial - and use a 1/2# the Caramel malt if you want to.
The you could make a low ABV season beer with the 3.15 LME left over, a bit of the malt and a bit of the hops. And then you will still have 3(ish) oz of hops to used in another beer.

 

[mcfire12]

1oz centenial (60 mins)
1oz centenial (20)
2oz centenial (5)
1oz centenial (dry hop)

Centinennial hop pellets 1 oz alpha acide 10.5%
hp35 i503

 

[lgilmore]

You could easily do a couple batches off that kit. With some small additions you could divide the LME in half, add some "sugar" (brown, corn, honey, table etc..) to get to your desired OG and make a couple not so hoppy brews. and/or add a few other grains.

 

[mcfire12]

BierMuncher Centenial Blonde is a popular beer on here, maybe something similar:


Use the 6# of LME in place of the DME and if you don't have the cascade, sub in Centenial - and use a 1/2# the Caramel malt if you want to.
The you could make a low ABV season beer with the 3.15 LME left over, a bit of the malt and a bit of the hops. And then you will still have 3(ish) oz of hops to used in another beer.

I'm liking the idea of this!

 

[mcfire12]

Anyone else have any suggestions?

 

[amie]

What styles do you enjoy? Since Gold extract is pretty much the extract equivalent to a base malt (it's made from 2-row and a bit of carapils, iirc), you can use the syrup to make any number of different styles with it. Name some styles you like, and I'm sure we can come up with recipe suggestions for you.

 

[mcfire12]

to be honest i'm really not sure. I really love this great lakes brewery elliot ness brew that's made local that I would like to replicate somehow. I definitely like the ales tho. Anything that isn't overly hoppy or bitter

 

[mcfire12]

I would even try some kind of american light ale that my friends who aren't into darker or homebrew stuff would like

 

[BrewerBaj]

Sounds like you should just buy some Bud light.

 

[mcfire12]

BrewerBaj, that's a hell of a good way to help, thank you so much! Good way to encourage new brewers to the hobby would be to make unhelpful ******* comments like that one. If anyone has any real advice please let me know.

 

[fuelish]

When I ordered my original brew kit there was a deal going on where I got this dead ringer IPA kit for free. Problem is that I don't care for really bitter IPA beers. I'm trying to figure out what I can make with it. Kit comes with 5 bags of 1oz Centenial hop pellets, a 6.0 and 3.15 gallon jug of gold malt syrup which has a G on the label. And the specialty grain is 1 pound of briess caramel. I thought about brewing the kit but not adding all the hops maybe? I just am NOT a fan of the really hoppy bitter beers. Any ideas? Can I plug my ingredients into the brewsmith software somehow? Just looking for ideas, sorry this is only going to be my second brew so i'm pretty new at it!

Is it safe to assume you meant 6.0 and 3.15 pounds, and not gallons? Or are you brewing very large batches??? Gotta wonder, and all...

 

[mcfire12]

Correct. Those measurements are in pounds.

 

[Warmart]

The Dead Ringer IPA is not very hoppy at ALL. It's what I consider to be a malty IPA, and it took me awhile to appreciate it, but my guess is you'll like it as is.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

I'd make a cream ale (you would need both corn and rice) or another light beer if I were you. www.brewtoad.com is a free site I use to get a rough estimate on a recipe. Below is what I would do. Of course it won't be exact, but you don't need it to be, but this should turn out good as long as you clean/sanitize everything well:

for 5 gallons of what you already have/might have around your house in your cupboard; if you can get to a beer supply store, the possibilities are endless. Here is what I recommend plugging into www.brewtoad.com for free and you can go from there/adjust accordingly for something similar to a Bud, Miller, or Coors:

-6-7 lbs liquid malt extract
-1/2 lb briess caramel (what is the lovibond on this?)
-if you have some minute rice or plain white rice you could add 1/2lb or so as an adjunct
-if you have some oats you could also add this as an adjunct; maybe 1/2lb
-if you don't have the rice or oats, don't worry about it

1/4 oz Centennial for 45 minute boil
1/4 oz Centennial for 20 minute boil
1/2 oz Centennial for 1 minute boil

If you really like the aroma of hops, add some more at flame out or dry hop after fermentation is completed. It's not typical to the style, but if you like the fruity aroma of American hops, Centennial is a good one to use in dry hopping

 

[mcfire12]

Could I make it as is but let out the last 2 hop additions maybe?

 

[texcan2000]

You will get pretty much the same bitterness if you leave out the last 2 hop additions. The 60 minutes hop addition is for bittering, 15 minute for flavor, 5 min and flame out for aroma. If you halve the first hop addition you will end up with a considerably less bitter beer.

 

[texcan2000]

But I certainly like the previous ideas of making 2 beers out of your kit. Adding some cane sugar to each will leave you with a dry finish. I'm going to play with it a minute.

 

[texcan2000]

Beer 1 : 7 lbs LME .75 lbs of your caramel malt steeping grains 1 lbs cane sugar Centennial 1 oz 60 min. .5 oz 10 min .5 oz flame out Beer 2: you'll need a couple more lbs of LME/DME sorry. I originally read you had 9lbs and 3.15 lbs not 6 and 3.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

Could I make it as is but let out the last 2 hop additions maybe?

Make your kit as is, but instead of the 60 min boil, just use those same hops for a 30 min boil. I'm not a big bitter guy myself, although I do love a good IPA...just don't want 6 gallons of it when I brew.

 

[BrewerBaj]

BrewerBaj, that's a hell of a good way to help, thank you so much! Good way to encourage new brewers to the hobby would be to make unhelpful ******* comments like that one. If anyone has any real advice please let me know.

Cheers!

 

[schematix]

It all depends what you want and whether or not you want to invest more.

I just pulled up the recipe on NB's website and I would agree with others' comments that it's not that hoppy (i made a 10G batch with 28oz hops in september). If you want something less hoppy i'd do just the 60 and 20 minute additions, dropping the late additions and the dry hops.

The recipe ingredients are on the simple side so you don't have a lot of flexibility without buying more malt components... you could buy another 3lb jug of syrup and some additional steeping malts and hops, and you'd have enough for 2 session beers, but who homebrews those?

 

[BeerLoverHere]

It all depends what you want and whether or not you want to invest more.

I just pulled up the recipe on NB's website and I would agree with others' comments that it's not that hoppy (i made a 10G batch with 28oz hops in september). If you want something less hoppy i'd do just the 60 and 20 minute additions, dropping the late additions and the dry hops.

The recipe ingredients are on the simple side so you don't have a lot of flexibility without buying more malt components... you could buy another 3lb jug of syrup and some additional steeping malts and hops, and you'd have enough for 2 session beers, but who homebrews those?

You will get less IBUs this way, however if you like the aroma of hops as it is pleasing to your nose, I'd do the opposite. I would not cut back on the dry hopping, 5 or 10 minute boil time with Centennial as the directions indicate. I'd do 1 of the 2 things below if you want it less BITTER:

1. Use the 1oz hops in a 35-40 minute boil instead of 60min.
2. Or do the 60min boil, but use 1/2 oz hops

 

[cjbalough]

I'm new and inexperienced so what do I know, but I really like the 2 beer idea. I'd take the 6 lbs of extract and maybe 1/4 lb of the grain and follow the centennial blonde extract recipe using the single variety of hops if I couldn't pick up more localy.

For the other one, I'd take the remaining extract and grains, add some honey, and follow the same hop schedule as the centennial recipe. Maybe a smaller batch on this one if needed.