Beer In A Can

[Greenhorn]

So I have made 2 different brews from a can. (the ones that all you have to do is add sugar.) Both have turned out extremely bitter. Is this a product of under aging? It's only aged for about one week. Will this get better in time? And finally, did I do something wrong?

 

[user 574]

I think you get out what effort you put in and these sound way too easy to do... No idea what equipment you have yet but a nice kit recipe with hop pellets, dry or liquid malt extract, some specialty grains and yeast would probably blow you away in comparison to what this was like (not familiar with this stuff).

 

[Greenhorn]

I'm supprised you've never seen it. I usually use malt extract with fantastic results. But in my LHBS these cans are everywhere so I tried a couple to see what I was missing. It says right on them, "All you add is sugar." So i did, following the instructions to a T, only to get nasty bitter beer. So I think either it supposed to be like that, or it's not aged enough...?

 

[rhinostylee]

I've made a beer that only had a syrup, I didn't have to add anything, it was all in the extract. It tasted like rancid piss! I think that unless you use grains and hops seperately it will be ****ty beer.

I'd also say that this could be a good experiment. Put them in the cellar and try them again every month, maybe it will improve.

 

[Orfy]

I've done several, it all depends on the style, and I should imagine the bitterness will mellow after a week or two more
Sugar adds several things to a brew, one of them is not body. It adds Alcohol and some off tastes. There are other things you can use to replace the sugar for much better results.
I use the extract but do 2.5 gallon instead of 5 gallon and leave the sugar out. Unless it is a 3kg all malt kit. I'm not too worried about the fact that the beer effectively cost twice as much. If I wan cheap ale I can get it for 28p a can from the supermarket.

The kits can give good results but the one with "add sugar" will never give great results

 

[user 574]

I probably do see them but usually turn my head at the HBS from anything sitting in a can. Actually, I'm a bit anal so I researched for days before I spent my 1st dime on equip or a kit. It all started with my daughter buying me a Joy of Homebrewing book for Christmas. The rest, is history

 

[david_42]

Sounds like you got exactly what the can could deliver, which wasn't much. If it used only hop extracts, expect harsh bittering. If sugar accounts for a large portion of the fermentables, there can't be enough malt to balance the bitter flavors. Bitter will mellow with time, people wouldn't drink barley wines if it didn't.

I'd look closely before trying another can. There are a lot of tricks you can use to improve these beasts. Some have been mentioned. If you were trying cans because of the lack of choices in extracts, the best tactic is using dme instead of sugar.

Personally, I think cans are a lot like Hamburger Helper. By the time you've added enough stuff to make something decent, you may as well have done it from scratch.

 

[Orfy]

I disagree that LME can not be used to create a good beer.
I have brewed 9 so far and am drinking 4 of them. Granted one of them is not to my taste but others tasting it can't see anything wrong with it.
I went to a beer festival today and sampled 7 beers. I can honestly say that from those I'd prefer 2 of mine to at least half from the beer festival.
I am biased and I am going to all grain but I've mad some good beer with canned extract and I know a lot of people who have brewed Beer that is better than most beer served in pubs.

I am drinking a beer now that I have made in a Mr Beer keg and bottled straight from primary. It’s been bottled conditioned for 4 weeks. No it's not as mellow and clear as the other beers but none the less weeks and it tastes mighty fine.
If people were faced with going straight to AG then there would be hell of a lot less people brewing. The more people brewing the more LHBS.
LME lets people learn about brewing before progressing.

 

[user 574]

Orfy - Very True. I should take the statement of "canned" back. My very 1st batch did in fact start with LME however I also had steeping grains and hops pellets, boil etc to the batch. I'm not cutting those that do not do "AG". My last batch was a very simple wheat DME and hop pellet batch with some fruit syrup in the secondary; hey the female crowd loves it and I think it outstanding as well. Perhaps Greenhorn didn't provide enough info but I read it verbatim as something in a can, add sugar and call it beer. That was mysterious to me. BTW I write this as I indulge in a fine AG Porter so . I'll re-read my post tomorrow for verification of intelligible matter :cross:.

 

[Truble]

my first batch was 66%LME and 33%DME and I hopped it at 60mins and 15 mins. It was a recipe that I followed. It came out great! I am using LME in my second and 3rd batches as well. I think that using all malt extract, LME or DME, as opposed to sugar, is the primary difference. Though only a n00b, I too have statyed away from those "all in one" cans. The reason I wanted to brew was because of the need to mix and match ingredients and follow brew schedules, etc....that is the fun for me!