Brewers best holiday ale kit questions???

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

impulserush

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 19, 2008
Messages
207
Reaction score
0
Location
Pen Argyl , PA
Hello all, just got a holiday ale kit to do so I have her ready by the Holidays.

http://www.ldcarlson.com/public catalog/Brewers Best Recipes/1049 Holiday Ale.pdf

Hear is my problem, In the directions (listed above) it does not say when to add the crushed chocolate and crushed black patent. Also does this go in a steeping bag? Also it says add aroma hops 5 min. at end of boil. There are none listed on the ingredient list or in the kit. Do I need to by more? If so what is a good Hop and Amount to get?

I have done 3 of these kits, they all have turned out well. I do not want to ruin this one. Please help me through these directions to simplify the brew.


Thanks
 
The grains (chocolate, black patent) should go into the steeping bag and be steeped before anything else, along with the Crystal. Remove the grain bag before bringing the water to a boil.

Aroma hops are the Willamettes (finishing hops).
 
Just to clarify, I think you have no aroma hops, your last hops are the 15 min. Willamettes. And crushed chocolate is crushed chocolate malt, not actual chocolate.
 
I just put all the grains together in the mesh bag and steeped them for 20 minutes at 165-170. I turned the flame off and let them steep.

I also noticed the directions weren't as clear with the ingredients as they usually are. They do seem to be standard directions though.

Are you using the Notingham dry yeast that comes with the BB kits? I opted for White Labs California Ale (at the recommendation of my LHBS). Unfortunately I had no fermentation after pitching. I made a starter after 3 days of no fermentation and am planning on pitching it tonight or tomorrow.

Good Luck with it!

Let me know how it's going. I'll keep you updated on mine as well. I think I might add a pound of honey to mine.
 
you are correct on all. Do I need to get any aroma hops?

steep the crushed malt with the chocolate?!!!

I don't think you need aroma hops. I'd trust the directions, and this isn't a fragrant pale ale. And just to clarify, the chocolate is chocolate malt, right? I'd be surprised if it isn't. It steeps with the black patent and caramel. You have two grain bags? You have enough speciatly grains that you might need two, but they'd go in the water together.
 
I don't think you need aroma hops. I'd trust the directions, and this isn't a fragrant pale ale. And just to clarify, the chocolate is chocolate malt, right? I'd be surprised if it isn't. It steeps with the black patent and caramel. You have two grain bags? You have enough speciatly grains that you might need two, but they'd go in the water together.


The chocolate malt and patent are together. I did notice they gave me a steeping bag almost 12 inches long. The other 3 kits were smaller. I would ASSUME they want them all in this bag together.

Thanks, i will be in touch when I get her brewed.
 
Ok, I did the brew this morning, all went well. SG is 1.055, The instructions state should be 1.070 to 1.078. Is this a problem?

I read about the gravity of beer but I am confuzzled:cross:

Can someone explain it to me in stupid PA redneck lingo!!!:)

Is this a bad starting gravity? Why is it low? Did I do something wrong in the boil? Will things be alright?

I do not want a bad beer.

Please help.
 
Did you add the 2lb bag of DME that was in the kit to your boil? A 1.055 SG is what I would expect from the 2 cans of LME and the specialty grains alone in a 5 gallon batch.
 
I did two batches of this kit. I did late extract addition on both of them. I added one of the cans of LME at flameout. I almost forgot on the second batch. I had the chiller in and was starting to chill the wort when I remembered. I took the chiller out and added it when the wort was about 160 degrees. I don't think I let it sit long enough though.

Fermentation was VERY slow on my first batch, but took off after about three and a half days (temperature problems?). I used a pretty hefty starter on the second batch brewed yesterday and put it in a container of water with a shirt drapped over it.

My first batch had a SG of 1.067 and the SG on the second batch was 1.070.

The smell of the spice packet was awesome! I can't wait to taste this.

impulserush, +1 to dedzz comment about adding all extracts in the kit.
 
Yes I did put all the extract in. I think I did not stir it up enough. It was really thick.

I will see how it turns out.
 
This is my 15th batch. This is the first time the SG was very far off from where recipe stated it would be. The SG ended up being .044. The only thing that I did that differed from the recipe slightly was start with more water during the intiail boil. The reciepe stated 2 gallon and i used closer to 5 gallons. After transfering to the fermenter I filled to teh 5G mark. Could this be an issue. Is this going to be an issue other then a lower Alchohol content?

your thoughts are welcome.
 
thought the gravity was measured when the product was in the fermenter and water was at the proper level (no more additions). If not, I've been taking erroneous readings!
 
YOu are correct. The reading is taken after everything except the yeast is added. I was just unsure if somehow the dillution of the wort made for a different boiling point thereby changing my starting gravity after I added all the water at the end.

Really just looking for some reason that my brew starting at .045 not .07-.08.
 
well its been 4 weeks and its bottled.

F.G. came in right on, 1.015. smell was good and clarity was good.

even tasted good. Can't wait till the Holidays to try.

Thanks to all:mug:
 
Well I have this baby in the fermenter and thing is really churning but I did not seep the chocolate malt, I just seeped the grains and then removed and added all the malt to the boil. To me the directions look like I was suppose to add the chocolate malt after the grains seeped and poured str8 into wort. Am I screwed??
Scott
 
Well I have this baby in the fermenter and thing is really churning but I did not seep the chocolate malt, I just seeped the grains and then removed and added all the malt to the boil. To me the directions look like I was suppose to add the chocolate malt after the grains seeped and poured str8 into wort. Am I screwed??
Scott

No grains should be in the pot when it's boiling. I've not brewed this kit, but chocolate malt is a grain to be steeped. Chocolate is sugar that should be boiled. I've read in respected brewing books that boiling grains will add astringency to the finished beer from the husks. I've never done it, so this is not from experience.

NOW! In a stout or dark beer this may not be noticable depending on the amount of grain boiled. I've never made a stout, but have read that they cover up many imperfections in beer.
 
Well no worries, Wife just called and said the carboy blew the top off and shot beer all over ceiling and walls, I am out of town so she proceeded to dump beer down toilet, I had a blow off tube running into bucket and everything, Not sure what went wrong. She told me I am banned from brewing in house again, Ho Hum
Just spent like 300 on equipment
Scott
 
Well I could not wait. It was 2 weeks bottled. Chilled one and tried it.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just found my new beer. I will brew this one year round. Very Dark, and flavorful, I can not wait till this conditions more.

syilk1, sorry to hear that, mine was overly active to, the air lock got clogged with by products, I guess its krausen? please correct me if I am wrong.
Should I use an blowoff instead? Please help, I do not want an accident like this.

I thought It was on the stove boiling it was so active.

Thanks:mug:
 
If I would have read this thread earlier it would have saved me a mess! I brewed this on Saturday, put it in my fermenter with just an air lock. It was bubbling away within 6hrs. Checked it Sunday morning and it looked ok. I was sitting on the couch Sunday afternoon and I hear a boom in the basement. Went down to check and the lid was 10ft away lying on the floor. Needless to say I cleaned up the mess, rigged a blow off tube to the lid and it's still going like crazy.
 
Bringing back an old thread, but have 2 questions regarding this kit that i just recently bought.

Considering it is a darker beer (with the chocolate and black patent malts) would I still want to do a late extract addition? I used this last time with an IPA and it made a noticeable addition in the hop bitterness (in a good way), and i was wondering if this is a desirable quality in this beer?

Also would i be better off using 2 packages of Nottingham in this recipe than just the 1 it came with? it it supposed to have a SG of 1.070 - 1078 and a FG of 1.010 - 1.016. I know this yeast has great attenuation, but will one yeast pack handle this or would i be better off using 2? (have it on hand, no need to buy extra).

Thanks in advance
Cheers!

The ingredients are listed earlier in this thread but it is basically
6.6 lbs of LME
2 lbs of DME
1lb 8 oz of Crystal 80l
4 oz crushed chocolate
4 oz crushed black patent
spice pack (contains sweet orange peel 1 oz, 1 tsp of cinnamon and cardamom seed, and 1/2 tsp of ginger root)
1.5 oz target hops (8.8 AA i think ?) bittering
1 oz Willamette hops (4.6 AA i think ?) finishing
1 package Nottingham
 
Bringing back an old thread, but have 2 questions regarding this kit that i just recently bought.

Considering it is a darker beer (with the chocolate and black patent malts) would I still want to do a late extract addition? I used this last time with an IPA and it made a noticeable addition in the hop bitterness (in a good way), and i was wondering if this is a desirable quality in this beer?

Also would i be better off using 2 packages of Nottingham in this recipe than just the 1 it came with? it it supposed to have a SG of 1.070 - 1078 and a FG of 1.010 - 1.016. I know this yeast has great attenuation, but will one yeast pack handle this or would i be better off using 2? (have it on hand, no need to buy extra).

Thanks in advance
Cheers!

The ingredients are listed earlier in this thread but it is basically
6.6 lbs of LME
2 lbs of DME
1lb 8 oz of Crystal 80l
4 oz crushed chocolate
4 oz crushed black patent
spice pack (contains sweet orange peel 1 oz, 1 tsp of cinnamon and cardamom seed, and 1/2 tsp of ginger root)
1.5 oz target hops (8.8 AA i think ?) bittering
1 oz Willamette hops (4.6 AA i think ?) finishing
1 package Nottingham


I still have a 6 pack left. This beer needs to age, I bottled in august last year and they are awesome now. I did not do a late addition, but I do not think it will affect the bitterness that much. It turned out great. As for the yeast, I only used the one pack and it fermented like crazy. It clogged the airlock and almost blew the lid off. You may want to concider a blow off tube for the first 2 to 5 days.

Good luck and I know you will enjoy I did, Can not wait to do another one.:mug:
 
thanks for the reply, I think i am going to add in my DME at the beginning of the boil and add the LME when i add the spice pack (15 min i think ?). Yea i am planning on letting it primary for at least 3 weeks and then ill make sure to let my bottles age, hope to be trying it when finals are over this semester. My last question pertains to the steeping grains. Was the one bag that came with the kit sufficient? or should i just go grab another one for like .79 cents? i think putting 1 lb 8oz of crystal plus 8 oz of other grains plus all the liquid it is going to absorb might be pushing it for one grain bag. Thoughts?

Cheers!
 
I used the one bag, Thinking back now it maybe a good idea to pick one up and split it. Thats alot for one of those bags to hold. The fear would be if it were to rip.
If you have a secondary I would recommend using it for this beer. I did not have one at the time. This beer would to well to sit in a secondary for 2 weeks.
 
I am about to start this one. Any tricks with the spices? Do you need to crunch them up a bit or anything? Or just toss 'em in?
 
just toss them in, I would recommend a secondary for 2 weeks and also watch your primary fermentation. Mine almost blew the lid off and it clogged the airlock. You may want to add another packet a yeast. Mine never carbed up properly. I think with the high SG the yeast was to tired to do anything in the bottles.

Good Luck I loved this beer hope you do also.:mug:
 
For everyone who has completed this beer.. Have you noticed a really unpleasant dry bitterness about the beer? I haven't bottled yet but I noticed this when I took both my FG readings.. really hoping it doesn't stick around.
 
I thought mine tasted pretty good last Saturday when I bottled it, I could taste the spices and it did have a slight bitter finish but not unpleasant in my opinion.
 
Hmm well I think I'll bottle mine either tomorrow or Sunday, then I guess I'll check it out again. Usually I'm the one not minding while others are complaining of bitterness.

Edit: Now that I think about it, maybe really what I experienced is sourness. Hope it's not infected..
 
So I think I figured out what happened with my batch. Not bitterness, not sourness.. fusel alcohols. I don't know if it was the nottingham yeast or what but it's definitely fairly unpleasant.
 
That being the case, all is not lost. The yeast will clean that up with little problem. Allow to bottle condition for a couple of weeks, chill a couple and giver 'er a taste. Patience is all that is required now.
 
Thanks for the encouragement. I've got a few weeks yet before Thanksgiving anyway so hopefully everyone can still enjoy some at that point.
 
That's a hell of a long age. It's impossible for me to hold onto beer that long.. haha

I'll just hide them at my parents house is all. I have 12 bombers 3 sixers of 12oz and 2 extra 12oz for tasting before they get brought out for Dec 25th.

I'm not sure how this will turn out it was only my 3rd batch of beer but anyway I'm Excited for friends and family to try it.

StophJS- Your not that far away from me, Maybe we could exchange a bottle sometime in the next month or something?
 
Back
Top