'Flash Brewing'? This looks interesting!

[BrewnWKopperKat]

For those who have a hydrometer and a refractometer, Northern Brewer supplies a calculator that that will calculate estimated OG from those two measurements.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

'I Heart IPA' - Bell's Two Hearted clone.

I got the Citra Session Pale Ale and a 7 gallon Fermonster, and with the order of the Fermonster they gave me 50% off another kit so I ordered the I Heart IPA kit as well. It'll be interesting to compare results!

 

[CascadesBrewer]

I got the Citra Session Pale Ale and a 7 gallon Fermonster, and with the order of the Fermonster they gave me 50% off another kit so I ordered the I Heart IPA kit as well. It'll be interesting to compare results!

Did you go for the extract version of that kit? What yeast do you plan to use?

 

[hotbeer]

I finally just looked at the instructions for the Flash Brewed beer. While I watched the video they sent me the day they announced it, it didn't seem evident that it still needed to be in the FV for 2 weeks.



Maybe I was distracted with other things going on while watching the video.

I honestly thought this was finished beer in 10 minutes. Oh well, stupid me for not looking first at the instructions. So some of my previous comments don't apply.

However, still I think it's good if it keeps my suppliers in business.

All grain beers give me the things I enjoy about the hobby. So it's still not something I'd want to do. Especially since none of their beers were clean and clear looking. That's just a turn off for me. Even though it seems to be the popular thing now.

 

[mac_1103]

I honestly thought this was finished beer in 10 minutes.

I suppose somebody could try spray drying finished beer. And who knows, it might taste good when rehydrated. But it wouldn't have any alcohol. Feature or bug?

 

[hotbeer]

I suppose somebody could try spray drying finished beer. And who knows, it might taste good when rehydrated. But it wouldn't have any alcohol. Feature or bug?

Yeah, I was trying to figure that part out. Since they only showed a time lapse photo of the fermentation, I thought they'd come up with some sort of super-dooper yeast that finished in ten minutes. Though very skeptical.


edit....

Now it makes sense why some thought Lutra was the yeast. I was slapping myself to keep from posting Lutra 'aint that quick.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

Did you go for the extract version of that kit? What yeast do you plan to use?

Sorry for any confusion, this is the Flash brewing version and I'm going to do it "by the book" and use the included yeast.

I did the non-Flash MoreBeer Citra Session Pale Ale extract + steeping grains kit last year with US-05 and it came out really great. I only did a 1 gallon batch and it didn't last long. I've definitely had worse commercial Citra pale ales, as recently as last night.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

Did you go for the extract version of that kit? What yeast do you plan to use?

Oops, if you meant the I Heart IPA one, I got the Flash version of that as well. Figure that way I'll have two attempts at this whole Flash thing before I pass judgment.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Figure that way I'll have two attempts at this whole Flash thing before I pass judgment.

At least one of the kit descriptions state

Inspired by one of the most iconic craft beers of all time,

and (obviously), "inspired by" isn't "tastes exactly like".

"Cali Mountain" should be a good Cascades single hop pale ale. "I Heart IPA" should be a good Centennial single hop IPA. etc.

My guess is this: is you try the beer, side-by-side, with it's 'inspired by' craft beer, you'll notice differences.

• Commercial hops vs 'home brewer' hops.
  • Those who had access to "Bells Select Hops" (RIP for now) can confirm that difference.
• Yeast.
  • Those brewed with "Bells House" yeast vs US-05 can confirm that difference
• Water mineral content profile
  • Those who brew with Briess DME vs Muntons DME can confirm this

Enjoy the short brew day. Enjoy fermenting at ambient temperature. Enjoy packaging with 'carb drops'.

It's (always) a great time to be brewing at home.

 

[Kris.J]

Or buy a $4 item to get free shipping.

From the pics, it looks like the 60 IBU shot in the IPA kit might actually be two 30 IBU syringes.

Correct. I 'brewed' it this evening. I'll start another thread to track it, with lots of photos. That said, I've never had a Tilt show me that the SG is going UP!

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Assuming volumes and weights are correct (and with a sample size of one):

SG 70 * 5.5 (?) gal water / 7 #​

Note that adding DME to 5 gal water will increase the volume of the wort.

 

[Kris.J]

The SG is going up because there is a huge layer of Flash Malt (tm) powder floating on top of the water, slowly dropping & dissolving.

 

[doug293cz]

Hey Kat, there is no foam. That's a layer of Flash Malt powder. Go check the thread that I just created, there are photos of the entire experience thus far.

Moderator's note: the new thread started by @Kris.J has been merged with this thread, as there is no good reason to start a second thread on the same topic

doug293cz
HBT Moderator

 

[day_trippr]

The obvious next product is the "Mix And Chill Beer System", consisting of a small flask of high proof ethanol, a hop shot or two, and a bag of pasteurized beer-like fluid that all ends up in a carbonation vessel.

Woof...

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Moderator's note: the new thread started by @Kris.J has been merged with this thread, as there is no good reason to start a second thread on the same topic

Thanks for mentioning that.

 

[BrewZer]

Got my Hefeweizen kit today -- I'm keeping my mind open.

 

[fluketamer]

i have lurked on this thread awhile . these kits dont appeal to me too much because i have generally always had better luck steeping grains with extract brews and the yeast thing bothers me. my beer is so much better with temp control i would never brew ambient again.

i feel if i really wanted to i could do something very similar with dme, hop tea, and a yeast of my choosing. (with temp control) . i guarantee that will make beer also. and prolly cheaper than these kits.


to me dme (spraymalt) is already hot broke and doesnt need to be boiled.

i think this is from briess:

"The fourth step is boiling. The sweet liquid, which is called "wort", is transferred to the brew kettle where it is boiled.
The fifth step is clarification, which involves transferring the wort to a large tank called a whirlpool that acts like a cyclone to settle out any solid material."

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/is-dme-pre-boiled.395630/

to me that sounds like hot break has been removed.

 

[mashdar]

I think the flash brewing kit would make way more sense as a 1.5 gallon kit. I'm picturing the modern Mr. Beer. Attract new brewers with a couple of 6 packs worth of beer for $20 plus some PET bottles and a small spigoted fermenter.

I think the idea of making it easy and cheap to get into (and then start steeping grains etc to gently expand horizons) is a way to build the hobby.

You could even make a special "what's next?" booklet to include with suggested modifications and reading.

$50 for 50 beers is a bit too big of a quantum for this use case IMO.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

Photographic documentation of this would be awesome,

Found one (and it's a "twofer" for damaging 'extract' forum wisdom from the mid 2010s): https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...e-a-few-weeks-ago.703564/page-6#post-10389765

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/is-dme-pre-boiled.395630/

Side topic (I put that thread "to the test" a couple of years ago): https://www.homebrewtalk.com/thread...e-a-few-weeks-ago.703564/page-6#post-10389765

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

I think the idea of making it easy and cheap to get into (and then start steeping grains etc to gently expand horizons) is a way to build the hobby.

Or, in MoreBeer's case, perhaps

• build a line of unique and valuable products that
• make it easy to get started and
• make it convenient to brew with the variety of products

---

The result of the kit won't taste exactly like the 'inspired by' commercial beer. Bottled (even bottle conditioned) commercial beer doesn't taste exactly the same as the same commerical beer in the tap room (or on tap).

The result of the kit may not win many BJCP competitions. @CascadesBrewer has made some good observations about the flavors in dry hop additions vs late boil additions. But I could see scoresheets along the lines of 'Yummy, but not to style: +29".

• So maybe the best way to evaluate the kit is this: did you enjoy the beer?

---

After some initial reading, I'm going to give MoreBeer "the benefit of the doubt".

They continue 'do things' (new products, etc) to help grow their business and the hobby.

 

[mac_1103]

The result of the kit won't taste exactly like the 'inspired by' commercial beer.

The result of my all grain recipes don't taste exactly like the "inspired by" beers. I don't do clones; I do homages.

So maybe the best way to evaluate the kit is this: did you enjoy the beer?

Now that there is just crazy talk.

 

[IrondaleBrewing]

Or, in MoreBeer's case, perhaps

• build a line of unique and valuable products that
• make it easy to get started and
• make it convenient to brew with the variety of products

Totally agree with this. I'll be doing my first Flash kit soon, but I can't imagine MoreBeer would release something that was total garbage just to make a quick buck -- that would be extremely short-sighted. And to me anyway they're targeting what I would guess is the #1 point of friction for people wanting to get into homebrewing, namely the commitment of a minimum of 3-4 hours for a brew day. The rest of the brewing process is a lot of inactive waiting time, plus shorter chunks of time here and there to package, clean, etc., so radically reducing the biggest time commitment makes the whole thing a lot easier to work into busy life schedules.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy the brew day and am lucky enough to have the time to spend on it 2-3 times a month. But compared to many I have an extremely unhectic schedule and totally understand how some folks simply don't have the luxury of spending the better part of a day brewing. If this is an on-ramp for people in that situation, they enjoy doing it, the results are good, and they and their friends and families enjoy drinking the final product, that's awesome.

And maybe this will spark further interest in brewing for people who start with these sorts of kits and they'll try other types of brewing even if they only have time to do it a couple of times a year. Or maybe they'll have fun doing these kits when the mood strikes and that's all they'll ever do, which again I think is fantastic. The homebrewing hobby is vast enough to support a wide variety of techniques and products so I think it's great people have various methods available to jump in.

 

[Chokehold]

The yeast is packaged by Cellar Science fwiw. I’m at 75% attenuation in about 30 hours; seems to be Lutra or Voss. Fermentation kicked off in a few hours.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

The yeast is packaged by Cellar Science fwiw. I’m at 75% attenuation in about 30 hours; seems to be Lutra or Voss. Fermentation kicked off in a few hours.

Thanks for the info. The only two Kveik strains that I am aware of being sold under the Cellar Science brand are Voss and Hornindal (with Hornindal not packaged in homebrew size packs). It could be something completely different though or maybe a blend. In my experience, even at room temps Voss still adds some distinct orange characters.

 

[Chokehold]

Good point, I forgot they don’t have a lutra knock off.

My tilt has been at a stable SG for around 4 hours now, 80% apparent attenuation, approximately 48 hours to reach FG. I was pretty convinced it was a kveik, so I fermented at 80F.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

It could be something completely different though or maybe a blend. In my experience, even at room temps Voss still adds some distinct orange characters.

From the instructions, a room temperature from 65-85F is stated.

So likely more muted yeast flavors at 65F and maybe more yeast flavors expressed at 80F. For those speculating on the yeast strain, that would be one thing to consider / measure. Also for those speculating on the yeast strain, the peak wort temperature may be a consideration. (The FAQ for the kits suggests there just one "Flash Yeast ™" product).

---

Aside: if reporting back on brewing one of the kits, if the report is missing kit name, ambient room temperature (or use of temperature control), the report is useless.

 

[madcactusbrewing]

It seems like they would need to keep the kit cost down to around half that of buying beer.
I think the 2.5 gallon batch size would be much better for this model.

Agree. I brew 2.5 gallons and bought the HefeWeizen kit. I have used half of it so far and it's on Day 6 in my fermenter. It's easy to divide and just keep ingredients stored properly. I vacuum packed the yeast and hops. Hop oil is in a sanitized ziplock bag. The extract is in the original bag and sealed. I would prefer a packed 2.5 gallon kit.

 

[madcactusbrewing]

Agreed. With a 2.5 gal (or 2.0 gal) size, I'd give the kits a try and enjoy the result. Because sometimes I want a very short brew day.

My (minor) concern about splitting is the "hot shot" syringe. From the video, and with the "hop shot" liquid warm, it feels like it should be possible to push out only half of the liquid. The other ingredients are pretty easy to "divide by 2".

It's pretty easy to split the hop shot. My Hefeweizen kit has a 4ml syringe and markings for every ml.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

It's pretty easy to split the hop shot. My Hefeweizen kit has a 4ml syringe and markings for every ml.

Thanks for that insight!

My previous experience (singular experience around 2019-ish) with a using part of a"hop shot"-like product was not positive.

---

Maybe I missed it earlier, but I'm seeing a new (to me) kit (Ugly Fish IPA) "Inspired by the highly sought-after Ballast Point Sculpin® IPA".

For those looking for "clues" on these kits, consider that so far there's a single "Flash Brewing" brand of yeast (plus WB-06), but multiple "Flash Brewing" brands of DME. Maybe it's "just marketing"; but I'm still leaning towards the idea that they found someone who can produce customized DMEs (much like Williams Brewing has customized LMEs).

 

[madcactusbrewing]

Thanks for the info. The only two Kveik strains that I am aware of being sold under the Cellar Science brand are Voss and Hornindal (with Hornindal not packaged in homebrew size packs). It could be something completely different though or maybe a blend. In my experience, even at room temps Voss still adds some distinct orange characters.

Is it possible that Cellar Science has developed a Lutra or similar neutral kveik for MoreBeer that is not yet for general sale? Also, if this was a pure kveik strain it should be under-pitched. 12g is a lot even for 5 gallons. I'm thinking it's a blend.