I want to know if its possible to simply buy a 3.3 lb can of hopped syrup with yeast included, add it to water and bottle with corn sugar? I have seen a lot of articles that suggest adding malt extract, dextrose or imply buying 2 cans, but im cheap. If I throw the 3.3 lbs syrup and yeast into 5 gallons of water will it be good? let me know, thanks.
How minimalistic can i be?
- Thread starter bigwhitt
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McGarnigle
Well-Known Member
You mean you won't even add sugar to it? That will produce a very light beer, although you could add the 3.3 lb can to 3 gallons of water and produce decent beer. If you want 5 gallons, I'd rather add a couple pounds of sugar than nothing.
You're looking at a ~2.3% ABV beer with no body. Very watery. If that sounds like something you'd like, go for it.
Frankly if you are that cheap, why not just buy a case of Keystone or similar? Making a good beer is going to be more expensive than buying a case of whatever swill is on sale that week.
I make it about 1.5% ABV with 5 gallons or 3.0% with 2.5 gallons (about the lowest ABV that could be called a beer). I wouldn't add sugar to increase the ABV with a hopped extract, as this would make a very thin, dry, unbalanced liquid. (I wouldn't call it a beer.)
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I'd say at least add some corn sugar to get the alcohol up. This was how I made my first batch. While it wasn't as good as batches I've made with all malt, it still had a lot more flavor then any American light beer I've tasted.
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Are you bashing this guy?
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=2A9257341E3DF381]YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.[/ame]
Craig is one of the main reasons I got started brewing. I don't think I would have every tried it if I only saw an all grain batch. I watched some all grain brewers on You Tube, and I was overwhelmed. It looked complicated, expensive, required too much space, too much time. Craig's videos helped me see that brewing was something I could do. I've certainly advanced a lot since watching his videos, but I think Craig is a good place to start.
Arkador
Well-Known Member
+1 for not bashing Craigtube. If you are gonna bash Craigtube, then you have to bash Mr. Beer. Both of them have brought people into the hobby, and both make very drinkable beer!
Craig is a guy who has started lots of people brewing. Unfortunately, it only takes a bit more effort to make much better beer, and he seems to eschew that in his process. There are MANY ways to make beer. There are many different beers in the world.
The OP asked if it would be good. To nearly everyone on this forum, no it would not be good. But many of the people here don't drink mass-produced Light Lagers either.
The OP asked if it would be good. To nearly everyone on this forum, no it would not be good. But many of the people here don't drink mass-produced Light Lagers either.
Craigtube sucks.He says he's been brewing for 25 years and thats how he does it!?!To the OP (and everyone who retorted against the craigtube comment) I think HBT is about brewers helping other brewers make "GREAT" beer and helping out the noobies.If you want to make alcohol as cheaply as possible than let me reiterate Wrong forum!
Homercidal, Craig has one video where he uses sugar, and one where he uses a no boil kit plus a can a LME. The next step up would be going to and extract w/ steeping grains and hop additions. I wouldn't call this a bit more work. It adds a minimum of 2 hours to the process. I enjoy it because I can create any kind of beer I want including my own recipes, but I can understand why someone wouldn't want to do the extra work.
One of the things I like about homebrewing is that you can take it to multiple levels. You can get your feet wet with very simple no boil kits. A person can stay at this level as long as they like, and make some pretty good beer. You also have people who will advance up to all-grain. There's also plenty of room in the middle for extracts and partial mashes. If a person is having fun and making beer they like to drink, why attack them? If you don't want to use no-boil kits, don't.
I don't think that it's just about making alcohol as cheap as possible. However, people come with a wide variety of tastes and different size budgets. If someone wants to learn about brewing with a small budget, I don't see what's wrong with helping. Yes, the OP had an idea that most of us didn't think would work and we told him that.
However, cost is a factor that a lot of advanced brewers take into account. It is one of the reasons for going all grain, harvesting yeast, and growing hops.
I don't think Craig is trying to make alcohol as cheap as possible. I think he's trying to create a balance between cost, time, and quality that he is happy with. It may not be be the way you or I would balance those factors, but we don't have to drink his beer either.
One of the things I like about homebrewing is that you can take it to multiple levels. You can get your feet wet with very simple no boil kits. A person can stay at this level as long as they like, and make some pretty good beer. You also have people who will advance up to all-grain. There's also plenty of room in the middle for extracts and partial mashes. If a person is having fun and making beer they like to drink, why attack them? If you don't want to use no-boil kits, don't.
I don't think that it's just about making alcohol as cheap as possible. However, people come with a wide variety of tastes and different size budgets. If someone wants to learn about brewing with a small budget, I don't see what's wrong with helping. Yes, the OP had an idea that most of us didn't think would work and we told him that.
However, cost is a factor that a lot of advanced brewers take into account. It is one of the reasons for going all grain, harvesting yeast, and growing hops.
I don't think Craig is trying to make alcohol as cheap as possible. I think he's trying to create a balance between cost, time, and quality that he is happy with. It may not be be the way you or I would balance those factors, but we don't have to drink his beer either.
It takes me about as long to make a partial mash batch as it does an extract batch. Granted, this comes with years of experience and continuous batches, but still...time is not a huge factor if you want good beer.
You don't have to spend a lot of money, either. All most people have to buy to get started on partial mashing is the fermentation equipment, a bag, a thermometer, and maybe a second pot.
You don't have to spend a lot of money, either. All most people have to buy to get started on partial mashing is the fermentation equipment, a bag, a thermometer, and maybe a second pot.
Regardless, yes...pouring a can into some water, adding yeast and letting it ferment will make beer. You don't even have to bottle. You can drink it flat out of the bucket. It just depends what you want.
Mashing can takes 1-1.5 hours. I don't think there much you can do about that time. It just take time for the enzymes to work. Plus you still have to boil the hops for an hour. What do you gain from the time? Yes you have some extra control over the ratio of fermentable to unfermentable sugars. The control is nice, but so is the cost savings. 5 lbs of grain costs me about half the price of a 3lbs can of LME. Personally, the cost savings is a bigger motivator then the control.
Mashing a small amount of grain only takes 30-60 minutes. I often used to do partial mashes and only mash for 30 minutes, while getting water hot to sparge with. Then that water has to come to a boil. Often people will add their extract after their boil, I would add it as the temp was coming up, usually at about 190°F.
I'm using a smaller amount of water for the mash, so it doesn't take long to heat up, and the rest of my water is getting heated up while I'm doing my mash.
I didn't get great efficiency, but I got tons of flavor from the grain, and it was comparable to the price of buying extract.
Honestly, I don't think it takes that much longer unless you compare it to only using prehopped extract and don't boil for a full hour. And that wouldn't be worth it, in my opinion. As everyone else stated, it's great for people getting into the hobby, but it is not a way to make great beer.
I'm using a smaller amount of water for the mash, so it doesn't take long to heat up, and the rest of my water is getting heated up while I'm doing my mash.
I didn't get great efficiency, but I got tons of flavor from the grain, and it was comparable to the price of buying extract.
Honestly, I don't think it takes that much longer unless you compare it to only using prehopped extract and don't boil for a full hour. And that wouldn't be worth it, in my opinion. As everyone else stated, it's great for people getting into the hobby, but it is not a way to make great beer.
tidehouse
Well-Known Member
Along the lines of OP's idea I was thinking of doing something like this to make 3 gallon batches of session beer. If I were to use 6 lbs of extract for a 5 gallon batch 6 x 3/5 makes 3.6 lbs of extract for a 3 gallon batch which is pretty close to a single can. Plus I could actually do a 3 gallon AG batch with my undersized kettle. Am I way off base with this, it seems pretty straight forward to me.
You are dead on the money. I have made small batches with canned stuff in the past and sometimes in the winter I brew up small AG batches inside so I don't have to freeze my butt off outside.
I'm drinking our first partial mash right now. It's a Magic Hat #9 clone. My wife picked out the recipe. My mash temp. was way off (185F), it hurt the attenuation, but the beer is good.
I still think the no-boil kits make good beer. I don't think it's as much fun, but the beer's good. I personally would rather express myself and create my own beer. My wife like being able to make a good beer by throwing together a no boil kit in 30 minutes. We use a tea kettle to heat just enough water to rinse out the cans. Once we top off with tap water the temperature is perfect for pitching, if it's an ale.
The main thing I don't like about the no-boil kits is that your limited to the styles and flavors that are sold. There's not much room for experimentation.
I've actually thought about mashing 5lbs of grain and adding it to a no-boil kit. Save about $5. At my LHBS grain is about the same price as corn sugar. So I could have a beer for the same price as a corn sugar beer, but with the taste of an all malt beer. But that's probably a little over the top, even for a penny pincher like me.
I still think the no-boil kits make good beer. I don't think it's as much fun, but the beer's good. I personally would rather express myself and create my own beer. My wife like being able to make a good beer by throwing together a no boil kit in 30 minutes. We use a tea kettle to heat just enough water to rinse out the cans. Once we top off with tap water the temperature is perfect for pitching, if it's an ale.
The main thing I don't like about the no-boil kits is that your limited to the styles and flavors that are sold. There's not much room for experimentation.
I've actually thought about mashing 5lbs of grain and adding it to a no-boil kit. Save about $5. At my LHBS grain is about the same price as corn sugar. So I could have a beer for the same price as a corn sugar beer, but with the taste of an all malt beer. But that's probably a little over the top, even for a penny pincher like me.
If your planning on using a no-boil kit, keep in mind that most of them are hopped for 5-6 Gals. of beer. If you use one for 3 gal. the beer will be quite a bit more hoppy for the style. Muntons has some new no-boil kits that come with two cans of hopped malt extract. So I you wanted to boil a half batch, you could use one can instead of two. I've heard some people are using this with their Mr. Beer kits.
I've thought about doing a mini AG batch on the stove. But I think if I'm going to go to the trouble to make beer I want to make full sized batches. I've done partial mashes on the stove, so I see no reason you couldn't do a full mash.
tidehouse
Well-Known Member
I plan on using unhopped extract and adding an ounce or so of random hops for each batch (I'm going to call it SWAG beer if you know what I mean) Anyway what constitutes a "full batch" is pretty relative. I've been mulling over the idea of scaling recipes down this way to try different styles or even dabble in AG without buying new equipment or paying more than 15 bucks to test an unproven recipe.
By "full batch" I just mean 5-6 gal. batches. It's what most homebrew recipes and / or kits are for. I think it's a good idea to experiment with smaller batches. I just don't think it's worth it, for just the idea of saying your going all grain. I've thought about do something similar for experimentation purposes, I just haven't done it yet. So far I've just experimented on 5 gal batches. I like to do a lot of research, before I try something new. I read up on grains and hops to choose which ones I want to use. I then look at how they're used in other recipes (beer styles and amounts) so that I know I'm doing something that isn't way out of wack. This way if the beer doesn't come out great at least it wont be bad.
