is this a crazy idea? (combining two kits)

[FreeLordBrewing]

using 2 pre-assembled extract kits to hit a higher gravity??

What If i took 2 IPA kits (say from brewers best) following the steps lined out in the directions but just doubling the contents. Would this yield too high of a gravity?? and would you adjust any of the time lengths for the steep or boiling process?? I will be doing a 5 gallon batch.

I would also be getting a IPA style yeast from Wyeast and performing a starter for sure!! and making sure to aerate the wort very well!!

2 weeks in primary 2 weeks in secondary (also dry hopping).

and then into the keg. any advice, input, or criticism is welcomed thanks in advance - Shawn

 

[Brewnoob1]

5 gallon batch with 2 kits worth of stuff in it? Hmm, that sounds pretty extreme if you ask me....

Reading that instantly put a song into my head.....He's going the distance......He's going for SPEEEEEEEEEED.....

 

[mcarb]

Why don't you just play with the numbers a bit on Beersmith or elsewhere to get what you want, then go with that?

 

[ajm163]

i think 2 full kits would get your gravity too high.... if you wanted to beef it up a bit maybe 2 kits and 7.5 gallons

 

[unionrdr]

Unless maybe make it 6 gallons? I used 10.5lbs of malt in my Buckeye Burton ale,& got OG1.065 from 6 gallons. So 5 gallons would be around 1.075 or so,just as an example.

 

[Hernando]

Instead of buying two kits and getting double everything. I would say purchase 1 kit, some more extract and maybe a bit more hops. Unless you plan on doing a bigger batch like AJM, Uniondr stated.

 

[unionrdr]

Two can kits are fairly common in Austrailia. 2 cans of cooper's,etc,with hops,sometimes a little DME as well. I used two different cooper's cans with a 3lb bag of plain light DME with hops 28g of ale yeast.
Got that 1.065 down to 1.018. Still have 2 or 3 bottles in the fridge.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Brewers Best makes an Imperial IPA, you could just buy that instead. It'll give you 8-8.5% ABV.

 

[FreeLordBrewing]

hmmm homebeerbrewer seems like an easy route might just do that....all of my batches have always fell below my target F.G. (and my target percent best was a wimpy 4.5%) but might have figured out why with my last batch, as a newbie I havent been areating my wort or making starters for the yeast....things I will do FOR SURE with my next batch!! I just might might create my best batch yet!! I have even purchased some yeast nutrient to help out, and read about the pitching rate from Mr.malty working on obtaining/creating a kegerator and then a corny keg/co2 set up then its on to my bests batch yet thanks all for the great advice!!

 

[beninan]

I do like the idea of two kits but I also think the gravity might be a bit too high. Lets say that one kit gets you an OG of 1.065, doubling that would make it 1.130. My highest wine barely even started that high. If you want to do the two kit idea, maybe scale it up to 7 or 8 gallons. Maybe even do one kit at only 4 gallons or so. That should concentrate the sugars a bit.

Lets throw some numbers out there:
Lets say the OG of a 5 gallon batch of a certain recipe is 1.065
Scaling the water down to 4 gallons would be 1.082
Scaling down to 3.5 gallons would be 1.093 (That's a pretty good number if you ask me, and 3.5 gallons is much easier to deal with than 8 gallons, even 5)

Now lets say you do double that batch of 1.065 OG.
10 gallons would equal 1.065
To make it equal 1.093, you would have to scale it down to 7 gallons.
So you would either need a 10 gallon fermenter, or ferment it in 2 separate fermenters.

Disclaimer: I'm heavily drunk and I may have lost track of what I was thinking about. These numbers were punched into a recipe calculator with only 2-row base malt as the fermentable, so don't blame me if they are way off.

 

[amingo]

Brewers Best makes an Imperial IPA, you could just buy that instead. It'll give you 8-8.5% ABV.

The BB Imperial IPA is a good beer. I dry hopped mine with 2oz of citra hops for 2 weeks and it was delicious after bottle conditioning for 4 weeks.

Another thing to consider is conditioning time for high-gravity beers. Patience is key as they can take well over a month before they're ready to chug.

 

[beninan]

Another thing to consider is conditioning time for high-gravity beers. Patience is key as they can take well over a month before they're ready to chug.

Ah, thats what I wanted to mention. Let it ferment for a month in primary, maybe skip secondary all together, or batch-age it for a couple more months. Id recommend to skip the secondary and just bottle it and age it for a couple months before trying it, maybe longer.

 

[yorkbrew]

Ah, thats what I wanted to mention. Let it ferment for a month in primary, maybe skip secondary all together, or batch-age it for a couple more months. Id recommend to skip the secondary and just bottle it and age it for a couple months before trying it, maybe longer.

They will also need more yeast to ferment. You can get away with pitching one smack pack of Wyeast for a regular sized beer but when you start upping the gravity you will need more than one. Using a starter is always better. If you really want to make an over the top imperial beer I recommend making a similar smaller beer and pitching onto the yeast cake after primary fermentation.

So brew a pale ale at about 1.040 OG then rack your high gravity hop monster on top of that (after you have siphoned to secondary).

 

[Dr_Jeff]

On the Coopers website they have a RIS recipe where they combine 3 kits.

 

[sims_l22]

thats a 10 gallon batch you got going on. You should run it threw the beer software to see what the OG is.

 

[FreeLordBrewing]

thanks for all of the replies!! yes I think I will stick with the imperial IPA kit and reduce the water.

I was considering doing two kits based of my my previous batches never hitting my final gravity. But after punching it into a beer calculator, its obvious that the gravity would be WAY too high!!

my next batch (when I obtain everything) will be my first batch/introduction into kegging. I am currently on the hunt for a suitable mini fridge on craigslist to be used as a kegerator as the one I already have is too small just measured yesterday my budget is close to 75$ so that pretty much rules out a new fridge.

 

[homebeerbrewer]

Look for chest freezers. A small one will hold 3 kegs. You can either put a collar on it, or put a tower on it.

Probably not in your budget, but something to save for...

 

[sweetcell]

1) go to hopville.com (or some other online recipe builder, i'm assuming you don't have beersmith - but if you do use that)
2) plug in your ingredients, batch size, etc.
3) look at the project OG, FG, etc.
4) decide if that's what you want to try. be aware that as you achieve higher OG's, it becomes more challenging to achieve the projected final gravity. you might have to make a bigger starter, or re-pitch yeast, oxygenation becomes more crucial, etc. i guess i'm saying is be careful how high you set your sights - successfully pulling off a 1.075/7.5% ABV is better than a botched 1.120 (which might have been projected at 12% under ideal conditions, but you never get it that high).

 

[FreeLordBrewing]

Look for chest freezers. A small one will hold 3 kegs. You can either put a collar on it, or put a tower on it.

Probably not in your budget, but something to save for...

I have decided on attempting to convert my 2.7 cubic foot magic chef mini fridge in hopes that a converted pin lock keg will fit lol we shall see! here is a link to the build thread

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/ke...-didnt-just-waste-50-00-a-304142/#post3783436

sweetcell I used the hopville beer calculus and realized how high the gravity would be with 2 kits so I am gonna pick up the imperial IPA from brewers best and short the water a little I am deff shooting for a 7%-8% none of my batches at this point have been over 5% although plenty of the kits target was 5+% I blame my "noobie" status on it lol but I have learned what I did wrong on all these past batches so far, and I am only getting smarter (hopefully lol)

 

[sweetcell]

baron, 7-8% is entirely do-able, you shouldn't be scared of trying. it just takes extra patience (and maybe a little yeast/a bigger starter). it's aiming for 10% or higher that starts to become tricky - but not impossible. put your mind to it, follow the right steps and you can do almost anything

 

[FreeLordBrewing]

thanks sweetcell!!

 

[FreeLordBrewing]

The BB Imperial IPA is a good beer. I dry hopped mine with 2oz of citra hops for 2 weeks and it was delicious after bottle conditioning for 4 weeks.

Another thing to consider is conditioning time for high-gravity beers. Patience is key as they can take well over a month before they're ready to chug.

just noticed your from the windy city too!! I wanted to ask how long you fermented in the primary for that Imperial IPA?? what was your end result %?

do you go to the brew and grow to get your supplies??? I'm right down the street and could walk (stumble too ha ha) home

 

[schia]

i did remember watching it on craig tube that he used 2 cans of extract as a substitute to dextrose and i think it worked out pretty well.