BenTown
Member
Hi All!
I am just making my first batch of home brew - Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager. I have been trying to find info in general and on this one and can't seem to anywhere! I can't wait to try it once conditioned. I even bought myself 3 dozen glass swing tops to make cracking that first badboy a real nice experience!
Anyway.. I have a couple of questions about this beer and brewing in general.
Specific: I forgot to take OG readings and I was wondering if anyone who bought this kit knew what the ABV was once finished or the average SG before bottling? It was made from the Copper Tun starter brewery so I added 1kg of enhancer and beer finings 48hours before bottling. Then carbonation drops at the bottling stage (2 per 750 ml bottle). Also does adding finings remove the yeast, therefore mean the carbonation drops wont be digested?
General: I want to learn how to make delicious beers, ales, summer lagers, and how to effectively enhance kits. Currently I'm not in a position (time-, space- and equipment-wise) to do all my own grain and spend hours on it so kind of need to stick to kits with simple mods. Are there any simple ways to enhance kits or customise them - such as just adding dry hops to the fermentor, or will adding honey give an ale a sweeter honey-ish taste? How can I enhance a kit to make a nice thick wintery stout to warm the cockles.. Things like that.. Base don that I only have the starter kit (1 fermentor, 3 dozen bottles) so secondary fermentor conditioning might not be an option.
I have read many threads here and there seems to be a bit of animosity towards those looking to make a higher ABV brew. I know beer is much, much more than ABV. But there are a lot of reasons to make a high ABV brew, especially the challenge of making a tasty one! Also maybe a batch of devastating monster beer to keep at the back of the cupboard and crack out for stupid fun - especially when someone claims to be a 'hard' when it comes to beer. Either way, do you guys have any advice of kits that require not much more than 'kit beer effort' that I can add to to achieve something like that. Would using 2 kits in one 23 litre fermentation achieve this? Or add more dextrose, enhancer pack(s), honey, etc?
Like I say, I am very new to this, but I already feel hooked! I don't want to make enemies or annoy people with high ABV questions. It's a part of the fun and experimentation for me - i dont want shed loads of different beers all 10% abv. But from time to time, spontaneously cracking out a 7-8%+ monster from the depths of the pantry, almost as a challenge with mates, and then falling asleep face down in the garden is just stupid and fun. 99% of the time I want nice tasty beer that I am properly proud of... Plus a weighty, strong stout or ale in front of the fire in winter is unbeatable.
Anyway I am babbling, your help would be much appreciated!!
I am just making my first batch of home brew - Mangrove Jack's Munich Lager. I have been trying to find info in general and on this one and can't seem to anywhere! I can't wait to try it once conditioned. I even bought myself 3 dozen glass swing tops to make cracking that first badboy a real nice experience!
Anyway.. I have a couple of questions about this beer and brewing in general.
Specific: I forgot to take OG readings and I was wondering if anyone who bought this kit knew what the ABV was once finished or the average SG before bottling? It was made from the Copper Tun starter brewery so I added 1kg of enhancer and beer finings 48hours before bottling. Then carbonation drops at the bottling stage (2 per 750 ml bottle). Also does adding finings remove the yeast, therefore mean the carbonation drops wont be digested?
General: I want to learn how to make delicious beers, ales, summer lagers, and how to effectively enhance kits. Currently I'm not in a position (time-, space- and equipment-wise) to do all my own grain and spend hours on it so kind of need to stick to kits with simple mods. Are there any simple ways to enhance kits or customise them - such as just adding dry hops to the fermentor, or will adding honey give an ale a sweeter honey-ish taste? How can I enhance a kit to make a nice thick wintery stout to warm the cockles.. Things like that.. Base don that I only have the starter kit (1 fermentor, 3 dozen bottles) so secondary fermentor conditioning might not be an option.
I have read many threads here and there seems to be a bit of animosity towards those looking to make a higher ABV brew. I know beer is much, much more than ABV. But there are a lot of reasons to make a high ABV brew, especially the challenge of making a tasty one! Also maybe a batch of devastating monster beer to keep at the back of the cupboard and crack out for stupid fun - especially when someone claims to be a 'hard' when it comes to beer. Either way, do you guys have any advice of kits that require not much more than 'kit beer effort' that I can add to to achieve something like that. Would using 2 kits in one 23 litre fermentation achieve this? Or add more dextrose, enhancer pack(s), honey, etc?
Like I say, I am very new to this, but I already feel hooked! I don't want to make enemies or annoy people with high ABV questions. It's a part of the fun and experimentation for me - i dont want shed loads of different beers all 10% abv. But from time to time, spontaneously cracking out a 7-8%+ monster from the depths of the pantry, almost as a challenge with mates, and then falling asleep face down in the garden is just stupid and fun. 99% of the time I want nice tasty beer that I am properly proud of... Plus a weighty, strong stout or ale in front of the fire in winter is unbeatable.
Anyway I am babbling, your help would be much appreciated!!
