Need help with next brew

[wjbunton]

After much lurking and researching, here's my first post.

I brewed up my first batch a week ago and am looking ahead to brewing my next batch. I got a supply kit for Christmas along with an extract kit. Only thing is I got two of the same extract kits. The extract kit is the Autumn Amber Ale from Midwest.

Here's what it includes:

6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract
2 oz. Special B
8 oz. Crystal 80L
2 oz. Roasted Barley specialty grains
1 oz. Hallertau
1 oz. Fuggle pellet hops
yeast
priming sugar
and a grain bag

I used the yeast from both kits for my first batch as I had read that more yeast will be beneficial to my brew. So now I have all of the above minus the yeast. I would like to use these ingredients to make my next brew, but would also like to have a different beer. Is there any way that I could add/subtract ingredients to come up with a different beer? My general preference is for a more malty full bodied beer, from an amber to a stout/porter. So what should I do?

As far as my first batch, the brew day went quite well, only one boil-over and mild complaint from SWMBO about the smell. The cool-down in the bathtub went better than expected as I got down to about 100 degrees in 20 minutes then added my cold top-off water to get lower, before pitching. Wasn't able to get an OG since I didn't have a vessel to test in, but I assume it would be correct since I used the kit. Fermentation was going strong when I first checked it after 24 hours and continued bubbling for another couple days. My kit was missing the thermometer for the bucket, one is on the way thanks to Midwest for resolving that, so I am not sure the temp it is at but I keep my apartment at 66 degrees. Only thing that I am not sure about is that it is in my furnace room, only space I could use, so it may be a couple degrees higher in there when it is running.

I am quite excited to get this beer bottled and have a taste, but I will be letting it ferment for 2 more weeks and then bottling to condition for another 3 weeks. Although, I will likely be pulling a few after 2 weeks for the Super Bowl when I have some friends over. Need to get going on some store bought beers since I am still about 24 bottles short of what I need, not a problem that I mind though.

 

[brewkinger]

I will take a shot at this...

In my honest opinion, if a bigger maltier beer is what you desire (like a porter or stout) you might be better off just getting a kit for that.

As far as the ingredients that you have, to brew somthing a little darker, perhaps you could throw in 6 to 8 ounces of a chocolate malt to steep (along with the other grains) and that will bump up the color a bit.
Then just use a different yeast than you used for the other batch.
I brewed the same kit twice when I started and used Nottingham dry for one and Wyeast 1056 for the other and was VERY pleased with the differences in the two beers.

 

[gelatin]

Turning that into a stout/porter is pretty easy. Here's what I think is the quickest and easiest take on this which will result in a fairly malty/sweet porter with some body.

Buy 8oz chocolate malt, 4oz black malt, and 2lbs dark dry malt extract.

Use everything from the initial recipe. Add chocolate and black malt to steep. Use both Fuggles and Hallertau hops at the start of the boil. Add half the LME and all the DME 10 minutes from boil end.

 

[Jayhem]

Nothing to add that hasn't been already on your recipe but I will say this....

If your fermenter is sitting in a room that is 66 degrees F...that is TOO warm!

Beer generates heat as it ferments (exo-thermic) and becomes 5-8 degrees warmer than ambient air! What this means is that for most ales you need the AIR TEMP where you fermenter is to be 58-60F for the first few days of fermentation and then slowly the room temp can come up to about 65F. This may mean starting the beer in a basement or heated garage and then finishing it in the living space where it's warmer.

Your beer isn't ruined but I can tell you from experience that beer fermented cooler tastes MUCH better! Ale yeast create some nasty byproducts if they ferment above about 65-68F

 

[peterj]

I agree with gelatin that you can easily turn that into a good stout recipe. I wouldn't use dark malt extract though. It is better to get all of your flavor and color from fresh grain. Just add 8 oz chocolate malt and 8 oz of roasted barley. Or you could use black malt. Or you could use all three. You just need some roasted grains in there to give it that roasty stout flavor and color. You could also add 1 lb of lactose at flameout and make it a milk stout if you wanted. But I also agree with gelatin about adding all the hops at 60 min.

On a seperate note, I'm guessing these kits came with dry yeast. You really don't need to pitch 2 packets of dry yeast into a moderate gravity beer. That is probably overpitching which can have detrimental effects on the beer not to mention it is a waste of money. You should use a pitching rate calculator (like this: http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html) to determine the correct amount to pitch. Pitching too much or too little yeast can lead to off flavors and other bad outcomes. If you're using dry yeast, 1 pack in 5 gallons will usually be the right amount. Once you start getting into the high gravity beers (like 1.080 or above) you may want to start thinking about 2 packs.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: I didn't see Jayhem's post before I posted. +1 to everything he said. Look into a swamp cooler setup. It's really easy to regulate temperature that way.

 

[freisste]

You may also want to add something for a little extra body. I have had good luck with 4oz of maltodextrine in a 5 gal batch.

 

[wjbunton]

Thanks for some of the suggestions.

As far as the fermentation temperature goes, I know it should be cooler, but it is kind of what I am limited too, by my apartment and girlfriend.

I will try to come up with what I am going to do for the recipe sometime this week. Need to study for a law exam tonight, but as soon as I have time I will figure it out.

 

[Channel66]

Thanks for some of the suggestions.

As far as the fermentation temperature goes, I know it should be cooler, but it is kind of what I am limited too, by my apartment and girlfriend..

Look up swamp cooler using the search feature here. Your beer will thank you

 

[peterj]

This is my swamp cooler. Got the bucket from Costco for really cheap. Just put frozen water bottles in it and monitor the temp of the water. I assume the beer is pretty close to the same temp as the water. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

 

[wjbunton]

Well my stickon thermometer came in tonight, so its on and reading 66 degrees, so for now it is ok. I know that some of the most aggressive fermentation has ended and it may have been warmer initially, but I am comfortable with this for now, at least until I can afford/have room for a better setup.

As an aside, the folks at Midwest Supplies generously included a dial thermometer with the stick on one for the mistake of it not being in the kit. This was quite a gesture, I will certainly be relying on them for the majority of my purchases since they went above and beyond.

 

[wjbunton]

Alright, I now have some time to think about all of this, and just found the awesome calculator over at Brewer's Friend, which really helps me to visualize how all the ingredients come together.

Here is the recipe I came up with: Recipe

If you don't want to click over, I am using all the ingredients from the Autumn Amber and adding 3 lb. Dark DME and 8 oz. Chocolate Malt. All the hops will go in for full boil and I'll use US-56 for the yeast. This should hopefully make it a nice porter.

These are the numbers it gives me:

OG: 1.065
FG: 1.018
ABV: 6.11%
IBU: 31.87
SRM: 29.05

What do you guys think?

 

[peterj]

I think if you have yeast that says US-56 on it you should throw it away! They changed the name to US-05 in like 2007 or 2008 I think. I believe Wyeast got upset because the name was too similar to their Chico strain 1056. But the recipe looks good to me. Should be a great beer!

 

[wjbunton]

Thanks for the encouragement, and actually the yeast was just something I saw one Brewer's Friend, thought it was something else, but I will be getting something new and fresh. Possibly the Safbrew S-33, any hints as to how to pick a yeast?

 

[peterj]

Your yeast will have a HUGE impact on the flavor of your finished beer so you want to pick a yeast that matches the style you are trying to brew. S-33 is a Belgianish strain so it's going to end up with some esters and phenols (which give you the banana and clove flavors you get in Belgian beers) which isn't really what you're going for in a porter. I would stick with dry yeast because it is way easier than having to make a starter with liquid yeast. And there are plenty of good dry yeast options out there. This is a good article on choosing yeasts: http://byo.com/stories/article/indices/58-yeast/889-how-to-choose-the-best-yeast.

For this beer, I would stick with an American or English strain. My first choice would probably be Nottingham (pretty clean English strain when fermented around 65F or less), then US-05 (very clean American strain, I would use this instead of Notty if you can't keep the fermentation under 68F), then S-04 (English, not as clean or attenuative as Notty). By clean I mean it has lower ester production and not many flavors from the yeast.

 

[RM-MN]

I have a challenge for you. You've brewed the first kit, the Autumn Amber. Brew the second one with no additions or changes and see if you can make it taste the same as the first. It sounds so simple but it can be very difficult as slight changes you didn't even notice making will change how your beer turns out. Ask the experienced ones on here how easy it is to make beer exactly like Budweiser. It's a simple beer but making it the same as Budweiser and doing it over and over is very difficult.

 

[Channel66]

I have a challenge for you. You've brewed the first kit, the Autumn Amber. Brew the second one with no additions or changes and see if you can make it taste the same as the first. It sounds so simple but it can be very difficult as slight changes you didn't even notice making will change how your beer turns out. Ask the experienced ones on here how easy it is to make beer exactly like Budweiser. It's a simple beer but making it the same as Budweiser and doing it over and over is very difficult.

A light lager line Budweiser is one of the toughest to replicate over and over.

I like this idea. I second the challenge.

 

[wjbunton]

I do like the challenge, but I would really like to brew a different beer next. Maybe my brew after the porter will be the autumn amber it again. Also, I would like to brew the same day I bottle and don't want to be stuck with 10 gallons of the amber if it ends up being a brew I don't prefer.

 

[wjbunton]

Ok, it's time now that I am thinking about what more equipment I would like to get. So far I have everything that comes with a standard kit plus a few extras.

I have:
Primary Bucket and lid
Bottling Bucket
5 gal SS kettle
Auto siphon
Bottling Wand
Bottle Brush
S type air lock
Bottle tree
Sulfiter for bottle sanitizing
dial therm
hydrometer and test jar


I know I should get something to manage ferm temps like a swamp cooler, and I don't think I need a wort chiller yet as I got it cold fast with the bathtub. So what would be the best additions to my gear to produce better beer? Oh and I will only be doing extract brewing for at least the next year, until I have a proper house.