Thoughts on improving a Muntons Brown Ale kit

[guitarguy6]

I typically am an all grain brewer but I want to brew a few simple kits to see what quality of beer they'd make. I'd also like to see what options are available for improving them. I grabbed a Muntons Brown Ale kit and was thinking of adding 1KG of DME (not decided on amber or dark yet) and boiling it for 15min with an ounce of either saaz or cascade. I'm also thinking of using Lallemand Windows Ale yeast as I've used on all grain brown recipes in the past and liked it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[guitarguy6]

So I was thinking instead of just adding DME to the muntons kit I would BIAB 2lb 2row, 3.2oz crystal 60, and 1oz chocolate. I'd steep in 3-4 liters of water until iodine test showed conversion was complete. I'd boil with 3 more liters of RO water and add at 60min .5oz saaz and add .5oz saaz at flame out. Then I'd transfer to carboy, add kit extract, top off with RO water to 23L and use the british ale yeast fermenting at 19C. Am I overdoing it here or is this worth trying?

 

[guitarguy6]

I did end up making the kit with what I mentioned above but pitched Wyeast British Ale 1098. I made a 21L batch and without adding DME or LME I measured an OG of 1.046 which is right around what I was aiming for. After everything was mixed the wort tasted good but I found it a touch on the sweet side. Interested to see how this turns out.

 

[uncleleon]

Try a little English brown malt or crystal rye next time.

 

[guitarguy6]

Try a little English brown malt or crystal rye next time.

Unfortunately none of my LHBS carry those. I'll see if I can find it online for a decent price. Any particular hops you'd recommend?

 

[Calder]

I typically am an all grain brewer but I want to brew a few simple kits to see what quality of beer they'd make. I'd also like to see what options are available for improving them. I grabbed a Muntons Brown Ale kit and was thinking of adding 1KG of DME (not decided on amber or dark yet) and boiling it for 15min with an ounce of either saaz or cascade. I'm also thinking of using Lallemand Windows Ale yeast as I've used on all grain brown recipes in the past and liked it. Any suggestions?

Thanks

So I was thinking instead of just adding DME to the muntons kit I would BIAB 2lb 2row, 3.2oz crystal 60, and 1oz chocolate. I'd steep in 3-4 liters of water until iodine test showed conversion was complete. I'd boil with 3 more liters of RO water and add at 60min .5oz saaz and add .5oz saaz at flame out. Then I'd transfer to carboy, add kit extract, top off with RO water to 23L and use the british ale yeast fermenting at 19C. Am I overdoing it here or is this worth trying?

How do all these changes/additions help you to understand what quality of beer kits produce.

I'd be doing the same, trying to 'improve' them, but you did say "I want to brew a few simple kits to see what quality of beer they'd make".

 

[Calder]

Unfortunately none of my LHBS carry those. I'll see if I can find it online for a decent price.

I was looking earlier today. Both seem reasonable at Ritebrew.

....... order 10 lbs and you get 20 cents a pound off (that's a lot of crystal). Get order to $75 and you get $5 off (not much, but it all helps).

 

[kh54s10]

I agree with Calder. You say you want to see what quality an extract kit gives you then you modify it to a pretty big extent????

From what you have proposed doing, you will have no idea at all of what a kit can produce.

I did Northern Brewer kits when I started, which IMO are a far cry better than the canned extract kits, I made no changes and they produced great beers. I continue to use the recipes as a starting point for my own versions. Do no change the recipes to a great extent and expect to learn anything of importance. A small change may tell you something. A large change is just a large change.

 

[guitarguy6]

I agree with Calder. You say you want to see what quality an extract kit gives you then you modify it to a pretty big extent????

From what you have proposed doing, you will have no idea at all of what a kit can produce.

I did Northern Brewer kits when I started, which IMO are a far cry better than the canned extract kits, I made no changes and they produced great beers. I continue to use the recipes as a starting point for my own versions. Do no change the recipes to a great extent and expect to learn anything of importance. A small change may tell you something. A large change is just a large change.

You guys are right in the fact that I'm changing the recipe way to much. What I should have done is brewed the kit as per instructions but only add enough water to hit an OG of about 1.045 and then after tasting it try to determine how to "improve" the kit. I brew all grain and design my own recipes however I'm trying to figure out how to get some friends that are interested in starting to brew being able to make good beer easily. Perhaps I should just try adding dry or liquid malt extract to the kits for friends who are looking for a very easy way to make decent homebrew. For the others who want to make a good beer with a bit more effort I could make my own kits with lme or dme and steeping grains. I think I got carried away as I have so many ingredients on hand and like experimenting with them. I currently have around 250lb of grain on hand and 17lb or so of hops. Do any Canadian online shops sell DME or LME in bulk? Lets say 50lb or so at a decent price?

 

[uncleleon]

Unfortunately none of my LHBS carry those. I'll see if I can find it online for a decent price. Any particular hops you'd recommend?

I'm super in UK Phoenix for all my English styles now! Can't go wrong with EKGs either.