NOT adding boiling water to kit

[MyQul]

When brewing kits I've been having problems getting a good fermenting temperature because adding 2L of boiling water to mix the kit and fermentables always makes me way overshoot the ideal 18-21 degree temp and then I find it almost impossible to get the temps back down.

What would happen if I just used 2L room temp water to mix the Spraymalt with, give the FV a really good swirling about to disolve as much as possible then add in the kit extract followed by the rest of the water and yeast?

Wouldn't the yeast find what ever undissolved fermentables there are anyway. And as long as I hit desirable fermenting temp with the room temp water shouldn't everything be ok?

 

[Michael2378]

I was having the same problem I just measured up 5 litres of filtered water and froze it broke it into chunks, once I filled my fermentor I added the ice until I got the desired temp gave it a top it up to my 20l mark gave it a good stir as to not have any cold spots in it and pitched my yeast from there.

 

[MyQul]

I was having the same problem I just measured up 5 litres of filtered water and froze it broke it into chunks, once I filled my fermentor I added the ice until I got the desired temp gave it a top it up to my 20l mark gave it a good stir as to not have any cold spots in it and pitched my yeast from there.

That's a great idea, but I'm not clear on your processes there. So in the FV you added in the your 2L of boiling water to the kit extract and brewing sugar/or spray malt then added the chunks of ice to get desired temp, then topped up to the 20L mark?

 

[bamboy74]

I brewed my first batch of beer on Sunday and had the same problem - I had to let it cool for a few hours before pitching the yeast. For my next batch I am going to put most of the water in the fridge first to chill and then add some ice if needed when I'm topping up the FV. You should maybe try a dry run to figure out the best mix to get the desired temperatures.

 

[Vossy1]

When I used to make kits it was always the spray malt that wouldn't dissolve in cold water, the extract was fine. To that end I used to dissolve the spray malt in a pan with however much water it took, but then cooled that fraction before adding to the rest of the kit. It's a lot easier to cool a few litres in a sink of running cold water than it is to cool 23ltr.

 

[bamboy74]

That's a good tip Vossy although I was told, maybe incorrectly, that you had to use boiling water for the extract to help sanitise it.

 

[calumscott]

The chances of anything living in spraymalt is pretty negligible. After all it's effectively pure sugar and has no moisture.

Regardless, it's an absolute swine to dissolve in cold water. You just need to use as little hot as you can get away with. :thumb:

 

[Vossy1]

It's always best practice to sanitise anything you can, so it'll do no harm boiling the extract, but the extract should be sterile anyway so I never bothered. Have you read this topic, re extract.

 

[bamboy74]

thanks for the link, looks like I'll cut down on the amount of boiling water I use to dissolve the kit.

 

[Robbo]

The instructions for the Coopers Australian Stout I made this morning gives you and alternative of using 2 litres of boiling water or 4 litres of hot tap water to dissolve the additives and wort. I used the hot tap water method.

When i filled the FV upto 23 litres of cold water the temp was 24.6 Celcius.

I'm new to beer brewing and this is my first stout so don't take what I've said as gospel because I have no idea how it is going to turn out.

 

[froidy]

My method is fermentables in the FV first then 2ltr boiling water. Do it the other way round and your dme will clump. Swill it all around and get it mixed up. Add extract (which has been sitting in hot water to soften it up) then fill mostly empty can with boiling water and stir with spoon, get a tea towel (the can is now hot!) and pour the contents into the FV. This ensures you get ALL the malt extract out of the kit, it's very concentrated so you want everything. To get down to pitching temperature just keep cold water in the fridge. I have 4 x 5ltr bottles in the fridge. I firstly went and bought them from the shop (bottled water) and chilled them but once I had used them I just refill with boiled water and keep in the fridge for next brew. Gets my pitching and fermenting temps to 18deg everytime good luck!

 

[froidy]

The instructions for the Coopers Australian Stout I made this morning gives you and alternative of using 2 litres of boiling water or 4 litres of hot tap water to dissolve the additives and wort. I used the hot tap water method.

When i filled the FV upto 23 litres of cold water the temp was 24.6 Celcius.

I'm new to beer brewing and this is my first stout so don't take what I've said as gospel because I have no idea how it is going to turn out.

That pitching temp isn't bad but you would want to get it down between 18-20deg as soon as possible (optimal)

 

[ECLIPSE]

Is there any negative effects with kit brews if you don't use any boiling water? Eg. Does it impact anything in the extract like the breakdown of malts or anything? As my last couple of brews have been made up with pure tap water and a lot of stirring to get everything dissolved.

 

[jonnymorris]

I think its just about getting it all mixed up well so I wouldn't be overly concerned. How did they turn out?

 

[morethanworts]

I have found the seasonal difference in my mains tap water makes all the difference. In winter, I get away with usual kit recommend quantities and I'm pretty near 20C straight away. In early summer this year, even before the real heatwave, I was having to let things stand. A few bottles in the fridge is a good plan, but I definitely prefer to put some boiling water over the kit and fermentables . Even just liquid kits.

 

[anthonyUK]

Is there any negative effects with kit brews if you don't use any boiling water? Eg. Does it impact anything in the extract like the breakdown of malts or anything? As my last couple of brews have been made up with pure tap water and a lot of stirring to get everything dissolved.

When I made kits I think using cold water was better. It may just be perception but I thought less hop aroma was driven off by using cold water.

 

[MyQul]

Is there any negative effects with kit brews if you don't use any boiling water? Eg. Does it impact anything in the extract like the breakdown of malts or anything? As my last couple of brews have been made up with pure tap water and a lot of stirring to get everything dissolved.

When I made kits I think using cold water was better. It may just be perception but I thought less hop aroma was driven off by using cold water.

Well I tried not using boiling water. Things turned out pretty well the spray malt seems to have dissolved ok, (inatially not as good as with boiling water but after about 24 hours seems to have dissolved for the most part) and I got temps down to 22 degree straight away then down to 21 24 hours later with a bit of ice added to the shallow tray I stand my FV in . The only negative effect is that using cold water gives you a false OG reading (mine was 1027) I'm not sure why but obviously you want be able to fine out your exact ABV%. I'm not worried this time as I've done kit+1kg spray malt+250g sugar a coulple of times now and the abv is usually about 4.6/4.7% so that's what I'm expecting again.

Thanks for all the great ideas how to get my pitching temp down - will have a go at one or two of them next brew :thumb:

 

[froidy]

Is there any negative effects with kit brews if you don't use any boiling water? Eg. Does it impact anything in the extract like the breakdown of malts or anything? As my last couple of brews have been made up with pure tap water and a lot of stirring to get everything dissolved.

I like to use boiling water but I have also used hot water without a problem, I guess as long as you get everything mixed together and get to the right pitching temp it wouldn't matter what you use boiling does seem to get the dried malt extract dissolved better for me

 

[Robbo]

The instructions for the Coopers Australian Stout I made this morning gives you and alternative of using 2 litres of boiling water or 4 litres of hot tap water to dissolve the additives and wort. I used the hot tap water method.

When i filled the FV upto 23 litres of cold water the temp was 24.6 Celcius.

I'm new to beer brewing and this is my first stout so don't take what I've said as gospel because I have no idea how it is going to turn out.

That pitching temp isn't bad but you would want to get it down between 18-20deg as soon as possible (optimal)

The instructions state the temp is ok between 21 and 27c before pitching the yeast. But I'd much prefer to go off the advice of experienced people.

I have another two stout kits so I'll make sure the temp is around 18 to 20c, I don't want to stress my yeasties


Thanks Froidy

 

[froidy]

The instructions for the Coopers Australian Stout I made this morning gives you and alternative of using 2 litres of boiling water or 4 litres of hot tap water to dissolve the additives and wort. I used the hot tap water method.

When i filled the FV upto 23 litres of cold water the temp was 24.6 Celcius.

I'm new to beer brewing and this is my first stout so don't take what I've said as gospel because I have no idea how it is going to turn out.

That pitching temp isn't bad but you would want to get it down between 18-20deg as soon as possible (optimal)

The instructions state the temp is ok between 21 and 27c before pitching the yeast. But I'd much prefer to go off the advice of experienced people.

I have another two stout kits so I'll make sure the temp is around 18 to 20c, I don't want to stress my yeasties


Thanks Froidy

No worries at all, I'm still learning myself every day, this forum is great! You can definitely pitch at anything up to 27deg and even ferment at that as well but from experience I know you will get 'off' flavours from anything over 22deg :) between 18 and 21 works great for me and my mates love it that have shunned home brew in the past!