Adding hops to a Brewferm kit

[Huw]

Hi all,

I've just started a Brewferm Grand Cru kit. Total volume is meant to be 9 litres when adding 500g sugar. I have added 500g light spray malt and 1 kg beer enhancer then made the volume up to 13.5 litres ie: the starting gravity is the same as with 500g/9 litres. I have done this with an Abdij kit too but I notice it's a bit sweet - nice but could be better. It occurred to me earlier that I am adding malt but no extra hops which is perhaps why my efforts are a bit sweet. My question is how do I go about balancing the extra malt with hops? I have read about making hops tea to add to the starting wort and dry hopping but to be honest I'm out of my depth. I don't think I need to boil the whole lot with hops do I?

Thanks, Huw.

 

[shearclass]

I wouldn't bother. Brewferm kits probably best made to instructions.

Regarding hops, to add bitterness you need to boil them for an hour +, making hop teas or adding them direct to the brew will not add any bitterness at all.

 

[Huw]

I wouldn't bother. Brewferm kits probably best made to instructions.

Regarding hops, to add bitterness you need to boil them for an hour +, making hop teas or adding them direct to the brew will not add any bitterness at all.

I think you're right about following the instructions - my reasoning was that 9 litres isn't a lot and I could calculate the extra sugar required (didn't think of the hops until too late!).

If I stick with this habit of butchering Brewferms best could I boil hops in water for an hour or so and add that as part of my initial water volume next time?

In the meantime and in the name of experimentation I have just ordered some Saaz hop pellets to try dry hopping in my fermenter before bottling - do I just add them directly or in a bag?

I also stumbled across some hop extract that claims to add bitterness without the need for boiling. As I have already got this Grand Cru started I may add a small volume of the latter to my fermenter to see what happens. I can't really find any instructions for it's use - has anybody tried it?

Thanks, Huw.

 

[mmaguy41]

just buy two kits and double it up

 

[Huw]

just buy two kits and double it up

Sounds like a better and no more expensive way than my random recipe.

 

[mmaguy41]

brewferm kits are usually only about 10 quid aswell so it wont be massively expensive and itll make that conditioning time more worthwhile. brewferm also do hop aroma tablets for use with their kits, that wont help the bitterness though if thats what you were after

 

[Huw]

brewferm kits are usually only about 10 quid aswell so it wont be massively expensive and itll make that conditioning time more worthwhile. brewferm also do hop aroma tablets for use with their kits, that wont help the bitterness though if thats what you were after

Indeed. I saw the Brewferm hop aroma tablets but with hindsight I think it's bitterness my extra malt versions require. I made a standard version of Ambiorix and even that could have done with it. I'm still working out what I like.

 

[Duxuk]

By the time you've doctored a kit by boiling hops you have done all the work needed for an extract brew. I'm sure you'll find plenty of recipes and advice on the forum.
I brew using extract. I simply could not find the space to do an AG, that's my excuse. With a little experimentation I can now produce a brew which will be to my taste and probasbly be cheaper than a kit. I'm hoping to do one this afternoon with a single hop, Cascade. I'll make 15litres at high 1050s OG and good and hoppy.
The tasks will be to dissolve the extract plus a bit of sugar to up the OG. Meanwhile I'll steep some crushed crystal at 66C and boil the hops in my biggest pan, some for 60 min, some for 20 and some for 5. I'll sparge the hops and crystal through a colinder. Make it up to the volume and leave it to cool before adding the yeast. I think I'll chuck a handfull of dry hops in too after a couple of days fermentation to experience the full flavour spectrum of Cascade.
You don't have to use crushed crystal which makes thing even simpler.
A lot of the AG recipes work well like this by just replacing the malt with extract and boiling the hops in water only. I find the extract foams when you boil it so I don't put any in with the hops to avoid it boiling over. :

 

[Huw]

By the time you've doctored a kit by boiling hops you have done all the work needed for an extract brew. I'm sure you'll find plenty of recipes and advice on the forum.
I brew using extract. I simply could not find the space to do an AG, that's my excuse. With a little experimentation I can now produce a brew which will be to my taste and probasbly be cheaper than a kit. I'm hoping to do one this afternoon with a single hop, Cascade. I'll make 15litres at high 1050s OG and good and hoppy.
The tasks will be to dissolve the extract plus a bit of sugar to up the OG. Meanwhile I'll steep some crushed crystal at 66C and boil the hops in my biggest pan, some for 60 min, some for 20 and some for 5. I'll sparge the hops and crystal through a colinder. Make it up to the volume and leave it to cool before adding the yeast. I think I'll chuck a handfull of dry hops in too after a couple of days fermentation to experience the full flavour spectrum of Cascade.
You don't have to use crushed crystal which makes thing even simpler.
A lot of the AG recipes work well like this by just replacing the malt with extract and boiling the hops in water only. I find the extract foams when you boil it so I don't put any in with the hops to avoid it boiling over. :

I didn't realise I could boil the hops in water and use that as the initial brewing water - I have avoided anything more involved than kit brewing as a result. With respect to the current Grand Cru kit - could I boil some hops (small volume) and add that now? I would obviously have to let it cool but it might be a better way than adding hop extract.

Thanks, Huw.

 

[Duxuk]

That's not something I've tried. The only problem might be that your extraction rate would be low with a small volume of water though I supose if you gave it a 90 minute boil it might help.
You would also need to use some hot water to rinse the hops through to get the flavour out so you may increase your volume rather a lot. You could always put this one down to experience and next time either do an extract brew or doctor a kit with boiled hops.
I went to Leyland Homebrew to get my malt extract today. The boss was explaining to a customer how to do an extract brew, by remarkable coincidence. Earwiging I discovered that he was reccomending boiling the hops in a similar way to the way I do it. He definately said that you don't need to boil the extract because it has done it's work already. Which I think meant that the extract would be unchanged by boiling so it's not neccesary.
I haven't started my brew cos my biggest pan (which is only 8 litres) was at work. I only had a 4 ish litre pressure cooker. I suppose the bigger the pan the better the extraction rate, so I'll try to get on with it tomorrow.

 

[jonnymorris]

He definately said that you don't need to boil the extract because it has done it's work already. Which I think meant that the extract would be unchanged by boiling so it's not neccesary.

I may be wrong but I thought DME was essentially the wort that has been extracted from the grains in the mash tun and subsequently dried. If so, it needs to be boiled (along with the hops) to break down unwanted proteins etc.

 

[Duxuk]

That might be a good point. I brewed yesterday and brought the extract to a boil to see if I could put the hops in it to boil. It rose up the pan like a foam so I took it off the stove and put it in the FV. OK it had had a little boil but I have never had any problem like hazy beer when I have just dissolved the extract in hot, not boiling water. Maybe the heat of drying the extract is enough to destroy proteins?????

 

[jonnymorris]

Have a read of John Palmer's How to Brew, available at www.howtobrew.com Section 1 Chapter 7. In short, you need to boil your DME to get rid of proteins etc.

 

[Huw]

A quick update - notwithstanding I have gone about this the wrong way I thought it might help to let you know what I'm doing to mend it.

My 57ml bottle of isomerised hop extract and Saaz pellets arrived today. I have found some guidance on the use of hop extract but it seems a little sketchy. On the bottle it says sufficient for 90 litres of beer ie: 0.63ml per litre if you didn't do any other maths or experimentation.

I can't find any reliable method of calculating so I took 500ml of 8 week bottled Brewferm triple that I'd over sugared as with the current Grand Cru. I added 0.25ml and could tell I'd done something but not a lot - so I put in another 0.25ml and now there's a definite edge to it - also a bitter aftertaste that I'm undecided on. Either way definitely more easy in the mouth than the over sweet original. Interestingly way more head and lacing on the glass too.

The above dilution is 1ml per litre and I have 13.5 litres of Grand Cru to sort out. I'm nervous about adding 1ml per litre as that aftertaste might get too much. 0.5ml per litre was a bit bland so in fact I will likely go with ~0.65ml per litre which is ~9ml to add to my fermenter.

The extract turns white on addition to the beer but clears on stirring. The process of tasting is helping me work out what I like and it still tastes a bit thin I think. I'm going to add some Saaz pellets to my fermenter for a a couple of weeks - any tips on how much to use? I was going to use a hop bag to keep the pellet mess in one place.

Thanks for all the help to date.

 

[Huw]

Couldn't wait (I've been drinking my wares).

I have a added 8.5ml hop extract and 50g Saaz pellets (no bag) to my fermenter. I started it almost a week ago so it's quiet in there now and it'll be in there another 2 weeks yet.

To summarise my brew is as follows:

Brewferm Grand Cru kit, 500g light DME, 1000g brew enhancer (DME and sugar), 8.5ml hop extract, 50g dry hop Saaz pellets and 13.5 litres water instead of the prescribed 9.0 litres. Clearly it will taste nothing like Brewferm intended but I'm enjoying myself.

I've just added 0.5ml hop extract to 500ml Brewferm Abdij (again I over sugared and increased volume of that too) and it really works to knock the sweet edge off it. Definitely worth a punt if you want hops/bitterness without boiling or to modify a finished beer but I am no connoisseur.

 

[Huw]

I still haven't bottled this - apathy has got the better of me. I decided to sterilize a jug and try it from the fermenter. I seived it as there were hops floating about and (forgive me) gave it some gas in our Sodastream. It was like pop so I took a fork to it and got rid of some bubbles and against all odds it's really good. How great is making your own beer!!