Been given a bitter kit - what to add?

[Bozuit]

My first post in the beer section!

Those of you that read the wine and cider section may know that I have recently started making wine as well as a bit of turbo cider. So I know a little bit about fermentation but nothing much specific to beer.

I've just been given a Young's "Brew Buddy" bitter kit. I could just make it according to the instructions but that seems a bit dull.

So what could I add that would make the beer more interesting (bearing in mind I can't afford to buy a lot)? I'm not dead set on bitter exactly, so significant deviations would be OK. Winter is coming so I like the idea of something suitable, almost portery... if that's at all possible just by modifying a basic bitter kit.

Any and all ideas and recommendations are welcome.

 

[Brewmarc]

Im not to familiar with this kit but there are a few things you can do to improve & tweek it to your liking

You can substitute Sugar for DME or LME dark,amber or light whatever you like. :thumb:
or even steep (mash) some malted grains whatever you like straining & adding the liquid,
Boiling the wort with the DME in about a gallon of water (ie the amount of water befor adding cold water to bring it up to brew length) will improve the final product greatly good rolling boil for about 45 mins should do it. Just watch for boil overs :shock:
the kit LME will be pre hopped :thumb: but you could add a few hop cones of your choice for extra hop flavor last 10 mins of the boil or aroma hops just steep after the boil for a few minutes just strain & sparge (rinse) befor adding to the FV, or even dry hop in the FV.
finally you could add 1/2 a crushed campden tablet to the water to get rid of chlorine befor adding.
:

 

[Bozuit]

Thank you for the advice, although I am a little confused by it :P

LME and DME = light malt extract and dark malt extract? And is that just a direct substitution? I've heard you can get "chocolate malt" - is it possible to get this in extract form? I don't really know what goes into beer, what goes with what, etc. So I ideally need specific directions, if possible.

I did read to remove the chlorine from the water with CTs, so I'll be doing that.

 

[Moley]

LME and DME = light malt extract and dark malt extract?

These abbreviations can sometimes be confusing as they mean different things to different people.

In this context I think Brewmarc meant Liquid Malt Extract or Dried Malt Extract.

It's not quite direct substitution, although frequently close enough. I would substitute 500g of DME or ‘Spraymalt’ for 400g of sugar.

 

[Bozuit]

Thanks for the clarification Moley. You always seem to end up answering my questions :P

OK... let me explain that actually what I have here is a lager kit which will be swapped for probably whatever the best option in Wilkinson is. Originally the only option would have been bitter, but plans have changed so I'll get whatever kit seems best there.

The instructions for the lager recipe say to pour the contents of the kit into the bucket, add 6 pints boiling water, then the sugar (or malt extract), then 33 more pints of cold water to make 5 gallons. To confirm, it would work better to boil the contents of the can with malt extract for 45 minutes with that 6 pints of water? I'm not sure how much water will be left by the end of that though :P

I'm thinking of getting dark malt extract to make the beer more wintery. Does that sound suitable, or would there be a better option? And is there anything else I should use/add/change?

Finally, is it best to store in bottles or a cask (essentially the plastic pressure barrel sold in Wilkinson)? I don't have a cellar to keep it cool in, so I'm not sure how long it would last outside of bottles. But if I can avoid having to get hold of 40+ bottles, I wouldn't mind.

 

[Brewmarc]

Sorry for the abreviations :) as moley says this is what i meant by LME DME :thumb: I would just boil it up with the 6 pints of water as you say, with any additional DME or LME keep stiring to avoid burning the sticky malt on the bottom of the pot. You will lose a bit through evaporation maybe a pint or two, simply adjust with additional water when topping up, the quality will be greatly improved by boiling. dark malt extract is fine for a wintery ale :thumb: you dont have to stick to the sugested aditional sugar or DME/LME increasing or decresing for higher or lower alcohol content, there may be a forum calculator for this
One thing i forgot to mention is the yeast :) the packet stuck to the can will be fine but a good quality dry or Liquid yeast such as Wyeast will make a big difference aswell. it all adds up :party:

Personally I think beer is far better stored in bottles there are loads of debates on the forum about this, but beer is fine in a pressure keg & will keep well. You will need to top up with Co2 as you empty the keg.
: Marc.

 

[Bozuit]

I'll probably go with bottles then as I don't want to be fiddling about with CO2 and then I can give some away (I'm generous like that).

It looks like the yeast comes in the can so I can't do much about that unfortunately.

Thanks for your help. We'll see how it goes

 

[Brewmarc]

Good luck with it :