Better Brew IPA

[OneLoph]

Hi, as a return to brewing after a few years hiatus I plumped first for the Better Brew IPA, my plan is to brew it to the full 23 litres using 850g beer enhancer, 500g light spraymalt , Safale us-05, 30g Cascade dry hop and 150g beer enhancer for carbonation. This will go in a king keg. Anybody done this similarly? Any thoughts or suggestions? Cheers

 

[OneLoph]

Started this off yesterday, made up the wort to 21.5l with the 2.1kg kit. 1kg youngs beer enhancer and 0.5kg Muntons light dme, OG 1.054 so hopefully looking at an ABV of 5.8%. Aerated with aquarium pump for 30 mins and pitched 11g of US-05 at 20c. Going to dry hop with 40g of cascade pellets possibly in the king keg??? And prime with 120g sugar. Is this too much? Instructions say 85g for a PB.

 

[OneLoph]

36 hours after pitching a nice inch and a half thick kraussen has formed, regular airlock activity, now the waiting game

 

[The Baron]

Sounds good to me just maybe the carbonation may be a little high for a PB as they are not renowned for holding higher than normal pressure so may vent off but thats ok.
Good Luck on your return

 

[OneLoph]

Cheers Baron, yeah plugged my numbers in and for 2.2 volumes it recommended 117g sugar, might dial it back a bit to 100g, giving approx 2.0.

 

[OneLoph]

Update, 14 days in the FV, FG readings on 2 consecutive days were both 1.009, so 5.9% before priming, methinks it's done, dry hopped with 40g cascade pellets in a stertilsed muslin bag, I'll give them 5 or 6 days, quick cold crash to help us05 drop and then keg next weekend with 100g good old tate and lyle. Sample from trial jar showing great promise, slight hoppiness and quite bitter, the bitterness should mellow during conditioning and hoppiness will improve with the dry hop. So far, so good. Would definitely recommend this kit as a first time brew for someone.

 

[OneLoph]

Another update. Checked SG on Wednesday and Thursday, was 1.008, so cold crashed for 48hrs then into the king keg with 100g table sugar. Resisted the urge to sample, want a, hopefully, pleasant surprise. It's going to be a long couple of weeks.

 

[OneLoph]

17 days in the PB, 12 days at 20c 5 days at 12c. Lovely light colour, holds its head all the way down with some lacing, slightly bitter but eminently drinkable, nice touch of grapefruit / citrus from the cascade, give it another 2 or 3 weeks and it should be spot on (if I leave it alone that long). Well done better Brew, outstanding for the price

 

[G-Town Brewer]

17 days in the PB, 12 days at 20c 5 days at 12c. Lovely light colour, holds its head all the way down with some lacing, slightly bitter but eminently drinkable, nice touch of grapefruit / citrus from the cascade, give it another 2 or 3 weeks and it should be spot on (if I leave it alone that long). Well done better Brew, outstanding for the price

Looks and sounds like a success. I love a pint from my KK, but generally only use it when the weather is cooler as I've nowhere to keep it cool.

 

[OneLoph]

It's a pain keeping it close to cellar temps but I use the wet t-shirt method with the occasional lump of ice or cool blocks, generally keeps it around 11-15c. Just a pita with maintenance. Need a kegerartor really but haven't got the space. Maybe one day........