Craftsman / Brupaks help please

[NinjaNeil]

Sorry guys and girls, I need some help, I have been using the liquid kits for a few years now (mainly the woodforde’s kits and to honest they are actually really very good, I have learnt over the years that the longer you brew the clearer and nicer the brew is. I just need to figure out how to keep Dad and farther-in-law away when the bottles are ready to drink.

After talking to a now ex work mate I have decided to up the game and brought a Brupaks kit, consisting of a dry pack and two malt extract tins. I explained to the really nice chap in the shop that I want to up my game a bit, and I only have kitchen stuff at my disposal, and like the Oakham beer flavours. So he sold me the dry pack and two tins informing me that the only boiling I need to do is to heat the cans up so the malt can flow out into the bucket. The dry pack: http://www.goodlifehomebrew.com/gh/...gh/craftsman-ingredient-pack-london-bitter-gh

Just got home and very excitedly opened the pack with the instructions and it says I need to boil the grains for 30mins and sieve into a boiler, heat to boiling Add the hops and boil for a minimum of 40 mins (my simplified version of the instructions)

Have I been sold the wrong kit or can some really nice person let me know what to do with minimal homebrew equipment a kitchen and saucepans (no mash kettle or boiler)

Sorry for being a div, I was really excited to go up a notch after the lovely brews I have done over the past few years, maybe if I can master this I can go up another notch.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice

Neil

If this is in the wrong thread please move it to the best thread appropriate

 

[cheapbrew]

Does the kit come with a mesh bag for the grain?

you need a big pan and a mesh bag, put your grains in a mesh bag steep in pan of water for 30 mins at 66 degrees (Or what temp the instructions give), then remove and drain/squeeze it, then pour more water through it to get the remaining sugars out - called sparging, then squeeze again Then check level, top up with water if needed, then you bring to the boil for 40 mins, and throw in your hops at the given time.

 

[NinjaNeil]

No the kit has a zip seal bag of grains + flavours and a vacuum seal bag of hops, oh and a sachet of yeast – the actual instructions say:

Put crushed grains into a saucepan and add 3 litres of cold water. Heat to 65ËšC - 70ËšC and maintain within this range for 30 minutes. Pour the liquid through a sieve or straining bag into the boiler and discard the spent grains. Add the sugar crystals and malt extract to the boiler and stir until dissolved. Top up with cold water to as close to the final brew length as possible, then heat to boiling. Add the hops (retaining a small handful) and maintain a rolling boil for a minimum of 40 minutes, adding the reserved hops for the last 5 minutes.

This is why I am a little perplexed why the nice chap in the shop said there is no need to boil anything other than the water for the two tins of malt extract.

Thanks for replying

Neil

 

[MyQul]

Clicking on the link it looks like a partial mash plus extract as it says you need to add "an additional 3kg of malt extract"

Have a look at this simple guide to all grain
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=51779

Your basically doing the above but bumping the "strength" (Original gravity) with some malt extract, either dried or liquid. Kind of like a kit but you making the kit bit yourself (but it's not concentrated like a kit)

 

[cheapbrew]

I think he sold you a different kit, what you mention is a basic two can kit, as MyQul said you have a partial mash kit, but its pretty easy, just try and keep the grain around 66 -67C, a little under or over is not a problem, then follow the rest of the instructions and you have a new string to your bow!

 

[MyQul]

In your OP you said you wanted to "up your game" doing a partial isnt hard at all and you game will "up" considerably more with a partial than with a 2 can kit

 

[Slid]

Sorry guys and girls, I need some help, I have been using the liquid kits for a few years now (mainly the woodforde’s kits and to honest they are actually really very good, I have learnt over the years that the longer you brew the clearer and nicer the brew is. I just need to figure out how to keep Dad and farther-in-law away when the bottles are ready to drink.

After talking to a now ex work mate I have decided to up the game and brought a Brupaks kit, consisting of a dry pack and two malt extract tins. I explained to the really nice chap in the shop that I want to up my game a bit, and I only have kitchen stuff at my disposal, and like the Oakham beer flavours. So he sold me the dry pack and two tins informing me that the only boiling I need to do is to heat the cans up so the malt can flow out into the bucket. The dry pack: http://www.goodlifehomebrew.com/gh/...gh/craftsman-ingredient-pack-london-bitter-gh

Just got home and very excitedly opened the pack with the instructions and it says I need to boil the grains for 30mins and sieve into a boiler, heat to boiling Add the hops and boil for a minimum of 40 mins (my simplified version of the instructions)

Have I been sold the wrong kit or can some really nice person let me know what to do with minimal homebrew equipment a kitchen and saucepans (no mash kettle or boiler)

Sorry for being a div, I was really excited to go up a notch after the lovely brews I have done over the past few years, maybe if I can master this I can go up another notch.

Thanks in advance for any help and advice

Neil

If this is in the wrong thread please move it to the best thread appropriate

Hi Neil

The most important thing to establish here is whether the 2 cans you have contain malt extract that has been bittered or not.

Do the cans have any sort of labeling on them that establishes this?

The rest of the pack just looks like some steeping grains and some hops. If the hops in the pack are only flavour/aroma hops, then you can do the brew with a 2-3L pot at a pinch. If you need to bitter the wort and not just boil the steeping liquid plus the aroma hops then a rather larger vessel is needed. 15L or so as a benchmark.

 

[Simonh82]

I think they slightly misrepresented what was involved but it is still possible with your equipment, assuming you have a largish pan from doing kits.

Steep the grain in a medium sized pan. It is better to add them to 75 degree water which should lose a few degrees and settle at about 67, than applying direct heat to the pan. Once the grains are in and well stirred wrap the pot in towels, blankets or whatever to try to maintain the temp for half an hour.

If you've not got a grain bag, stain the grains through a sieve or muslin. Rinse the grains with some more hot water. Use the collected liquid to dissolve the malt extract and bring to the boil. Then follow their instructions for hop additions.

If you pot is not very big it could be worth leaving one, or even one and a half tins of malt extract to till the last 15 minutes of the boil. If you boil the hops in a very concentrated wort you will get quite a bit less bitterness. A less concentrated wort means you can save more of the hops till the end of the boil for extra flavour and aroma. This is a definite advantage over simple kits.

 

[MyQul]

Hi Neil

The most important thing to establish here is whether the 2 cans you have contain malt extract that has been bittered or not.

Do the cans have any sort of labeling on them that establishes this?

The rest of the pack just looks like some steeping grains and some hops. If the hops in the pack are only flavour/aroma hops, then you can do the brew with a 2-3L pot at a pinch. If you need to bitter the wort and not just boil the steeping liquid plus the aroma hops then a rather larger vessel is needed. 15L or so as a benchmark.

By the looks of things the OP's LHBS has sold him the brupaks kit plus the required 3kg of LME to go with it?. But your right, Slid, it's important to establish whether the cans are hopped or unhopped LME. Also, Neil, what is the total weight of the cans (it should say on the label what the weight of each can is)?

 

[NinjaNeil]

Wow guys thank you so much for the help

My thoughts at the moment is to heat up the biggest saucepan I have (about 2 litres) using my sugar thermometer to get the clean water to about 70˚C and maintain the temperature whilst adding the grains and flavour’ents to the pan. Then add the hops (keeping a bit back) for a further 35 – 40 mins, add the other hops and leave for another 5 – 10 mins before straining through a flour sieve into my bucket adding the two heated malt cans and top up with clean water, then add the packet of yeast over the top and finally sealing the bucket.

The other option is to heat the cans up as usual, add the dry ingredients to the bucket and pour hot contents of the cans over the top of everything + as much boiled water as I can produce and then add the cold water after a while and at the right temperature the yeast. Leave everything in the first bucket for a good couple of weeks and then syphon into my second bucket, leaving the **** behind, for a further couple of weeks.

I also like the Citra and Orange taste Oakham beers have so I was also thinking I could leave some orange, lime, lemon peel in the bucket, or at the point the hops are boiling.

Not sure now, thank so much guys for the advice so far I am feeling a bit more confident again

Thanks all again for replying

Neil

 

[NinjaNeil]

Sorry Thomas Coopers Malt Extract – Amber – the tins do not say if they are Hopped or not

 

[Slid]

No, you must steep the grains and extract the liquid from them. Then use the liquid for the boil. You do not boil the grain itself. That is not good news.

Strain the liquid from the grains into the pot(s) you are going to do the boiling in.

Then add the hops and boil them up.

 

[Slid]

Sorry Thomas Coopers Malt Extract �" Amber �" the tins do not say if they are Hopped or not

These are not hopped. For a bittering boil a large pan is pretty much essential.

I would be a bit cross with the man in the LHBS if I were you.

You can get a suitable pan from Wilko's for instance.

 

[NinjaNeil]

These are not hopped. For a bittering boil a large pan is pretty much essential.

I would be a bit cross with the man in the LHBS if I were you.

You can get a suitable pan from Wilko's for instance.

Mmm that’s what I thought when he said no need to boil anything other than the malt cans, I am not out of my depths yet, just a bit annoyed and need to find my comfort zone again, hopefully you guys will bestow that upon me.

Neil

 

[MyQul]

Mmm that’s what I thought when he said no need to boil anything other than the malt cans, I am not out of my depths yet, just a bit annoyed and need to find my comfort zone again, hopefully you guys will bestow that upon me.

Neil

Dont worry. Slid is a Partial-Meister, he's done loads of em

 

[Sandimas]

First of all, don't worry - I know where your LHBS is coming from, my LHBS produces similar style kits: some grains, some hops and 2 x tins of Coopers LME. BrewUK do a similar line of kits except they use dried rather than liquid malt extract:
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/beerkits/craftybrews/brewextract.html

These kits make far superior brews to the likes of Wherry etc. but as Slid says you could do with a bigger pan / stock pot (6L or more), so get down to Wilko or eBay before you make this - it'll be worth it. I think the grains will be speciality grains to colour / flavour the beer (looks like crystal malt from the picture), rather than base grains (the 2 tins of LME are your base malt), so I don't think you need to do a "proper mash" - just a steeping stage (I could be wrong). Be good if you can post the full instructions.

I've made loads of these before moving to AG so here's how I do it:
- boil a pan of water, leave 15mins or so to cool to 75C or so. Steep the grains for 30mins.
- strain that liquid off into your bigger stock pot, top up with boiling water, ideally 6L or so but not less than 4L. Then do the hop boil stage as per the instructions.
- when finished, sieve this into your FV. Then add the 2 tins of liquid malt into the FV - no need to boil them, just warm them up in a sinkfull of hot water for 15mins to make it easier for the liquid to run out. Rinse out the tins with boiled water to get all the LME out.
- mix well in the FV, gradually topping up with cold or boiled water, to get to the desired volume (23L?) and at the right temperature (I aim for 20C). There's a bit of an art to this, to get to the final volume at the right temp - you may need to use a few ice cubes to get the temp down.
- finally, add the yeast - I usually re-hydrate this for 30mins in a cupful of water at 25C

 

[Slid]

First of all, don't worry - I know where your LHBS is coming from, my LHBS produces similar style kits: some grains, some hops and 2 x tins of Coopers LME. BrewUK do a similar line of kits except they use dried rather than liquid malt extract:
http://www.brewuk.co.uk/beerkits/craftybrews/brewextract.html

These kits make far superior brews to the likes of Wherry etc. but as Slid says you could do with a bigger pan / stock pot (6L or more), so get down to Wilko or eBay before you make this - it'll be worth it. I think the grains will be speciality grains to colour / flavour the beer (looks like crystal malt from the picture), rather than base grains (the 2 tins of LME are your base malt), so I don't think you need to do a "proper mash" - just a steeping stage (I could be wrong). Be good if you can post the full instructions.

I've made loads of these before moving to AG so here's how I do it:
- boil a pan of water, leave 15mins or so to cool to 75C or so. Steep the grains for 30mins.
- strain that liquid off into your bigger stock pot, top up with boiling water, ideally 6L or so but not less than 4L. Then do the hop boil stage as per the instructions.
- when finished, sieve this into your FV. Then add the 2 tins of liquid malt into the FV - no need to boil them, just warm them up in a sinkfull of hot water for 15mins to make it easier for the liquid to run out. Rinse out the tins with boiled water to get all the LME out.
- mix well in the FV, gradually topping up with cold or boiled water, to get to the desired volume (23L?) and at the right temperature (I aim for 20C). There's a bit of an art to this, to get to the final volume at the right temp - you may need to use a few ice cubes to get the temp down.
- finally, add the yeast - I usually re-hydrate this for 30mins in a cupful of water at 25C

This looks like a very good process to me!

 

[NinjaNeil]

Ok my instructions:

Quick version: follow the instructions

Long version: go round your best mates and borrow a really big saucepan, failing that find a witch and borrow her caldron. Next sterilise everything in the bath using a couple of fermentation bins as the vessels and loads of Milton tablets, if you don’t have access to a local supermarket a military grade flamethrower works just as well but not so kind on the plastic, make sure your teenage daughter is also out of the house for the day also.

In a large saucepan put the gain mix and 2 ��" 3l of bottled (clean) water and the cooking thermometer, heat to 70˚C and hold for half an hour, in the background put some more water into the caldron and then add almost all of the hops from the vacuum sealed bag, I added the zest and juice from an orange, lemon and Lime (not sure what they will do, but time will tell). Strain the grain mixture into the caldron and remember not to try pushing the grains with your bear hand because they are jolly hot and will burn you, as I found out. Heat two more saucepans with tap water and place a can of the malt extract into each one. (The photo I enclose was taken just before I strained the grain water into the caldron) Then top the water up to give a total 6L

http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/attachment.php?attachmentid=5238&stc=1&d=1460315792

Boil the caldron for 35 mins and add the remaining hops, put some water into a jug and place in the microwave for about 30s, check it is warm to touch if not do it again and if too hot add a bit more water, add a few teaspoons of caster sugar and the yeast, mix with spoon. Now switch the heat off the caldron (40mins) add another 2L of cold water and go to the bathroom to empty the sanitised water out of the FV. Chill out a bit and then tip the 2 cans of malt into the FV followed by the strained liquid from the caldron, once again this is still jolly hot and will burn you, I binned all of the dry ingredients, take the FV up to the study (warm place) add the rest of the bottled water aerate with a paddle, add the yeast mix, aerate again, take SG (1032) and seal with lid adding the air lock. Now the hard bit clean everything and the kitchen before the wife and kids come home.

Simples!!

This kit is not hard to do but it takes time and you need a lot more bits of kitchen equipment than a standard 2 can kit, the advantages are that you have a lot more fun and the smells from the hops and the grain are quite nice, you feel like you are actually brewing beer rather than making it.

ME!!

 

[cheapbrew]

This kit is not hard to do but it takes time and you need a lot more bits of kitchen equipment than a standard 2 can kit, the advantages are that you have a lot more fun and the smells from the hops and the grain are quite nice, you feel like you are actually brewing beer rather than making it.

Glad to hear you got it sorted in the end, I hope your beer was worth the extra effort and I love your summary quoted above :thumb: it's like cooking with real fresh ingredients, or using stuff out of tins.

 

[NinjaNeil]

Yes this is a kind of stepping stone between kits and a full kettle brew, but using fresh ingredients, it is early days but as I sit typing this I can hear the lovely bubbles coming from the airlock, so I am a happy boy.

Thanks as always, everyone for your helpful kind advice