Doctoring a kit

[stirtingale]

Can I increase the strength of a kit beer by adding more sugar...the kit is a St Peters Golden Ale and there's no mention of any sugar in the instructions so Its obviously already in the cans?

 

[SmallSpacesBrewing]

Can I increase the strength of a kit beer by adding more sugar...the kit is a St Peters Golden Ale and there's no mention of any sugar in the instructions so Its obviously already in the cans?

Yes you can. Just don't over do it. 200-300g should be your max

 

[stirtingale]

Great - that's the answer I wanted to hear! Cheers.

 

[User 38108]

You can always add a sugar based solution. For example honey or maple syrup. I'd check the gravity before you add the yeast to it and don't go over board with the sugar or sugar based liquid. Honey is ideal for a sweet beer. I will let you know on the maple syrup as its aging at the moment. Please note if you use honey or maple syrup it will take longer to ferment and age

 

[micklupulo]

Apologies in advance if this is dealt with elsewhere but if so I cannot locate it. When reference is made to doctoring by dry hopping or the addition of hop tea is the custom on here to specify the weight of hops in relation to pellets ( as I think is the case) or in relation to leaf? My old Dave Line book indicates that the former equate to about twice the latter so clarification would be welcome as later this year I intend to use an old recipe from that book which clearly used leaf but my LHBS only stocks pellets.

 

[stirtingale]

You can always add a sugar based solution. For example honey or maple syrup. I'd check the gravity before you add the yeast to it and don't go over board with the sugar or sugar based liquid. Honey is ideal for a sweet beer. I will let you know on the maple syrup as its aging at the moment. Please note if you use honey or maple syrup it will take longer to ferment and age

Thanks for the info...I don’t really want a ‘sweeter’ taste (more bitter the better for me!) but I just wondered if I could raise the alcoholic content of a kit beer.

 

[micklupulo]

Apologies in advance if this is dealt with elsewhere but if so I cannot locate it. When reference is made to doctoring by dry hopping or the addition of hop tea is the custom on here to specify the weight of hops in relation to pellets ( as I think is the case) or in relation to leaf? My old Dave Line book indicates that the former equate to about twice the latter so clarification would be welcome as later this year I intend to use an old recipe from that book which clearly used leaf but my LHBS only stocks pellets.

Just realised this looks a bit contradictory. My main concern is to understand the precise hopping rates suggested by some for tweaking kits but also to double check that if using pellets in a recipe based on leaf I roughly halve the quantity.

 

[terrym]

Thanks for the info...I don’t really want a ‘sweeter’ taste (more bitter the better for me!) but I just wondered if I could raise the alcoholic content of a kit beer.

Your St Peters kit will produce a beer of just under 4% ABV if brewed to 23 litres which includes a small allowance for the alcohol produced at the carbonation stage.
If you want to increase the alcohol content, simply add more fermentable sugars, or brew short (i.e. less volume)
So, for example, for every 100g of cane sugar you add, you increase the ABV by just over 0.2%.
But if you added no extra sugar and reduced the brew volume to 20 litres you would produce a beer of about 4.5% including the priming sugar allowance, with a corresponding pro rata increase in bitterness and flavour.
If you want to play about with additions and volumes I suggest you use the calculator below using 'Extract' as your brew basis.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator

 

[terrym]

Just realised this looks a bit contradictory. My main concern is to understand the precise hopping rates suggested by some for tweaking kits but also to double check that if using pellets in a recipe based on leaf I roughly halve the quantity.

The amount of hops added to a kit either as a dry hop or a hop tea is usually down to the hop used and personal choice. You simply have to experiment and gain some experience using a few types of hop. So say for 50g of a particular hop, for some that might be too much for others just right and for the rest not enough. And based on this calculator (which is what I use) whole hop cones are only about 10% less effective than the same weight of an identical hop in pellet form.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculatorFinally be aware some hops are only really suitable for bittering.

 

[micklupulo]

The amount of hops added to a kit either as a dry hop or a hop tea is usually down to the hop used and personal choice. You simply have to experiment and gain some experience using a few types of hop. So say for 50g of a particular hop, for some that might be too much for others just right and for the rest not enough. And based on this calculator (which is what I use) whole hop cones are only about 10% less effective than the same weight of an identical hop in pellet form.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculatorFinally be aware some hops are only really suitable for bittering.

Thanks and I know there is no real substitute for experimentation but the more first time success I have the less domestic resistance I will face! My main query was whether in general hop dosage on here referred to pellets or leaf and in effect you are saying the differential in impact of 10% makes the point academic. I also realise that taste is subjective but all I want to create are brews with a nice balance of malt and hops as opposed to hop bombs. I have noticed your recipe for tweaking Coopers AuPA and think that would produce a pleasant balanced beer and assume your hop bill of 36g was made up of pellets?

 

[stirtingale]

Your St Peters kit will produce a beer of just under 4% ABV if brewed to 23 litres which includes a small allowance for the alcohol produced at the carbonation stage.
If you want to increase the alcohol content, simply add more fermentable sugars, or brew short (i.e. less volume)
So, for example, for every 100g of cane sugar you add, you increase the ABV by just over 0.2%.
But if you added no extra sugar and reduced the brew volume to 20 litres you would produce a beer of about 4.5% including the priming sugar allowance, with a corresponding pro rata increase in bitterness and flavour.
If you want to play about with additions and volumes I suggest you use the calculator below using 'Extract' as your brew basis.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator

Good advice - thanks

 

[terrym]

Thanks and I know there is no real substitute for experimentation but the more first time success I have the less domestic resistance I will face! My main query was whether in general hop dosage on here referred to pellets or leaf and in effect you are saying the differential in impact of 10% makes the point academic. I also realise that taste is subjective but all I want to create are brews with a nice balance of malt and hops as opposed to hop bombs. I have noticed your recipe for tweaking Coopers AuPA and think that would produce a pleasant balanced beer and assume your hop bill of 36g was made up of pellets?

The only whole cones I use are from my own Prima Donna (First Gold) plants. Otherwise its always pellets. I am not sure which of my posts you are referring to, but I do recall that Cascade sits well the AUPA kit and for me anything up to about 50g would be fine. If you have the capability you could split a brew at hop addition time and use different weight additions to each half to compare.

 

[micklupulo]

The only whole cones I use are from my own Prima Donna (First Gold) plants. Otherwise its always pellets. I am not sure which of my posts you are referring to, but I do recall that Cascade sits well the AUPA kit and for me anything up to about 50g would be fine. If you have the capability you could split a brew at hop addition time and use different weight additions to each half to compare.

Thanks and the post I was referring to goes back to 06/10/15 but no less valid for that I am sure!