edme stout

[artyb]

ive got an edme stout kit to start.... :party:

ive done two of them, and was thinking of ''short brewing it''....... :wha: :wha:

i was going to use just the extract in the can,
no sugar and less water, to make a smaller quantity...any done this and would you recommend it ..?

 

[Mephistopholes]

Its always a good idea to not be putting refined sugar into your beer. sorry let me rephrase that. its never a good idea to put refined sugar into your beer. refined sugar will always fully attenuate out and leave thin beeer with no body and lack that rich depth of malt flavour you the homebrewer so deserve.
I've never used an edme stout kit but here is the best advice i can offer on this.

generally the two can kits dont ask to use any sugar all the SUGARS are in the syrup. only one can recipes ask for sugar and if i remember this would be a whole kilo :sick:

my point on this being if you do remove the full payload of sugar from the brew which for quality purposes i highly recomend then i fear you may have to slash your brewlength in half, ie 10 ltrs.

if completely halving your final beer payoff alarms you too much, you could either add 500 gm sugar and brew maybe 15 ltrs to see if the difference for you might be worth it OR buy another kit and double the brewlength back to 20 ltrs.

I have made a few assumptions about your kit here but as i remember 1kg of sugar is equivalent to one can of extract.

 

[artyb]

nice one fella, :thumb:

ive just started this and ive short brewed it, ie, making 3.5 gallons instead of 5+

i decided to add 500g of demerea sugar to it,
i treated the water with a camden tablet,
and made a yeast starter in a bottle an hour b4, i started brewing....

shes underway..... :party: :party:
looking forward to having this at xmas..... if it keeps that long.... :pray:

 

[artyb]

it formed a great head on it, :party:
around 3 inches, smells great and has slowed down a bit,

looks odd with the fv just over half full.... :?

 

[artyb]

it seems to have stopped fermenting after 6 days ...[could be right]

i will leave it sealed in the fv for another week,to finish clearing up,

seems a bit odd, as a lager i started a week earlier is still bubblin through the air lock... :wha:

 

[Mephistopholes]

surely your lager and stout are fermenting at different temparatures though right?

The lower temp of the lager ferment should make it slower.

 

[artyb]

well they are both in the same room,
the stout had a couple of t towels over it and the lager is uncovered,

the room is around 17-19 deg,with no direct sunlight ,and it keeps ''around'' the same temp at night,

i was thinking than kit lagers ,do not really ferment like real lagers at very cool temps, like in caves in germany,

i assumed they have been developed to ferment more easily in modern houses...? :wha:

 

[Mephistopholes]

having never brewed a lager, from kit or AG i couldnt be 100% on this.

I am however 99.9% certain that all lagers should be fermented at low temparatures. its almost the entire point of them. If the kit came with a yeast that somehow fermented lager at ambient temparatures, i would think that major beer producers would be also using this same yeast rather than splash money on expensive cooling sysyems.
The slow fermentation creates a cleaner flavour. I shouldnt think you have ruined your kit. I imagine the yeast might not be too happy in what it probably considers subtropical heat and this might account for a slower fermentation.
Just out of intrest, is there (or was there) a big fluffy mass of yeast jostling around on the surface of the beer?
the major difference between lager yeast and well pretty much anyother type of beer producing yeast is that lager yeast ferments at the bottom of the beer, and very slowly. every other beer making yeast as far as i know ferments on top of the beer. i have read about lager yeast adapting to the higher temparatures during fermentation and rising to the top to do its thing there. I've got a feeling your gonna wind up with something a bit closer to a pale ale than a lager at the end of this though.

 

[jamesb]

Most "lager" kits have an ale yeast in them. I do believe there's a couple that use proper lager yeast, I think Aleman's mentioned them before.

 

[Mephistopholes]

What a swindle. :x

Well six days for your stout sounds about long enough for ferment. just make sure you take a couple of readings to make certain it has completely stopped with your sacchrometer.

What temparature do the "lager" kits suggest you ferment at?

 

[broadfordbrewer]

What a swindle. :x

Well six days for your stout sounds about long enough for ferment. just make sure you take a couple of readings to make certain it has completely stopped with your sacchrometer.

What temparature do the "lager" kits suggest you ferment at?

In my limited experience the 'lager' kit instructions say between 18-24C.

 

[Mephistopholes]

Do these alleged "lager" kits at least tell you to condition in the cold for a couple of weeks at least.

They really don't sound like they are gonna produce anything like a true lager

 

[broadfordbrewer]

They don't really say anything about conditioning them in the cold either. They really a long way from being a lager, but the kit I made did resemble one, albeit quite a cloudy/wheaty type beer.

 

[artyb]

ive done a couple of lagers, in the spare room, at around 18 deg, and they have come out fine[ for a lager]
i therefore figured that they are not ''largered'' in the true sense of the word...


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lager

the stout did have a 3inch white and brown head on it for a couple of days.... :party:
i gave it a stir last nite and will be bottling it next week,
looks and smell great.....have yet to taste it...

 

[broadfordbrewer]

the stout did have a 3inch white and brown head on it for a couple of days.... :party:
i gave it a stir last nite and will be bottling it next week,
looks and smell great.....have yet to taste it...

I'd be interested to hear how the stout turns out.. I fancy doing one of these myself. good luck

 

[jamesb]

i therefore figured that they are not ''largered'' in the true sense of the word...

You did that on purpose didn't you? :lol:

 

[Moley]

Nice one James :rofl:







Artyb: Naughty step! :nono:

 

[artyb]

HE HE HE ...
if i had a litre of lager....would it be a larger lager.....

 

[artyb]

the stout did have a 3inch white and brown head on it for a couple of days.... :party:
i gave it a stir last nite and will be bottling it next week,
looks and smell great.....have yet to taste it...

I'd be interested to hear how the stout turns out.. I fancy doing one of these myself. good luck

the other two edme stouts i have done are very drinkable, :drunk:
i thought i would try one with out all the water and sugar.... :thumb:

will be bottling te shortbrewed stout soon, so will let you know, i expect it will be quite tasty... :pray: