Going back to kits?

[Druncan]

Muntons HLME is my go-to brew time saver. I love an AG brewday but when I can do two 130l different HLME brews in a day it means a) my stock recovers faster b) my wife still speaks to me,,,,

 

[Cheshire Cat]

Muntons HLME is my go-to brew time saver. I love an AG brewday but when I can do two 130l different HLME brews in a day it means a) my stock recovers faster b) my wife still speaks to me,,,,

a) might but an incentive but b)????

 

[Clint]

Muntons HLME is my go-to brew time saver. I love an AG brewday but when I can do two 130l different HLME brews in a day it means a) my stock recovers faster b) my wife still speaks to me,,,,

HLME..? I suspect Malt Extract is part of it!

 

[Leon103]

You can eliminate the bottling issues easily with some kegs/barrels.

 

[White Rose Al]

I mix AG brewing and kits simply due to time constraints. Try to have both an AG brew and a kit on tap at both times.

I can't recommend the Dark Rock session kits enough coupled with their enhancers, for around £20 you get some great beer.

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Muntons HLME

two 130l different HLME brews in a day

I googled, but only normal Muntons kits came up - what are these 130L HLME kits? Unless I have misunderstood something, which is always likely

 

[Tanglefoot]

Using a brew fridge to control temperature and cold crash made biggest difference when I was doing kits. Partial mash doesn't take much longer either.
That said I enjoy my all grain brewdays, takes a bit more time but a good way to relax.

 

[Moe]

I googled, but only normal Muntons kits came up - what are these 130L HLME kits? Unless I have misunderstood something, which is always likely

Hopped Light Malt Extract??

 

[Druncan]

I googled, but only normal Muntons kits came up - what are these 130L HLME kits? Unless I have misunderstood something, which is always likely

Hi, @AnimatedGIF - yup i've googled it and sorry, only found lme 25kg. The other stuff I used was the Brewferm 25kg but that seem to only be available from Brouwland - not sure if they ship to the UK now? ,,, post brexit,,

I originally used to buy it from Home | -youcanbrew-it-2017 (Davina) she will ship it out but now I buy direct from Muntons.

@Cheshire Cat - "b) my wife still speaks to me,,,, "

I was only allowed to do HLME in our Restaurant kitchen as my AG escapades take sooo long and usually with me being a such a clutz I make such a bloody mess,,,, :tinhat: I was banned,,,,,

I'm desperately trying to finish my brewery conversion,,, But, I can just squeeze a HLME brew through
But it will all get much better once it's all done!

 

[AnimatedGIF]

Hopped Light Malt Extract??

That didn't even occur to me (the "hopped" part) - thanks

Hi, @AnimatedGIF - yup i've googled it and sorry, only found lme 25kg. The other stuff I used was the Brewferm 25kg but that seem to only be available from Brouwland - not sure if they ship to the UK now? ,,, post brexit,,

I originally used to buy it from Home | -youcanbrew-it-2017 (Davina) she will ship it out but now I buy direct from Muntons.

Thanks for that good to know.

 

[micklupulo]

Can anyone recommend a kit with character and flavour that does not rely on dry hopping? I ask because almost without exception they have either not been to my taste or have suffered from early oxidation. Logic dictates a malty beer or perhaps a stout of which I have done Coopers Irish but I feel like a change if I do another kit.

 

[Clint]

Can anyone recommend a kit with character and flavour that does not rely on dry hopping? I ask because almost without exception they have either not been to my taste or have suffered from early oxidation. Logic dictates a malty beer or perhaps a stout of which I have done Coopers Irish but I feel like a change if I do another kit.

Pick your preferred style from either Youngs or Festival premium kits...they are outstanding. The latest Muntons get great reviews but I've not tried them.

 

[micklupulo]

Pick your preferred style from either Youngs or Festival premium kits...they are outstanding. The latest Muntons get great reviews but I've not tried them.

Thanks. I have read glowing reports of these but thought they came with copious hops?

 

[Clint]

Thanks. I have read glowing reports of these but thought they came with copious hops?

Leave em out...use half. They are really good kits though. As for copious...they have some hops...copious I'd say is 100g plus,50g is a nice little addition.

 

[Dutto]

Can anyone recommend a kit with character and flavour that does not rely on dry hopping? ……..

Rather than limit the Kits, have you tried a Hop Tea instead?

I gave up Dry Hopping years ago and now use the method given below …



In the video DH recommends 60*C to 70*C but personally, I start the mash at 60*C and then let it drop to ambient before starting to rack the brew! This stops increasing bitterness and gives whatever aroma the manufacturer wanted.

As a general rule, I use the hops included in the kit and make it with 600ml of water so that I can put 250ml (obviously filtered) hop tea into both 10 litre kegs.

When brewing a kit without “dry hops” included I occasionally add an aroma hop using the same system but double the normal weight. i.e. I normally use +/-25g of aroma hops.

Enjoy!
:hat:

 

[clib]

You can cut an AG brewday a lot by mashing for 20 mins, with a full volume mash ( no sparge), and by reducing the boil time to 20 minutes, or less. Zero minutes even. No boil.

You can make it quicker still by doing partial mash. Do a small batch of AG beer with enough hops for 5 gallons, then add cold water and malt extract. If you use hopped extract, or a one can kit, you don't need to worry about adding bitterness yourself. Just mash about 1.5kg grain and use that instead of the brewing sugar/enhancer addition.

Steep some hops. Use yeast you like. Harvest and reuse yeast.

Takes longer than a standard kit brew but not crazy. Maybe an hour longer.

 

[Jim Brewster]

I like doing all grain but I've had good results using spraymalt in a few litres and a short boils for the hops, if I've run out of grain or not in the mood for a full brew day. I use a demijohn, don't really have the space to do the big kit brews otherwise I would do them.

 

[micklupulo]

You can cut an AG brewday a lot by mashing for 20 mins, with a full volume mash ( no sparge), and by reducing the boil time to 20 minutes, or less. Zero minutes even. No boil.

You can make it quicker still by doing partial mash. Do a small batch of AG beer with enough hops for 5 gallons, then add cold water and malt extract. If you use hopped extract, or a one can kit, you don't need to worry about adding bitterness yourself. Just mash about 1.5kg grain and use that instead of the brewing sugar/enhancer addition.

Steep some hops. Use yeast you like. Harvest and reuse yeast.

Takes longer than a standard kit brew but not crazy. Maybe an hour longer.

Thanks for this and also to Clint and Dutto. Due to a serious health scare this year I need to avoid lifting weighty items (such as a grain bag containing 4kg or more) and need to limit consumption (and ABV) to avoid raising my BP. I had already decided my next brew would be based on 1.5kg grain mashed in the bag then boiled with various hop types staged over an hour with say 300gms dextrose mixed in for the last 20 minutes all to be added to a Muntons 1.5kg of unhopped extract of the type appropriate to whatever type of beer I am attempting. The aim is to produce something between 3.8 and 4.2% ABV so any advice on total volume and malt/dextrose weights would be welcome.

My enquiry about kits was with a view to an occasional easy alternative. As mentioned nearly all my experiences of dry hopping have been negative and my attempts with hop tea have been no better. Neither works for me yet my AG has been very successful. These experiments were prompted by ordinary bitter kits producing rather bland unexciting stuff hence the question as to which kits produce a tasty enough beer without dry hops (or tea) ?

Every review of Youngs Harvest Scottish Heavy I have read is favourable and as a malty beer unreliant on hoppiness that might suit but any comments and/or alternative suggestions would again be welcome.

 

[Telboy61]

I was too busy to do all grain so squeezed in a couple of kits, a Youngs APA bought for me for Christmas is now being consumed. It's not bad and definitely better than some commercially produced beers but lacks the quality, body and flavour of my own all grain brews. A Woodforde's Bure Gold is currently conditioning in the Pressure Barrel which I hope will be reasonable. I can't wait to try my all grain Belgian Triple which is currently cold crashing in the brew fridge, if it is anything like the Holy Hand grenade of Antioch I brewed last year it will be truly epic!

 

[clib]

Thanks for this and also to Clint and Dutto. Due to a serious health scare this year I need to avoid lifting weighty items (such as a grain bag containing 4kg or more) and need to limit consumption (and ABV) to avoid raising my BP. I had already decided my next brew would be based on 1.5kg grain mashed in the bag then boiled with various hop types staged over an hour with say 300gms dextrose mixed in for the last 20 minutes all to be added to a Muntons 1.5kg of unhopped extract of the type appropriate to whatever type of beer I am attempting. The aim is to produce something between 3.8 and 4.2% ABV so any advice on total volume and malt/dextrose weights would be welcome.

My enquiry about kits was with a view to an occasional easy alternative. As mentioned nearly all my experiences of dry hopping have been negative and my attempts with hop tea have been no better. Neither works for me yet my AG has been very successful. These experiments were prompted by ordinary bitter kits producing rather bland unexciting stuff hence the question as to which kits produce a tasty enough beer without dry hops (or tea) ?

Every review of Youngs Harvest Scottish Heavy I have read is favourable and as a malty beer unreliant on hoppiness that might suit but any comments and/or alternative suggestions would again be welcome.

This year I have dropped my abvs and I am really enjoying drinking beers that are mostly under 4%. I having been doing AG batches between 8 and 16 litres. I bottled a 14 litre batch today, a 3.8% pale with Chinook and Centennial hops. I also added cherry puree which I made myself to 8 litres of saison which will be about 4.5% iirc.

I make these on my cooker and it's not challenging. I could easily make these up to 5 gallons by adding plain extract or a kit can. Kit cans have the advantage of giving you the bitterness you need. Use a simple low colour kit, like a lager, or Canadian Blonde etc. Or Muntons hopped extract. Or use unhopped and do a bittering addition in your grain boil. To hit 4% ish:

23 litres
OG 1.042. FG 1.010.
ABV 4.0%

1.5kg LME
1.8kg Pale malt
300g Dextrose

I don't understand your problem with adding hops to kits. Always worked well for me, dry hops or hop tea.