Help me plan my first brews (please)

[Llamaman]

Hi all
I hope this is the correct forum for this query.

I'm about to start my homebrewing adventure and would like a bit of guidance on my first few brews. I've been told the key to a successful brewday is planning, so for once I'm going to listen to advice

Due to space constraints I'm brewing 10L at a time in a 15L fermentor. I'm also going to start a simple as possible with kits before building my way up to extract brews. Especially as I don't have a large stockpot yet and would like to stagger the expense.

Given kits are generally designed for 23l, my plan was to brew half a kit, and then brew the second half immediately after I bottle the first. I was thinking I could reuse the yeast cake this way, and pimp the second half differently to get two different brews from one kit.

First up, I thought I'd go with the Simply Pale Ale kit. This helpfully comes in a pouch, which makes storing the second half in my (small) fridge easy. I thought I'd brew this 'straight' with DME and may be a small dry hop. 10g of Citra maybe?
Any ideas for what to do with the second batch? I thought maybe upping the ABV with more DME and adding a different hop - cascade perhaps?

Third and fourth I thought I'd make use of the warmer weather and go for a saison. I see Mangrove Jacks do a pouched saison kit which would be the lazy option, but I thought I could also use a pilsner kit, wheat DME, and a saison yeast (Danstar Belle Saison or something from CML). Question here - I can split the kit and do 750g kit, 250g pils DME and 250g wheat DME to get 10l at 4.1% OR use most of the tin and go for 1200g kit and 250g wheat DME for 4.75%. Would using this much kit in a short brew be overly bitter? How hoppy are pilsner kits?
Also, what additional hops would people recommend? Saaz?

Fifth and six I think I'll go to the dark side with a Simply mild or stout. But I'll think about that later as that's several months away...

 

[GerritT]

Hi all
I hope this is the correct forum for this query.

I'm about to start my homebrewing adventure and would like a bit of guidance on my first few brews. I've been told the key to a successful brewday is planning, so for once I'm going to listen to advice

Due to space constraints I'm brewing 10L at a time in a 15L fermentor. I'm also going to start a simple as possible with kits before building my way up to extract brews. Especially as I don't have a large stockpot yet and would like to stagger the expense.

Given kits are generally designed for 23l, my plan was to brew half a kit, and then brew the second half immediately after I bottle the first. I was thinking I could reuse the yeast cake this way, and pimp the second half differently to get two different brews from one kit.

First up, I thought I'd go with the Simply Pale Ale kit. This helpfully comes in a pouch, which makes storing the second half in my (small) fridge easy. I thought I'd brew this 'straight' with DME and may be a small dry hop. 10g of Citra maybe?
Any ideas for what to do with the second batch? I thought maybe upping the ABV with more DME and adding a different hop - cascade perhaps?

Third and fourth I thought I'd make use of the warmer weather and go for a saison. I see Mangrove Jacks do a pouched saison kit which would be the lazy option, but I thought I could also use a pilsner kit, wheat DME, and a saison yeast (Danstar Belle Saison or something from CML). Question here - I can split the kit and do 750g kit, 250g pils DME and 250g wheat DME to get 10l at 4.1% OR use most of the tin and go for 1200g kit and 250g wheat DME for 4.75%. Would using this much kit in a short brew be overly bitter? How hoppy are pilsner kits?
Also, what additional hops would people recommend? Saaz?

Fifth and six I think I'll go to the dark side with a Simply mild or stout. But I'll think about that later as that's several months away...

Erm... welcome! 10L in a 15 fermentor is good, leaves room for expansion and krausen (you'll recognise it when you see it!)

That having said: you're not really outfitted for a kit. If you're going extract (as a kit mostly is) anyway, why not buy dry malt extract? Handful of hops, some yeast, and you could be brewing away.

Look at this recipe: https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1281/sierra-nevada-pale-ale-clone

Scale it down to 3 gallons (multiply everything with 0.6) and you have your recipe.

3.6 lb DME light
0.3 oz Magnum@60
0.3 oz Perle@30
0.6 oz Cascade@10
1.2 oz Cascade@0

Go (for instance) to https://www.crossmyloofbrew.co.uk/online-store and check the costs of the hops and yeast. Or since you need DME anyway check somewhere else, but their hops packages may not be so conveniently small.

You'll get there! :thumb: :cheers7:

 

[dad_of_jon]

Hi all
I hope this is the correct forum for this query.

I'm about to start my homebrewing adventure and would like a bit of guidance on my first few brews. I've been told the key to a successful brewday is planning, so for once I'm going to listen to advice

Due to space constraints I'm brewing 10L at a time in a 15L fermentor. I'm also going to start a simple as possible with kits before building my way up to extract brews. Especially as I don't have a large stockpot yet and would like to stagger the expense.

Given kits are generally designed for 23l, my plan was to brew half a kit, and then brew the second half immediately after I bottle the first. I was thinking I could reuse the yeast cake this way, and pimp the second half differently to get two different brews from one kit.

First up, I thought I'd go with the Simply Pale Ale kit. This helpfully comes in a pouch, which makes storing the second half in my (small) fridge easy. I thought I'd brew this 'straight' with DME and may be a small dry hop. 10g of Citra maybe?
Any ideas for what to do with the second batch? I thought maybe upping the ABV with more DME and adding a different hop - cascade perhaps?

Third and fourth I thought I'd make use of the warmer weather and go for a saison. I see Mangrove Jacks do a pouched saison kit which would be the lazy option, but I thought I could also use a pilsner kit, wheat DME, and a saison yeast (Danstar Belle Saison or something from CML). Question here - I can split the kit and do 750g kit, 250g pils DME and 250g wheat DME to get 10l at 4.1% OR use most of the tin and go for 1200g kit and 250g wheat DME for 4.75%. Would using this much kit in a short brew be overly bitter? How hoppy are pilsner kits?
Also, what additional hops would people recommend? Saaz?

Fifth and six I think I'll go to the dark side with a Simply mild or stout. But I'll think about that later as that's several months away...

Hi all
I hope this is the correct forum for this query.

I'm about to start my homebrewing adventure and would like a bit of guidance on my first few brews. I've been told the key to a successful brewday is planning, so for once I'm going to listen to advice

Due to space constraints I'm brewing 10L at a time in a 15L fermentor. I'm also going to start a simple as possible with kits before building my way up to extract brews. Especially as I don't have a large stockpot yet and would like to stagger the expense.

Given kits are generally designed for 23l, my plan was to brew half a kit, and then brew the second half immediately after I bottle the first. I was thinking I could reuse the yeast cake this way, and pimp the second half differently to get two different brews from one kit.

First up, I thought I'd go with the Simply Pale Ale kit. This helpfully comes in a pouch, which makes storing the second half in my (small) fridge easy. I thought I'd brew this 'straight' with DME and may be a small dry hop. 10g of Citra maybe?
Any ideas for what to do with the second batch? I thought maybe upping the ABV with more DME and adding a different hop - cascade perhaps?

Third and fourth I thought I'd make use of the warmer weather and go for a saison. I see Mangrove Jacks do a pouched saison kit which would be the lazy option, but I thought I could also use a pilsner kit, wheat DME, and a saison yeast (Danstar Belle Saison or something from CML). Question here - I can split the kit and do 750g kit, 250g pils DME and 250g wheat DME to get 10l at 4.1% OR use most of the tin and go for 1200g kit and 250g wheat DME for 4.75%. Would using this much kit in a short brew be overly bitter? How hoppy are pilsner kits?
Also, what additional hops would people recommend? Saaz?

Fifth and six I think I'll go to the dark side with a Simply mild or stout. But I'll think about that later as that's several months away...

Hi, llm

kits are usually for around 23l - you can split in half, bear in mind some kits have 6g of yeast and can stick , so I would use the whole packet of yeast with 10l and buy a sachet from wilcos for the second half, obviously the second half needs to be refrigerated in the meantime but i've not done that.

upping abv is my speciality , a can of 454ml t&l golden syrup* is a nice and cheap option.

with regards to a saison , I can strongly recommend the mj saison yeast, it's IMO supert, I've done a few saisons with different yeasts but MJ is my fav.

this would do the biz....

1.5 kg dme
500g dwe
mj saison yeast
hops of your choice, bear in mind saisons are meant to be aged so no need to buy big cittrussy USA style hops. I like my saisons FUNKY. You may not so you ferment at lower temps and age the beers.

* other partially inverted syrups are available :nod:

p.s. keep it simple to start with as there can be a lot of things to consider that may overwhelm you (It certainly worried me) . once you get up to speed you can use more fancy techniques.

 

[GerritT]

A triple decoction comes to mind...

 

[Llamaman]

p.s. keep it simple to start with as there can be a lot of things to consider that may overwhelm you (It certainly worried me) . once you get up to speed you can use more fancy techniques.

That was my thinking for starting with kits and pimping them. Also, getting a few kits on the go in quick succession means I can quickly build up a stockpile for conditioning.

Thanks for your other suggestions.

 

[Llamaman]

A triple decoction comes to mind...

Had to google that and I was disappointed that it wasn't nearly as filthy as it sounds.

 

[MmmBeer]

I agree with dad_of_john about the malt extract approach. However if you want to start with kits, I would recommend getting a second 15l fermenter and doing the two halves simultaneously (if you have room). You could consider using different hops in each half, boil 2 litres of water, add 20g of hops, boil for 10 mins and add another 20g of hops, then add this to half the liquid malt extract from the kit. Repeat with different hops in the other half. Remember to use a full size sachet of yeast (12g) split between the two, or two kit sized(6g) packs.
Happy brewing

 

[Ciaran12s]

If you're doing half a kit and storing the other half for 2-3 weeks, my concern would be contamination of the second half. If its a two pouch kit that's not an issue. If its a can then that may be quite tricky. You could dilute it and heat it all up in a pan to sterlise but you don't want to boil, or boil for too long as it'll drive off hop aromas and alter the flavour (probably for the worse)

Liquid malt extract is often accused of being responsible for the "homebrew twang"
Freshness of liquid malt extract seems to be a cause of this also, so storing an opened can in the fridge for 2-3 weeks doesn't sound like a great idea.

If you've worked it out and want to do it that way go for it! It may well work out absolutely great and you'll continue with that.

A second 15L FV would be great though if you can squeeze it in somewhere. You could do half the kit unadulterated and the other half pimped all at the same time and compare the two directly side by side!

 

[Llamaman]

Thanks for all the comments.

I'd read that LME can keep for up to 3 months in the fridge, so I'd thought I could squeeze a half empty pouch into a sanitised Lock and Lock to keep fresh. I might still give this a try at a later date, but have decided to try to limit the number of invites I extend to Mr Cock-Up so have opted to begin with a 2-can kit (Festival Razorback). That'll keep my FV busy for 6 weeks or so, (and give me 2 runs at honing my sanitising and bottling method) in which time I'll acquire a stockpot and give extract brewing a go.

 

[LarryF]

You could grab a Woodfordes Wherry and a Gervin yeast out of Wilko and brew just one tin with half of the yeast to 10L. A Citra hop tea with that would give you a very nice beer.