I need help with a first brew.

[joe22gg]

Hello,

I am brewing a Munton's Gold Smugglers Ale and I had added 23lt of water and then added the two cans. However I now have a water reading of 25 lt. The kit says I should have brought it up to 23 lt. after i emptied the two cans. Now my hydrometer reading is 1.040. Also, i didn't wash out the cans with hot water. I scraped them out as best as possible with a scraper. What can I do? I really do want a water beer. Thank you in advance. Cheers.

 

[31bb3]

As long as your equipment was sterile then it will be fine

 

[Stihler]

I was going to suggest that at least 1-2 lt. would likely evaporate during an hour long boil.

I believe I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here.

When making extract beers do you generally not boil it?

I've never not boiled the extract.

It is common practice in the U.S. to pretty much treat malt extract like wort following the sparge. That is to say, after adding the extract to hot water (usually at or near boiling) then you boil the solution for about an hour, add hops at the start of the boil and/or at various times during the boil, cool the wort, and then finally pitch the yeast.

Is this not the case in the UK?

I suspect this may be the source of some of my confusion.

- Scott

 

[tazuk]

unless i reading this wrong he using a 2 can kit you only need to ad boiling water to cans to get the extract out of cans then top up with water :wha:

I was going to suggest that at least 1-2 lt. would likely evaporate during an hour long boil.

I believe I may be getting the wrong end of the stick here.

When making extract beers do you generally not boil it?

I've never not boiled the extract.

It is common practice in the U.S. to pretty much treat malt extract like wort following the sparge. That is to say, after adding the extract to hot water (usually at or near boiling) then you boil the solution for about an hour, add hops at the start of the boil and/or at various times during the boil, cool the wort, and then finally pitch the yeast.

Is this not the case in the UK?

I suspect this may be the source of some of my confusion.

- Scott

 

[joe22gg]

yes i am using a two can kit. On the kit it specified NOT to boil the malt extract or it would diminish the flavour of the kit. So are you sure my brew wont taste a bit watered down. I don't mind adding something now while I can. Thank you.

 

[Stihler]

Interesting.

I've heard of such kits but I've never actually seen one.

Personally I would add perhaps another 2-3 lt. of water and boil it for perhaps 45 minutes or so. Perhaps add some aroma hops to during the final 2-3 minutes of the boil.

These no boil kits are going to take some getting used to.

At any rate, if you follow good sanitization procedures I'm sure the no boil kits can be used to make good beer.

However, steeping specialty malts, boiling and adding your own hops should make the beer far more complex. Then again the resultant beer would not necessarily be the beer you intended you to brew when your purchased the kit.

Sorry I'll get off of my soap box now.

- Scott

 

[PD]

If its a kit beer. a woodfordes wherry, St Peters Ruby or anyone of the hundreds of other kits, then it is usual not to boil the wort. Although it can be beneficial.
If making the brew up from LME or DME then yes you boil and add your hops etc as you do in all grain brewing. But with a kit, all the flavours have already been added to produce your ready to use wort. If you are not careful you will destroy that particular flavour and composition and not get the beer you were hoping for.
What you have done here is made your brew 2 litres over the recommended amount and yes it will be a little weaker in alcohol and taste than what was intended by the kit manufacturers. But not drastically so. Go ahead with what you have it will be a good drinkable beer I'm sure.
You really should have rinsed your cans out with a little boiling water as scraping the tins will not get out all the sugars and goodness. You will throw a lot away.
These mistakes are made, just learn from them for your next brew.
In fact for your next brew rinse the cans out with boiling water and make the brew up to 19 litres with water, You are then doing the opposite to what you have done this time and are brewing a little short. i.e 19 litres as opposed to 23 litres.
You will have a little less amount but it will be fuller and tastier.

 

[BigYin]

pd has got it spot on - nothing you can do with this brew, but it's not lost - it'll be perfectly drinkable, and you've learnt some valuable lessons :thumb:

 

[dx4100]

I over shot my first kit by 2 litres... The result was lower abv and it wasn't as tasty as it should of been. But it was drinkable. Just one to chalk up to experience.

 

[dx4100]

yes i am using a two can kit. On the kit it specified NOT to boil the malt extract or it would diminish the flavour of the kit. So are you sure my brew wont taste a bit watered down. I don't mind adding something now while I can. Thank you.

You could add some dry malt extract... Which you add to boiling water and then add to the FV. But as said above it won't turn out as the kit was meant to.

I wouldn't bother... Just see how it comes out, chalk it up to experience and be a little more careful next time. You won't make the same mistake twice :)

You will end up with drinkable beer, but just a bit weaker than expected.

 

[joe22gg]

Indeed. Lesson learned. Are you sure you cant add some dried malt extract or something to get the flavour up so that the beer can be more tasty and less watery taste. Thanks. By the way, the brew is happily bubbling away, so thats a good sign.

 

[joe22gg]

This just popped into my mind. How about adding something in to enhance the flavour when i transfer the beer into a barrel. Could I also add a little more sugar then recommend also when transferring into a barrel. Any help would be great. Thanks.

 

[Dave1970]

This just popped into my mind. How about adding something in to enhance the flavour when i transfer the beer into a barrel. Could I also add a little more sugar then recommend also when transferring into a barrel. Any help would be great. Thanks.

I wouldn't, you'll just end up with lots of sediment in the barrel, and if your barrel doesn't have a pressure relief valve you'll over-pressure the barrel.

If you're sure you want to add some extra fermentables then now is the time to do it.

 

[Pearlfisher]

I'd be tempted to chuck something like a can of Cooper's APA in it.

 

[DirtyCaner]

I'm sure it will be fine mate, if it's your first brew, don't worry!

 

[Baldbrewer]

You could always dry hop to add a little extra flavour?

15-20g goldings in preboiled muslin bag weighted down with marbles or stainless cutlery or nuts etc. For 7 days.

 

[fbsf]

I was just going to say that. Definitely dry hop it - well worth it for any non-boil kit IMO...

 

[joe22gg]

Ok I added a 500 gram bag of Muntons Dried Medium Malt powder. I had to use a balloon whisk to mix it in properly and it was time consuming considering you had to add a little bit at a time in order to prevent clumping.

Now about a half hour later it started bubbling away. However the next morning I find about 2mm of dead yeast on the bottom of the barrel. Now I did find some dead yeast prior to mixing in the dme but nothing near the 2mm mark. Did I kill a lot of yeast when I mixed in the dme. The beer shop said this would be ok to do. Help. Also this morning she is still bubbling though.

 

[PD]

sounds fine to me... some brews drop lots of sediment.

Leave it alone for a week at least....

 

[joe22gg]

Thanks everyone for your help - it's very much appreciated.