Munton's Oaked Ale

[Snowster]

OK, about to do my second ever brew. The first (Kinder Bitter - came with the kit as a gift) was bottled 4 week's ago and is just about drinkable. It was awful 10 days ago... So, I picked up a Munton's Oaked Ale kit to try to get a decent enough beer before moving to small batches of AG (BIAB).

I've seen some guidance that Munton's yeast, as supplied with the kit, is too little and may stall, so I've purchased some extra (12 g of Safale US-05 - apparently an American Ale Yeast). My questions:

1. How much extra yeast should I add - the kit comes with 6g of American Ale Yeast? Should I use the Munton's yeast at all or just replace it? If I replace it how much should I use...?

2. I also picked up some amber spraymalt with the aim of adding this at the priming (bottling) stage. Is this worth it or do I just use sugar, noting I couldn't find Brewers Sugar in my LHBS?

3. Anything else I can do to improve the beer? I don't want to add extra hops as I'm not a fan of hoppy beer.

Grateful for any advice :thumb:

 

[dad_of_jon]

OK, about to do my second ever brew. The first (Kinder Bitter - came with the kit as a gift) was bottled 4 week's ago and is just about drinkable. It was awful 10 days ago... So, I picked up a Munton's Oaked Ale kit to try to get a decent enough beer before moving to small batches of AG (BIAB).

I've seen some guidance that Munton's yeast, as supplied with the kit, is too little and may stall, so I've purchased some extra (12 g of Safale US-05 - apparently an American Ale Yeast). My questions:

1. How much extra yeast should I add - the kit comes with 6g of American Ale Yeast? Should I use the Munton's yeast at all or just replace it? If I replace it how much should I use...?

2. I also picked up some amber spraymalt with the aim of adding this at the priming (bottling) stage. Is this worth it or do I just use sugar, noting I couldn't find Brewers Sugar in my LHBS?

3. Anything else I can do to improve the beer? I don't want to add extra hops as I'm not a fan of hoppy beer.

Grateful for any advice :thumb:

I brewed this with mangrove jacks west coast yeast and brewed short to 21 litres I ended up with 5.25%.

I used the whole packet of yeast.

and i used brewing sugar to prime.

http://www.wilko.com/homebrew-accessories+equipment/wilko-brewing-sugar-1kg/invt/0309419

The Oaked ale chips do make a bit of a mess. i'd suggest putting them in a sanitised muslin bag.

The beer was really good, a cross between hobgoblin and guiness with a hint of vanilla. It wasn't a very hoppy beer either, so should suit you well.

 

[Graz]

Did pretty much exactly what you are suggesting with this kit.

I ditched the yeast that came with it and used a sachet of Safale US-05 instead.

Other than that just followed the instructions. I just lobbed the oak chips in a most seemed to settle out, some of the bigger ones got caught in the sediment trap when I syphoned it out of the fermenter.

I put mine in a pressure barrel and primed with brewing sugar. It seemed like it primed well except I had a bit of a catastrophe where I dislodged the tap on my barrel and ended up having to dump the whole lot back into a FV and then re-barrel it. As a consequence it ended up a bit flat but still tasted nice. It was also a bit hazy and this again may have been due to its re-barreling but the beer was so dark it really didn't detract from it.

Nice kit and I may well try it again on day, perhaps even bottle it so it can mature properly.

 

[Snowster]

Guys, thanks very much. So, I'll use the Safale yeast (12g) and ditch the Munton's. I'll pop the oak chips into a small hop muslin bag, and follow the kit for the rest.

I'll bottle - and that has been the success of my last brew with great carbonation - so that all sounds good.

Really useful to get advice from those that have already done it :thumb: