Simply Pale Ale Kit

[Ian Booth]

After a break of nearly 20 years I'm getting back to home brewing. My preferred beers are hoppy IPA style beers for everyday drinking, including some American IPAs, (although I find some of them a bit OTT on the hops) and rich stouts, including Imperial Stouts. So I'm planning on starting off with an IPA style, which I'll put in a pressure barrel, and then brew a stout which I'll bottle.

So starting with my IPA style I was thinking of getting a Simply Pale Ale kit and brewing with a brew enhancer. I would like to know if this would benefit from dry hopping in view of my above comments, and if so any suggestions as to which hops and how much?

Really looking forward to getting back into the brewing.

Ian

 

[Robbo851]

if you like it hoppy then definitely add hops- amazon sell some good hops already in tea bags so no mess - personally I like Citra hops for a tropical fruity taste. all depends on what you like.

 

[terrym]

If you are looking for a beer with a high degree of carbonation, like an AIPA don't put it into a PB, since they are pressure limited, and the style carbing levels are too much for the PB. So if its an AIPA style you are looking to recreate then bottle it, although an English IPA would probably be OK in the PB. However the good news is that stouts are fine in PBs.
Most kits benefit from adding extra hops usually through a dry hop or a hop tea (an infusion of hops where either the tea only or the tea and the hop bits are added to the brew) so I recommend you go ahead and do it.
There are a good selection of hops available from Crossmyloof Brewery here
https://www.crossmyloofbrew.co.uk/hop-guide
Many on here use CML including myself, and Forum members get a discount of 10%.
If you are stumped for choice, I suggest Cascade US (not the UK) from their range.
And this may help on dry hopping if you have not done it before
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=61045
And personally I would use 40 to 50g as a dry hop if you are not wanting to get overwhelmed

 

[Ian Booth]

Thank you for the replies - very helpful.

Terrym, I'm not looking for a highly carbonated beer. When I talked about my like of IPAs it's English IPAs primarily I was referring to. Whilst I enjoy a lot of AIPAs I do find some a bit OTT. I plan to bottle the stout as I know that it'll get drunk over a longer period of time and I also appreciate that it improves with age. A friend of mine brewed a batch of Imperial Stout which I sampled over a period of serveral years and it only got better. I think the last one I had had been in the bottle for 5 years - it was awesome!

Cheers, Ian

 

[terrym]

Ian
FYI many on here appear to use this for priming rates, including me.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/
And I never put more than 95g of sugar into my PB irrespective.
Finally if its an English IPA you are looking to emulate with your kit then for extra hops you could go for any of EKG, First Gold, Target, Northdown. There will be others too.

 

[Ian Booth]

Thanks for that. I quite like the citrusy hops as long as they're not overdone, but I also like the floral hops that characterise Shepherd Neame ales for example, so maybe a bit of each?. I'm building a temperature controlled cabinet from a fridge so that I can brew in my garage. As I have the ability to control temp is there anything I should know with regards to temperatures for fermentation and dry hopping?

Cheers, Ian

 

[terrym]

Thanks for that. I quite like the citrusy hops as long as they're not overdone, but I also like the floral hops that characterise Shepherd Neame ales for example, so maybe a bit of each?. I'm building a temperature controlled cabinet from a fridge so that I can brew in my garage. As I have the ability to control temp is there anything I should know with regards to temperatures for fermentation and dry hopping?

I have a note that says SN use Fuggles and EKG in their IPA (although cannot be 100% on that). I believe EKG is more floral than Fuggles. Another slightly floral hop is Styrian Goldings. But go steady on this. However if you want a combination of floral and citrus you could try CML's UK Cascade which I did try but preferred the US Cascade since its more citrussy. Trouble is there are so many to try so you really have to take a chance on your first hop and hope it lives up to the description.
As far as fermentation is concerned I usually aim for most ales at 19*C. It seems if you brew at a higher temperature the beer will turn out 'fruitier', lower it will be 'cleaner' However much depends on which yeast you use, especially if it is a specific strain. Also many kit instructions will tell you to ferment higher than 20*C. I believe that this is down to kit manufacturers trying get you to drink their/your beer as quickly as possible to make their product more attractive to first time or casual brewers.
Finally if I dry hop I usually have 4 days at fermenting temperature and the last two in the coldest place I have to help drop the yeast as well as the hop bits. Others do it differently I'm sure. In the end you do what works for you.

 

[Ian Booth]

Thanks. Re your final paragraph. How low should one go? At the moment my garage is probably colder than my fridge?

 

[terrym]

Thanks. Re your final paragraph. How low should one go? At the moment my garage is probably colder than my fridge?

Like mine!
Just so long as the beer doesn't freeze.
In the past my garage that has got down to -2*C and the beer hasn't frozen. However if it was at a sustained -5*C or lower I would expect it to freeze.