Spray Malt- Con of the century?

[rattus rattus]

I started off beer kits using brewing sugar. Then my shop stopped selling them to be replaced on the shelves by spraymalts (the store has a reputation for phasing out budget gear and leaving you with so called 'luxury' models as the customers only option). So I've been using spraymalts for the last few batches, and why not they are meant to lead to better beer. However something caught my attention today that has worried me. I'm pretty sure that when I bought spraymalts in the past they were in 1 kilo bags and so were pound for pound the same weight as sugar. But on buying some muntons wheat spraymalt (for a weissbier kit) I noticed that it only has 500g in it. Is this adequate for a 40 pint brew or have I been making a big mistake all these times by having half the sugars a kit needs? Which is weird because although my beers have usually turned out tasting crap they still are adequate in the alcohol department (around 3-6% I suspect.

To be brutally honest I seriously can't see how it's feasible to spend £7.50 worth on spray malt alone just for the bloody fermenting vessel. Could it be the case that the shop used to sell spray malt in the correct kilo quantities but now only sell them in half packs. Because I'm sure I got the quantities right when I started with the malts a few years ago and I'm worried that the product has changed without me noticing. Put it like this, I am not prepared to fork out another £3.75 on overpriced wheatbeer spraymalt. Am I better off using my 500g spraymalt and supplimenting it with about 530g T&L cane sugar.

 

[RobWalker]

probably. even better to shop around. £2.50 is about right for 500g...

 

[marksa222]

I could be wrong, but I thought spraymalt isn't even fully fermentable, which is why it should give a better mouth feel than brewing sugar. I seem to remember 80% being thrown around. If that is the case, 500g of that would be the equivilent of 400g of sugar. I'd imagine the syrup in a 1 can kit contains some fermentables, so it won't be something daft like 1%, but i doubt you'd get too much past 3%, maybe a little less depending on the kit.

If you were using a 2 can kit, you'd probably have quite a high abv as they don't need any extra fermentables.

 

[Scott]

As far as I'm aware, Muntons have always sold their spray malt I'm 500g bags. The brew kit enhancer comes in a kilo bag, but that has 500g Dextrose and 500g DME.

But even at £7.50 for DME and say £10 for a one can kit, it's still under 45p a pint!

 

[Moley]

But even at £7.50 for DME and say £10 for a one can kit, it's still under 45p a pint!

But if you're spending that much enhancing a budget kit, then you may as well move on to the two can kits, which don't need any extra fermentables, just add water.

 

[Scott]

But even at £7.50 for DME and say £10 for a one can kit, it's still under 45p a pint!

But if you're spending that much enhancing a budget kit, then you may as well move on to the two can kits, which don't need any extra fermentables, just add water.

Depends on what you want to try, there might be a one can kit which you want to try but want to make it as nice as possible. The Coopers kits for example, they are only one can but a lot of people love them, so why not try and make them in the best way possible?

 

[calumscott]

But even at £7.50 for DME and say £10 for a one can kit, it's still under 45p a pint!

But if you're spending that much enhancing a budget kit, then you may as well move on to the two can kits, which don't need any extra fermentables, just add water.

Depends on what you want to try, there might be a one can kit which you want to try but want to make it as nice as possible. The Coopers kits for example, they are only one can but a lot of people love them, so why not try and make them in the best way possible?

Yup! Coopers, Better Brew, Brewferm - all one can (or pouch) and really good kits. Make them better with malt. Actually I used to really push the boat out and go with liquid malt extract rather than spraymalt.

The thing is, even if you go mental and spend £11 on a kilo and a half of LME and £15 on a Better Brew pouch, that is 65p a pint of really decent ale. Compared to the 40p a pint for the same kit made with Tate and Lyle you are going to get WAY better than 25p a pint's worth of improvement.

Frankly, spending the extra for the best fermentables is the biggest no-brainer in kit brewing IMO.

 

[fbsf]

A lot of shops sell spraymalt in 500g bags for £4, and Beer Kit Enhancer in 1kg bags for £6, but your best bet (apart from going down the 2-can route) is to buy it in bulk (to make the most of the shipping costs) from the Malt Miller - £5.60 for a kilo.

Failing that, find a local Wilko store, as they still stock brewing sugar at £2 a bag.

 

[rattus rattus]

Yeah, I'm guessing what I used to buy was the beer kit enhancer. The question is how long have I been buying the Muntons Spray Malt in half quantities thinking it was the same thing. It's a pity that every time you learn from a mistake you only end up making a new mistake next time. Too many variables in homebrewing for you to properly isolate what went wrong, the game's rigged.

I think I'll fork out the extra dosh on a 2nd bag of spray malt. When it comes to overpriced and/ or faulty accessories I tell you could write the full book.

 

[calumscott]

When it comes to overpriced and/ or faulty accessories

Spraymalt is neither - it makes a hell of a difference to your beer.

It's a value for money accessory. I wonder about your LHBS though. They should have been there to give you the advice you needed.

Ah well, you're here now, we'll keep you right! :thumb:

 

[fbsf]

The question is how long have I been buying the Muntons Spray Malt in half quantities thinking it was the same thing.

But has your beer suffered? If not, then you've been drinking a slightly weaker beer (better for the liver) that tasted none the worse for it and saved yourself a couple of quid in the process :party: :

 

[Deejie]

But even at £7.50 for DME and say £10 for a one can kit, it's still under 45p a pint!

But if you're spending that much enhancing a budget kit, then you may as well move on to the two can kits, which don't need any extra fermentables, just add water.

Depends on what you want to try, there might be a one can kit which you want to try but want to make it as nice as possible. The Coopers kits for example, they are only one can but a lot of people love them, so why not try and make them in the best way possible?

Yup! Coopers, Better Brew, Brewferm - all one can (or pouch) and really good kits. Make them better with malt. Actually I used to really push the boat out and go with liquid malt extract rather than spraymalt.

The thing is, even if you go mental and spend £11 on a kilo and a half of LME and £15 on a Better Brew pouch, that is 65p a pint of really decent ale. Compared to the 40p a pint for the same kit made with Tate and Lyle you are going to get WAY better than 25p a pint's worth of improvement.

Frankly, spending the extra for the best fermentables is the biggest no-brainer in kit brewing IMO.

Useful discussion... Can't wait to start my next brew. Particularly intrigued by LME. Perhaps it's time I moved on from caster sugar :s

Cheers
DJA

 

[RobWalker]

But even at £7.50 for DME and say £10 for a one can kit, it's still under 45p a pint!

But if you're spending that much enhancing a budget kit, then you may as well move on to the two can kits, which don't need any extra fermentables, just add water.

Depends on what you want to try, there might be a one can kit which you want to try but want to make it as nice as possible. The Coopers kits for example, they are only one can but a lot of people love them, so why not try and make them in the best way possible?

Yup! Coopers, Better Brew, Brewferm - all one can (or pouch) and really good kits. Make them better with malt. Actually I used to really push the boat out and go with liquid malt extract rather than spraymalt.

The thing is, even if you go mental and spend £11 on a kilo and a half of LME and £15 on a Better Brew pouch, that is 65p a pint of really decent ale. Compared to the 40p a pint for the same kit made with Tate and Lyle you are going to get WAY better than 25p a pint's worth of improvement.

Frankly, spending the extra for the best fermentables is the biggest no-brainer in kit brewing IMO.[/quote]

yeast too, and water treatment if you need it. both pennies, both significant improvements!

 

[Jazz]

I've going to be using Coopers Brew Enhancer #2 for my next kit. It's basically 1/2 malt 1/2 brewing sugar + a bit of maltodextrin.

http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-g ... ars/sugars

Anyone tried these ? It's slightly cheaper than Munton's.

Can anyone tell me the difference between Cooper's Brew enhancer #1 and Cooper's Brewing sugar ?

 

[Deejie]

Just to follow-up...

Have Just barrelled a brew of Muntons premium gold smugglers this week. I transferred from the first bucket to a second fermenter after a week, but added about 40g of medium spray malt - on a whim more than anything. Have now popped it into a kingkeg with a further 40g, and have promised self will not touch it til December 24th.

Now im a relative newbie to this, But the samples I took (purely for the purposes of taking hydro readings you understand were already superb - a fuller flavour than any I've had in the past, using basic kit ingredients.

Will, of course, update at chrimbo.

And, thanks for the advice. I was blind but now I see.

:
DJA

 

[clibit]

Getting 500g confused with 1kg seems a bit odd? Weigh it! :nono:

I used to do kits and now use grain in a bag. It costs loads less and makes much much better beer. Takes longer, that's the drawback. But it's so worth it, I would never go back to kits now for any reason because the beer would seem second rate.

You could perhaps mash some pale malt and add it to a kit though, instead of adding spraymalt. 2kg of pale malt would cost £2-3. Just soak in a mesh bag in water in the 65 - 70 *C range for 45-60 mins and then take the bag out and boil it for an hour. Add to your kit and top up to 23 litres. You could boil some hops in it for the last 5-15 minutes and get some good hop flavour/aroma going on. Save money and get a big improvement in your beer for a bit more (easy) work. You could also use unhopped malt extract, dry or liquid, instead of a kit can, and do all the hopping yourself. Buy the malt extract online in bulk and save a lot more money.

2kg Pale malt plus 1.5kg liquid extract gives approx OG 1040 for a 23 litre batch. (approx £10 total from Maltmiller/Homebrewcompany). Add hops and yeast for around £3-4 a batch.

2kg Pale malt plus 1 kg dry extract gives approx OG 1036 for a 23 litre batch. (approx £9 total plus hops/yeast)
2kg Pale malt plus 1.5 kg dry extract gives approx OG 1044 for a 23 litre batch. (approx £12 total plus hops/yeast)

Or you could soak 4-5kg grain and bring it down to £5-8ish for 23 litres plus hops/yeast. And improve the quality again, fresh hop and malt flavour, different world. (4kg gives OG around 1040, 5kg around 1048). You can add more grain, malt extract or sugar if you want to boost the strength.

Edit: The Home Brew Company (see top off page) has 1.5kg tins of liquid extract for £4. And 3kg of dried extract for £13.30. (£4.43/kg) Plus postage, so stock up.

 

[LeithR]

Just checked out the Malt Miller, mostly his price for a 1Kg bag of Spray Malt is about £5.60, he has a 1Kg bag of Spay Dried wheat malt at £7.00.

 

[clibit]

The Homebrew company has wheat spraymalt, 1kg for £4.75 and 3kg for £14.25.

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/ing ... -3_36.html

Their liquid malts are here...

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/ing ... -3_38.html

 

[SloeBrewer]

Sugar is pretty much 100% fermentable by yeast, so all it gives you is ethanol (alcohol). Malt (and thus spraymalt) is a mixture of maltose, dextrins and proteins and is only about 70% fermentable.

Using only sugar will give you ABV, but will leave you with a thin, watery beer. Using DME will give your beer body, flavour and head retention.

If you think that those qualities are not worth the money, then just use sugar. If you want a nice pint, use DME.