When do I add my Beer Kit Enhancer?

[Aleman]

Good quality beer is made from malt . . . 100% malt and nothing else . . . this gives it body, and mouth feel. . . . Now it is possible for cost reasons to replace some of the malt sugars with cheaper sugars . . . and in some cases can improve the beer . . . . however when you take a 1.8 or 1.5 kilo kit and then add a kilo of sugar you are producing a beer where 50% of the fermentables come from a cheap nasty fully fermentable source. . . . The resulting beer has a thin body, little mouth feel, and often a cidery taste . . . Using brown sugar instead of white is not going to make a massive difference to this . . .Molasses may, because of the overpowering strong flavour . . . . This is the reason why they came out with beer kit enhancer (which is normally 50% malt extract and 50% sugar), the malt improves the body mouth feel and 'beeryness' of the resulting brew . . .You can improve it further by using 1Kg of spray malt instead.

If all you are after is cheap alcoholic beery beverage to give you a buzz then go ahead and use sugar, if you are after quality beer use 3Kg kits or 1.8Kg kits and beer enhancer/malt extract . . .or for the ultimate quality all grain

As for what to use when priming . . . it really matters little, obviously something like treacle/molasses will add considerable flavour overtones, honey less so (Don't use eucalyptus :nono: :nono: :nono: ), white sugar is more than acceptable, as is Beer kit Enhancer/malt extract. My preference is to use spray malt when I bottle condition, but then I use so little, as I go for a cask level of condition, that it makes little or no difference. For a 5 gallon batch anywhere between 2 to 4 oz of white sugar is fine . . . the less you add the less cloudy the beer becomes and the quicker it clears .. . but the less condition it develops

 

[corby_brewer]

This is the reason why they came out with beer kit enhancer (which is normally 50% malt extract and 50% sugar)

So what did people use b4 beer kit enhancers?

im sorry aleman but some people on this forum me included do not have your knowledge or experience as far as brewing goes. ive only been brewing a few months i made 4 kits then moved on to AG. i personly found that when using brown sugar the results where better than using enhancers, so i put across my personal preferences, if that was wrong then ill apolagise.

And as for the cheep beverage to give you a buzz comment, if thats what i was after i would go out and spend the £20 on cheep cider. But its not i like to brew my own and drink my own.
DS

 

[Aleman]

This is the reason why they came out with beer kit enhancer (which is normally 50% malt extract and 50% sugar)

So what did people use b4 beer kit enhancers?

In the bad old days just sugar and it was known as Kit n' kilo brewing, one kit and a kilo of sugar . . . It produced something that not quite resembled beer. . . . Often the kit manufacturers would adulterate the kit with non malt derived syrups . . . Glucose and non enzymatically converted barley syrup . . . so rather than having a kit with 1.5 or 1.8 Kg of hoped malt extract you were actually getting 750 to 900g of malt extract 750 to 900g of sugar and then you were expected to add another kilo of sugar. It was no wonder that it failed to resemble beer. often the good advice of the time was to buy two kits and ferment them together adding no sugar which produced a much better result. Muntons was one of the first to start producing 3Kg no sugar kits, which were a significant improvement on what was out there. Many others have followed suit, and a lot of the manufacturers of the 1.8Kg kits have now cleaned up their act (Coopers come to mind) and the kits are mostly malt extract from brewing grade barley, the cheapest end of the market are still pretty nasty though. It was also at this time that Muntons started producing Spray malt and beer kit enhancer (which shows that they were at least listening to the mailing lists and newsgroups of the time) for their 1.8Kg kits.

im sorry aleman but some people on this forum me included do not have your knowledge or experience as far as brewing goes.

Nor my arrogance either :lol: No need to apologise after all it is just my opinion

ive only been brewing a few months i made 4 kits then moved on to AG. i personly found that when using brown sugar the results where better than using enhancers, so i put across my personal preferences, if that was wrong then ill apolagise.

If it worked for you then great, I will admit that the kits I've made up using BKE I have not been impressed with . . . but I have nothing to compare it with as a comparison with an all grain beer would be unfair. . . . In my experience however, it would be better than the same kit and sugar. And the kits I've made using spray malt I have been very happy with, and well impressed with.

And as for the cheep beverage to give you a buzz comment, if thats what i was after i would go out and spend the £20 on cheep cider. But its not i like to brew my own and drink my own.

Yeah it was a cheap shot, if you want cheep beer its more time effective to buy cases at the local supermarket. . . . The problem is asking if a kit made with X is better than the kit with Y will yield 11 opinions from 10 brewers . . . Tastes and expectations will differ . . . in general though the more you spend the better the result . . . but will the effect be noticeable . . . again that depends on the style being brewed . . . light continental lagers will show much more of an effect than a full bodied stout kit . . . a really hoppy kit will show less impact than a nice delicately hopped one one.

 

[lutonlady]

So I can use some of my beer kit enhancer for priming instead of it going in the cupboard, in the same quantity as sugar in the 5gallon barrell? eg 2 - 4oz or slightly more as its not 100% sugar.

I'm aiming for a quite a frothy ale if truth be told - the more head the better as far as i'm concerned.

I have a 3kg woodfordes kit - golden ale - sounded quite nice on the box...

Thanks for all the usefull comments!

 

[Nic_P]

I've just done the same kit. It's getting bottled in the morning. (Already tastes pretty good)
As mentioned in a previous post Tubby_Shaw's post on how to get the best out of your kit is very helpful.
Just make sure you're careful on your water volumes as the markings on the FV's are not always that accurate. And that you top up TO 23L not add an additional 23L of water.
I used brewing sugar on my last brew which was fine. I'm sure your BKE will be as well.
Have fun.
Nic

 

[Aleman]

So I can use some of my beer kit enhancer for priming instead of it going in the cupboard, in the same quantity as sugar in the 5gallon barrell? eg 2 - 4oz or slightly more as its not 100% sugar.

You can . . the only problem with part using a packet is that the malt extract in it absorbs water and the whole thing will set hard like a brick. . . . I'd save it for another kit, and use it all in one go.

I'm aiming for a quite a frothy ale if truth be told - the more head the better as far as i'm concerned.

The issue is not so much the head but actually getting it out of the keg . . . The problem I've found is that the cheap taps just cause so much foaming you dispense 2 pints of head to a half pint of beer! It does come out with some force . . . The tip about fitting an extension based on a turkey baster is a good one.

 

[lutonlady]

wicked tips thanks guys...

just made the schoolboy error and thrown in an additional load of water - its sitting at just over 25L now. Gutted!

Is it ruined?

The sg was 1.028 without yeast an the 1.032 with it in at 22 degrees - not sure which one to use as the correct reading either. Either way it gonna be well weak!!!

I'm really pannicking now I've mucked it up! Any suggestions on how to save my brew or start again??

 

[Aleman]

Add 500g of beer enhancer . . . stir gently to dissolve (watch out for the foam) . . . check the gravity again . . . if you need to add the second half and stir again . . . don't introduce too much air into it though.

RDWHAHB (Relax Don't |Worry Have A HomeBrew) you haven't ruined your beer . . . it will just be weaker . . . but not by all that much

edit

And if you want a real laugh here is what Happened when I tried to make a Coopers Bavarian Lager Kit Scientia nil potentia est

 

[lutonlady]

Ok, I did that yesterday - And the gravity is still 1028 which is a bit of a pain! See what you mean about the foam, thought I was going to lose it over the floor...

Not sure what to do now so I'm just going to leave it - Had to stick the FV in a big tub of cold water to get the temp down to a constant 22 degrees, as the living room, usually the coolest place in my house was warming up at an allarming rate yesterday.

I'm now enjoying the sounds of the airlock bubbling away, and each time it burps out a healthy beery smell I get ecixted about what it will look like in 8 days or so's time.

I'm now in two minds as to what to do with it once its ready - I have a barrell which I intend to use, and am hopfully going to be able to pop it into the fridge after a week or so...Just wondering if 22 will be too warm for my keg?

The only trouble is my fridge gets VERY cold (eg: freezes all my salad and i have to scrape the ice from it every 2 weeks or so) and thats on the lowest setting. I'm worried it'll go hazy and not counter the inconvenience of having a keg in the fridge that will pee my other half off!

Have tried salvage my old real ale bottles out of the recycling bin, and posted on freecyle to get some freebies but it doesn't half sound like a rigmorol to bottle up...

Any suggestions as to how to give my ale the best chance of success??