Wilko IPA advice.

[Laszlo]

I'm going to be making my second brew, and I'm using LME kits to start out and experiment with what facilities I have at home. I want to know if my plan is sound or not, I'm still pretty clueless at what I'm doing.

I grabbed a £12 IPA kit from my local Wilko when I went out to get a hydrometer. I'm planning on dry hopping it with some 30 or 40g Ekuanot hops for a week on the 3rd-4th day of the brewing. (I also have some Saaz hops around)

What I am debating is whether to get some better yeast and sugar. I was just going to use the included yeast and just some regular granulated sugar but I've seen that this kit isn't great with them.
I am also trying to do this on the slimmest budget; (I'm 19 and have little else to do during the whole pandemic thing). What would be a good & cheap replacement for granulated sugar that would result in a better flavour? (honey, molasses, brown/demerara sugar??)

Tdlr;

1. Is it worth getting better yeast in this cheap kit?
2. More, less or keep the same hops?
3. Do I keep with the granulated sugar?

would appreciate the advice, I'm still reading through this forum and picking up ideas..

 

[Rodcx500z]

Hi Laszlo, i have done this kit a couple of time's and can only speak for myself, i used 1kg of medium DME ( DRIED MALT EXTRACT ) and 500g of light brown sugar with gervin yeast, i dry hopped on day 9 for 4 days then cold crashed it for 3 days then it went into a pb for 2 weeks with 80g of sugar then 2 weeks in the shed to condition, it was the best beer i have brewed but was good, the hops used were cascade and citra

 

[Laszlo]

Hi Laszlo, i have done this kit a couple of time's and can only speak for myself, i used 1kg of medium DME ( DRIED MALT EXTRACT ) and 500g of light brown sugar with gervin yeast, i dry hopped on day 9 for 4 days then clod crashed it for 3 days then it went into a pb for 2 weeks with 80g of sugar then 2 weeks in the shed to condition, it was the best beer i have brewed but was good

I was just in Wilko too and I'm not going back for 2 weeks, should've gotten some DME then. Oh well. Yeast is cheap online looking at it, might get a pack.

 

[Laszlo]

Bought a pack of Mangrove Jacks M43 New World Strong Ale yeast. Used 35g of Ekuanot hops in 3L of water boiled for 5 minutes and left for 30 minutes. Mixed 1kg of honey, 200g of dark brown sugar and 100g of granulated sugar. Smells insane, and the yeast is going like a rocket. Just unsure about when to dry hop and how much. Guessing about 50g Ekuanot, but might use Saaz instead.

 

[GeorgieV]

Hi Laszlo, I don't think Saaz would be the best hops for an IPA but sometimes the unusual experiments result in really good beer.
If you are looking for yeast on a budget, CML may be a site to have a look at. I bought some hops from them too. Not their prices include the delivery. Also, check the forum's discount thread.

 

[jof]

yes. Saaz is normally a lager yeast and quite delicate in flavour.
It would get lost in a highly hopped IPA - especially if its an american style one.

 

[yrhendystu]

If it's the first time you've done this particular kit I'd do it bog standard and then try experimenting later on with another one so you can compare to see if the extra expense was worth it.

Also you could experiment with different sugars when priming so you can compare how each bottle tastes.

 

[Laszlo]

Nah I could've guessed Saaz would've gotten lost in the IPA, I bought it as part of a Bohemian Lager attempt I was going to do haha. Going to add about 50g of ekuanot to dry hop tomorrow.

Hi Laszlo, I don't think Saaz would be the best hops for an IPA but sometimes the unusual experiments result in really good beer.
If you are looking for yeast on a budget, CML may be a site to have a look at. I bought some hops from them too. Not their prices include the delivery. Also, check the forum's discount thread.

yes I bought my hops from them. Good prices. free delivery on ebay too.

 

[Laszlo]

50g Ekuanot in on day 4. going to leave it for 7 days, cold crash and bottle. lets see how this goes.

 

[Laszlo]

It's been 7 days and hops are out. I measured Gravity on day 5 and it was at 1.010, day 8 my FG was still 1.010, OG was about 1.048, nice around 5%. The dry hops had finished. Smells amazing. I tasted some of my sample and it is really really good, creamy body, lovely hoppy flavour and almost a banana aftertaste (maybe from the yeast?), perhaps slightly too bitter but I like it; should calm over time too anyway. I've put my FV in my garage and I'm going to leave it for 4 days. Should benefit from some colder temps over the weekend. Then bottling time!

I was really excited for this before but now my hopes are even higher!