n00b questions

[Crash]

Hi everyone! As the title suggests I'm pretty new at this, made 2-3 batches of extract and actually getting a bit frustrated at how rubbish they are. Going to try a mini-mash of some description this weekend to get some results.

1. One can of extract for 22L seems a bit weak, Most recipes seem to recommend 3-4kg of extract instead of 1.7kg, is this right?

2. One can Coopers Ale + can Macs Pale + 1kg crushed Crystal + 50g fuggles = gud beer?

3. Can I prime the bottles with dry malt, and what difference does it make?

4. Why do most NZ beers taste so bad, Speights/Tui/Lion Red etc? What were they aiming for before making it fizzy and freezing cold?

I'd like to encourage any other n00bs to add questions too!

[Antony Kenwright]

Ok, might be too late for you but from what I have learnt about kit brewing from Hauraki Home Brew is: -
1, - 22L is perfect for a 1.8kg kit. Just add 1kg of dextrose when mixing and 5ml of sugar when bottling. Its easy!
2, - Why are you mixing 2 types / brands / make of beer? Sorry, but that sounded horrible! Stick to one 1.8kg per 22L.
3, - Sorry, I don't know...
4, - Being from England I don't think NZ beer is the best. But all NZ commercial beer isn't the tasiest and is mass produced so being fizzy makes the alcohol quicker - therefore making the process quicker and making more money - and colder cos thats how Kiwis like it!

Hope that helps and remembers its fun!

[Greig McGill]

It's been a long time since I brewed extract, but here goes:

1. I agree, it's way too light unless you top it up with more malt/other fermentables. Sorry Antony, but I don't think just adding dextrose will help. :)

2. Mix brands all you like - it's all just hopped malt extract. Experimentation is the spice of life. 1kg of Crystal is way too much though in my opinion. try about 300g. As for the 50g of Fuggles, when would you add them? At the beginning of the boil, you'll just get bitterness and no flavour, at the end of the boil, you'll get mostly aroma, a little flavour, and almost no bitterness. It's a continuum. I'd suggest asking Kempicus when he gets back from Galbraiths... erm... I mean business in Auckland. He's the goddamn beer whisperer and does amazing things with extract.

3. Yes you can is the simple answer. In practice, I wouldn't. You're asking for trouble with infection, and at the end of the day the amount you're using is just enough to carbonate, so there's no real perceptible flavour difference. It's just sugar - albeit maltose instead of sucrose, glucose, or dextrose.

4. You'd have to ask the brewers. In my opinion (no yelling at me, marketing and accounting types - it's an opinion) it's due to the breweries making cheaper and cheaper product, using continuous fermentation, and with more and more adjuncts and stabilisers/preservatives - one thing they do get right is consistency, but at what price? They do this at the behest of the company accountants, who are simply obeying their corporate imperative to maximise return to the shareholders. When the product tastes bad, they simply serve it colder, up the fizz, and spend money marketing it based on image to get people to actually pay for (and even claim/genuinely believe they enjoy) swill you wouldn't use to water a pig with. It then becomes a feedback loop - they are brewing what the public demands at this point, even though it's a demand they themselves created based around their crappy product and maintained by general ignorance. This formula seems to play out all over the world, so I don't think we kiwis are unique here. The style is "NZ Draught" or "NZ Brown Lager".

Hope that helps. Others will correct me if I've put you crook somewhere. I didn't really spend long in extract-land as the lure of all grain was strong.

[HerrSchnapps]

Hi! Welcome, and yeah, I was very green at this 6 months ago too; just read heaps, listen to what the guys on the forum have to say, and before you know it, well, you'll know it! Like Greig I wasn't in the extract camp for very long (the lure of all grain was too strong) but I produced some pretty reasonable beers in that time.

1. One can is way too little, and if all you're using is stuff like the Coopers or Macs etc, try out the proper malt extract from your local homebrew shop such as Blackrock or Muntons. Go with at least 3kg (2 x 1.5kg Blackrock) or 3.6kg (2x1.8kg Muntons), depending on the strength needed. It'll cost you around $25-30, but you don't need to add any horrible foul sugar and your beers will a lot better! Then all you need to do is add some hops at various times like Greig says, and voila! Delicious beer!

2. See Greig

3. Yeah you can, but its pretty expensive and not really worth it. Dextrose works very well and is heaps cheaper. Just remember to boil it in 1/2 - 3/4 a cup of water or so, cool, then chuck into your fermentor at the end, let it sit for 30 mins then bottle. You'll cut out a very real risk of infection (I learnt the hard way), and all your bottles will be equally carbonated :)

4. See Greig

Ask away, everyone is very supportive of newbies on here :)

[Glynn Foster]

@HerrSchnapps: How likely is infection, given the alcohol % is higher post-fermentation. I've not boiled the dextrose on most of my beers and it seems to have gone ok. Given that some promote the ease of carbonation drops, it also seems to discount the need for sterilization of your priming substance. Curious to know whether you stir the dextrose in (and thus disturb the trub) or do this in a bottling barrel having racked off the trub?

[HerrSchnapps]

I might just be very paranoid about infection, but even with the post-fermentation alcohol % there's still a chance of a bacterical infection lurking. The only time I individually primed with sugar I ended up with two crates of horrible infected beer, yet it was fine in the fermenter. Though even ignoring this, bulk priming means you end up with all your beer being equally carbonated and to style. It's just so much easier; especially since I use a mixture of 750ml and 500ml bottles. As for doing it, just slowly pour it into the fermenter then use the racking cane to mix it in. Hardly stirs up the trub if at all, and overall it takes less time and effort too.

[vdog]

Is there any reason you couldn't bulk prime the day before you bottle, and leave it overnight for any disturbed sediment to resettle? That's the major reason I've not bulk primed to date, have just done the bottles individually. You're right though, it is a pain in the proverbial to do it that way.

[Barry]

The reason to bulk prime is even priming for all bottles (even with size variation).
A reason not to bulk prime is that it risks extra exposure to nasties and possible oxygenation.

Way up which you think you can minimise/will have less effect on your beer - and do that.