muntons IPA, malt extract and adding hops

[Darrin Smith]

ive purchased a muntons IPA kit an amber malt extract and nugget alpha hop pellets 12%.  Can anyone give me advice on how hops should be added - some add directly to kit and others soak and add 'porrdige' to mixture.  I also need to know how much i should add-i was told 1/4 -1/3 of a packet of hops. Keeping in mind I like IPA's like Emersons JP2010, epic, tuatara etc

one more thing once opened whats the best way to store the hops for next brew

cheers!

Darrin

[JR]

To get a good amount of flavor you need to boil the hops into the beer.

Others may have other Ideas but this is the easiest way I can think of to get good beer from a kit.

1) in the biggest pot you have bring the amber malt to the boil (in about 8-10L of water more if you can)

2) add 1/3 of your hops and start a timer

3) when the timer reads 10 mins add another 1/3 of your hops

4) when the timer reads 15 mins add the last of the hops and turn off the stove and then add the kit to the pot. (try to leave room for it when deciding how much water to use at step 1)

5) put the lid on the pot and sit it in the bath with cold water around it to cool it down.

6) a couple of hours later the pot should be cool - you could change the water in the bath a time or 2 to cool it quicker. Leave the pot closed to prevent anything getting into it.

Step minus 1 done the night before) boil up 12 liters of water and add it to your sterilized fermenter. Close it up and leave it to cool overnight.

7) add your beer to the pre-prepared fermenter half full of water. Add boiled and cooled water to the mix to get the volume you are aiming for (I'm guessing 20 or 22 liters depending on the kit) add your yeast. rock the fermenter back and forth to shake up the wort and get some oxygen into it.

I'm not really familiar with the variety of hops you got but I'm sure they will be alright - I assumed you got a 100gram pack. You might consider just using 50g total divided into the 3 lots. Freeze the rest in an airtight container or bag.

more advice will likely follow - there are lots of ways to make the beer better but that is the least you can do and still get good beer (IMO)

[Darrin Smith]

thanks for that, sounds like a logical process. the pack is 100gram yes - the hop is quite potent having twice the alpha acids of riwaka

http://nzhops.co.nz/varieties/super_alpha.html

do you still recommend using half pack?

[JR]

How much bitterness you extract depends on the alpha acids and how long they are in the boil. In this case they are not in the boil for long so less bitterness will be extracted. To reduce bitterness you could move some of the hops from the 15 minute addition to the 5 or 0 min addition or you could use less overall (say 1/3 of the pack).
15 5 and 0 min additions are all considered "flavour" or "aroma" additions anyway with "bittering" additions usually 60 mins. That said you do definately still get some bitterness from late additions.

If you over do it with the hops then time does a pretty good job of fixing it as the hops bitterness fades with time.

[Darrin Smith]

thanks JR, will let you know outcome

[Darrin Smith]

put brew down, what a mission! ended up having to do it on bbq as stove didnt have the heat.......... added yeast at 26 degrees as was getting worried about it sitting too loong to cool. woke up this morn and its churning away and has a nice aroma coming out the vent. steady at 22 degrees but am concerned this is too high?

[JR]

22 is fine, ideal even, depending on your yeast.

[bart]

That process sounds a bit over complex for simply adding some hops to a kit... the whole point of doing a kit is for it to be quick and easy, isn't it? The other thing to remember is kits already come complete with the bittering component of their hops additions... it is the flavour and aroma that need topping up due to the kit making process (evaporating it down for ages) destroying some of those more delicate esters.

When people ask me about adding hops to a kit I suggest simply bring 3 litres of water to the boil. Add hops for 10 to 15 minutes. 10g for stouts, 20g for darker english ales, 30g for pilsners and lagers, or 40g for hoppy pale ales or something you just want a bit extra hops oomph.

Then, strain through a sieve into your fermenter before topping up to final volume.

Sure, it's not exact and scientific, but with flavour and aroma hops (under 15min boiling) that is not really as crucial. With a hop as potent as your 12%er I'd probably go closer to 10 mins of boiling rather than 15 if you were worried about over bittering.

Sometimes I think that some of the more 'into it' home brewers completely throw practicality / simplicity out the window in favour of exact precision / 'technical' methods... in the end though if you're just brewing a kit anyway, this method will certainly top up the hops flavours to satisfactory levels.

Also optional - steeping 300g or so of crushed grains (often crystal grains) like a tea for 20-30 mins and then straining that into your fermenter as well to round out the malty flavours and add a bit of depth.

[Darrin Smith]

it wasnt that hard to do

[bart]

oh ok. i just thought that 'what a mission!' should not normally be a term to describe doing a kit beer... if you're going to be boiling pots on the BBQ etc, you might as well be doing some all grain, in my opinion!

[Darrin Smith]

yeah I want to get into that, will taste kit beer and if I get good results well maybe I will stick with kits. The problem I face with scratch making is not having a clue where to start - Id like to watch someone do it first.

[JackoNZ]

BIAB bro. I started out with kits too, then after about 10 of those adding hops and steeping grains I gave the biab a go, never looked back. It's not that hard to do at all and there's plenty of info on here and the web, plus a whole bunch of helpful people to ask questions!

You don't need much to start out, I had to buy a burner, pot and make a bag. Buy some grain and I was off.

[bart]

(Note: BIAB = brew in a bag... i.e. using a mesh bag to hold your grains during mashing or to strain them after mashing)