Space Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 OK, so you brew a brew few kits and you decide you want to take the next step to make something a little bit nicer. What is the next easy step to take (assuming you've already got temperature control sorted)? What's the simple tweak you can do to the standard kit brew that can take you one small step closer to beery heaven? 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stickers Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 light crystal malt is a good starting point - here's the first tweak i tried from the fair drinkum pale ale recipe on this site (you might not be able to access this link but have a look at this forum thread where you can get access to the recipes) Place the Light Crystal Malt in a plastic zip-lock sandwich bag and crack it using a rolling pin. In a good size pot (around 5 Litres) bring 2 litres of water to approximately 65-70°C, add the crushed Light Crystal Malt (we recommend wrapping in a mesh cleaning cloth, pulled straight from the wrapper) and let steep for about 30 minutes. Remove the grain by gathering up the corners of the mesh cloth and lift, allowing the liquid to drain from the Light Crystal Malt back into the pot. Bring the liquid to the boil for 5 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and add half of each of the Enigma Hops and Vic Secret Hops and steep for 30 minutes with the lid on the pot. Set the pot in a cold/ice water bath to cool (approx. 15 minutes) then strain into a fermenting vessel (FV). Add the Coopers Australian Pale Ale and Coopers Brew Enhancer 3 to the FV, stir to dissolve then top up with cool water to the 17 litre mark and stir thoroughly. Check the brew temperature and top up to the 21 litre mark with warm or cold water (refrigerated if necessary) to get as close as possible to 19C. Sprinkle the Lallemand American East Coast Ale Dry Yeast then fit the lid. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pints Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 7 hours ago, Space said: OK, so you brew a brew few kits and you decide you want to take the next step to make something a little bit nicer. What is the next easy step to take (assuming you've already got temperature control sorted)? What's the simple tweak you can do to the standard kit brew that can take you one small step closer to beery heaven? My first was a simple dry hop. Still my favourite 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezzza Posted January 1, 2022 Share Posted January 1, 2022 9 hours ago, Space said: What's the simple tweak you can do to the standard kit brew that can take you one small step closer to beery heaven? Use the Kit Then use Liquid Malt as the adjunct - not sugar or dex.... see picture below... And then I suggest using a BE3 in a box as well as... All goes towards great mouthfeel, head and head retention. Just one possibility... 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loafing_about Posted January 2, 2022 Share Posted January 2, 2022 Either a small grain steep or a dry hop- both are ready and make big differences but in very different ways. Try one then the other using the same kit and temp to compare- and make notes so you know what you did! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamus O'Sean Posted January 3, 2022 Share Posted January 3, 2022 On 1/1/2022 at 9:42 AM, Space said: OK, so you brew a brew few kits and you decide you want to take the next step to make something a little bit nicer. What is the next easy step to take (assuming you've already got temperature control sorted)? What's the simple tweak you can do to the standard kit brew that can take you one small step closer to beery heaven? Just use a different yeast. A lot of yeasts are not very different. However, some can give amazing differnt tastes and aromas to your beer. Some great examples are Saison; Wheat; Lager (instead of Ale); Kolsch; Belgian Ale; and Philly Sour. In my early brew days I did lots of split batches. I would make up about 8-10 litres of wort using one of the Coopers concentrates plus 1kg of fermentables. Then I would split this volume into 2 Craft fermenters. One I might just do exactly to the recommended recipe and the other I would do something different. Yeast, Hops, Grain Steep, etc. The beauty of this approach is you have 2 different beers ready to try and compare at the same time. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stquinto Posted January 5, 2022 Share Posted January 5, 2022 Agree with all: grain steep, hop boil, different yeast, dry hop/hop tea… and a bit later try collecting yeast from Coopers bottles. Happy Brewing! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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