Nick Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hey Guys, i am loving the Authentic IPA and want to put another batch down this weekend. trouble is, i am not a real good quaffer and find it hard to stop at one. what if i left the 500gms of dex out completely? would it affect the flavour or just the ABV? i am fine with an ABV of 4.8% as long as the body and flavour is the same Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Keen to hear what people say with this one as I am planning an IPA next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 i dont think you'll be disappointed Scotty, the AIPA is bloody big beer, it just has that slight alcohol bite that i dont need and it also puts my light out a bit early. hence the reason for the thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hi Nick. If it were me, I'd drop the dextrose down to 100-200gms. Leave the LDM amount as is. You should end up with an ABV approx 4.8-4.9% based on the lower dextrose amount. Depends which Calculator you use. I am just starting to drink the Coopers IPA I made a little while ago. Drinking lovely. I used 500gms Dry Malt, 250gms Dextrose, 250gms Maltodextrin for that brew. Beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 5, 2012 Author Share Posted November 5, 2012 yep thats what i was thinking Lust, just wanted confirmation as i didnt want to ruin it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Dextrose ferments out completely, doesn't really contribute to flavour (in amounts like this recipe anyway) and only increases ABV, so if you were to completely remove it from the recipe it shouldn't affect the body or flavour, since all the malt is still there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 I want to lower the ABV, or learn to drink slower. [crying] So which way should I go? BE2 or LDM? I assume the extra malt will balance out the brew and make it less hoppy, which in turn flies in the face of the IPA. Or based on these quantities, is this assumption incorrect or irrelevant? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2012 Share Posted November 5, 2012 Hi Lotm. Have you brewed the Coopers IPA kit yet? It is a very forward flavoured kit tin. Shifting LDM amounts between 500gms & 1kg is not going to overpower the flavours of this kit by very much (IMHO). In terms of drinking less vs lowering ABV, it's a personal choice. Personally I like ABV to be between 4.5% & 5.2%. I've found if I want certain levels of flavour I can't meet that without some increase in ABV, so I say, "To hell with ABV, I want that flavour!". Thus I may end up towards the 5.2% mark. Most recipes can be adapted somewhat to suit a final ABV you want, but you will always notice more obvious differences the further away from a base recipe you stray. Beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordEoin Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I think you'll be fine. Personally I'd probably just half the fermentables and add 500g LDM and 250g dex, water to 21L. Each to their own [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I never bother trying to hit a certain ABV, however, I do calculate it to give me an idea of roughly how much grain to use to achieve a ballpark figure. At the moment, 5kg base malt + whatever specialty grains appears to yield around the 5% - 5.5% mark, depending on how thoroughly the yeast ferments. If I wanted to reduce it I could try 3.5 or 4kg base malt etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 what if i left the 500gms of dex out completely? would it affect the flavour or just the ABV? i am fine with an ABV of 4.8% as long as the body and flavour is the same I do brew to ABV, I find that a six pack of anything over 5% leaves me feeling a bit hung over next day. I also find that when the ABV is below 4.4% I really don't need to worry about how many I drink in terms on that hangover feeling. Anyway I have found that you can brew a quite flavoursome mid strength beer as long as you are up around the 4 - 4.2% mark, my first kegged middy was 3.6% and that was way too low and lacked flavour. As for the IPA I think it makes a very good mid strength at 4% with plenty of flavour. The trick, with kit brewing, is to ensure you are steeping specialty grains and adding late hops. (Many people believe that it is a waste of time adding bittering hops to a kit and the IPA kit doesn't need them). It might not be recommended practice but I am using between 350 and 400 grams of crystal malts in my mid strengths. The result is that my last four mid strength brews have packed a bigger flavour punch than any full strength K&K that I have brewed and the mid strength IPA is up there with my best full strength using spec grains. Sorry for blabbing on, Nick, but in summary I don't think you will have any problem if you leave out the DEX. I would however look to get some spec grains in there (Check the other IPA thread for Hairy's choice), if you want to stay at 4.8% after adding the grain adjust the volume to suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 6, 2012 Author Share Posted November 6, 2012 Babble away Scott, its great info. I have started experimenting with hops, but not grains. briefly, what real difference will be made and what specific grains inprove kit beers? i am satisfied with my lagers and pale ales, but like my darker ales and stouts. is there any secrets in adding grains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wal Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 is there any secrets in adding grains. Nick, while I don't pretend to be an expert on the use of grains I can say from my experiences that there doesn't seem to be any great secrets. I use small amounts of specialty grains in nearly all my brews now. Usually I just bring some water to the boil and take it off the heat before adding the grain. I use a grain sock/bag thing (it probably has a technical name) as it helps keep it all together, which makes it easier to remove from the water. My first time I didn't use one and had to strain the water a few times to get everything out. As for selecting which grains to use, I rely a fair bit on my HBS guy for guidance and must say that I haven't been dissapointed with a brew yet. [cool] [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wal Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 I neglected to add in my previous post that I then boil the resulting liquid to make my hop additions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 what if i left the 500gms of dex out completely? would it affect the flavour or just the ABV? i am fine with an ABV of 4.8% as long as the body and flavour is the same I do brew to ABV, I find that a six pack of anything over 5% leaves me feeling a bit hung over next day. I also find that when the ABV is below 4.4% I really don't need to worry about how many I drink in terms on that hangover feeling. Anyway I have found that you can brew a quite flavoursome mid strength beer as long as you are up around the 4 - 4.2% mark, my first kegged middy was 3.6% and that was way too low and lacked flavour. As for the IPA I think it makes a very good mid strength at 4% with plenty of flavour. The trick, with kit brewing, is to ensure you are steeping specialty grains and adding late hops. (Many people believe that it is a waste of time adding bittering hops to a kit and the IPA kit doesn't need them). It might not be recommended practice but I am using between 350 and 400 grams of crystal malts in my mid strengths. The result is that my last four mid strength brews have packed a bigger flavour punch than any full strength K&K that I have brewed and the mid strength IPA is up there with my best full strength using spec grains. Sorry for blabbing on, Nick, but in summary I don't think you will have any problem if you leave out the DEX. I would however look to get some spec grains in there (Check the other IPA thread for Hairy's choice), if you want to stay at 4.8% after adding the grain adjust the volume to suit. Nick, listen to Scott; it's all good advice. One of the things to look out for with mid-strengths is the FG as this in an indicator of the body of the beer. Hence Scott noticed an improvement in his mids when he increased the specialty grains. Another option is to use a yeast like Windsor which doesn't usually attenuate as much as others, like US-05. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted November 6, 2012 Share Posted November 6, 2012 briefly' date=' what real difference will be made and what specific grains inprove kit beers? i.... is there any secrets in adding grains.[/quote'] Hey Nick Wal has pretty much hit the nail on the head, it is one of the simple things that you can do to improve your beer. It must be simple, I normally don't cook, SWMBO handles that, I only do the beer. My method is not that different to Wal except I steep without a bag, inside my oven set at 60'C and I rinse the grains again with 65'C water. Grains freshen up the kit, impart different flavours and can give the beer more body. Crystal Malt in my opinion is quite subtle, Chocolate Malt and Roasted Barley on the other hand are quite dominant. I'm not sure about the others but will be trying some Victory Malt soon as recommended by Hairy. Choc Malt and Roasted Barley will be ideal for your darker beers, lovely toasted/roasted flavour. For your IPA I'd go for Crystal 1st up. Without wishing to run another advertisement for my Stella IPA I will use that recipe as an illustration. If you bottle this you will have an IPA that is around 4.8%. You can use different hops and grains if you like. What you'll need: Coopers IPA kit Light Dry Malt 750g Dextrose 150g Medium Crystal Malt (120 EBC) 400g 50 grams of aroma hops (I used Stella). Make up to 23 litres Yeast I used 12g of S04. You can buy your grains cracked, I don't I place them between grease proof paper and crack them between a rolling pin and cutting board. Boil 1.2 litres of water and cool to 75'C. Stir in your cracked grains and put the lid on the pot, temp will drop to 65'C. Either steep like this for 30 minutes or place in oven set at 60'C. (When my grains come out of the oven the wort is still at 65'C). It won't matter a great deal if you let the temp drop. Boil another 1.2 litres of water, time this, at the end of the steep strain the grains into another pot, put the grain back into the original pot and pour in the other 1.2 lites of 65'C water and strain again. You now have a 2.4 litre wort, make this up to 3 litres, mix in 120g of LDM and bring to a rolling boil. Once boiling set your timer to 7 minutes and drop in 10g of hops, with 3 minutes left on the timer add another 15g of hops. Take of the heat and let stand while you add the remaining LDM and dextrose to your FV. If you are concerned about added the hot wort to your FV you can cool it. Strain the grain/hop wort into your FV and progress as per your normal method. Aim for 17'C for pitching your yeast. When the Krausen layer subsides dry hop with the other 25g of hops. Leave Brew in FV for 14 days FG should be 1.009 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 cough.. IPA. Vital Statistics: OG: 1.056 \u2013 1.075 IBUs: 40 \u2013 70 FG: 1.010 \u2013 1.018 SRM: 6 \u2013 15 ABV: 5.5 \u2013 7.5% BY comparison.. APA, note where one stops and the other ends. Vital Statistics: OG: 1.045 \u2013 1.060 IBUs: 30 \u2013 45 FG: 1.010 \u2013 1.015 SRM: 5 \u2013 14 ABV: 4.5 \u2013 6.2% .. of course, only matters really if you are brewing to style [whistling Sorry.. [ninja] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 What you'll need: Coopers IPA kit Light Dry Malt 750g Dextrose 150g Medium Crystal Malt (120 EBC) 400g 50 grams of aroma hops (I used Stella). Make up to 23 litres Yeast I used 12g of S04. Well Scottie, rounded up all the ingredients and will attempt my first foray into grain additions tomorrow. i got fuggles for aroma hops as i thought they wil best suit this recipe. i am looking forward to drinking some at xmas as i will leave this in the bottle for at least a month. Cheers and beers lads[biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 What you'll need: Coopers IPA kit Light Dry Malt 750g Dextrose 150g Medium Crystal Malt (120 EBC) 400g 50 grams of aroma hops (I used Stella). Make up to 23 litres Yeast I used 12g of S04. Well Scottie, rounded up all the ingredients and will attempt my first foray into grain additions tomorrow. i got fuggles for aroma hops as i thought they wil best suit this recipe. i am looking forward to drinking some at xmas as i will leave this in the bottle for at least a month. Cheers and beers lads[biggrin] have just read the Damn, SO4 yeast thread. i will no chance of fermenting this much lower than 24degrees. should i still go with SO4? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lotm Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 is there any secrets in adding grains. Nick, while I don't pretend to be an expert on the use of grains I can say from my experiences that there doesn't seem to be any great secrets. I use small amounts of specialty grains in nearly all my brews now. Usually I just bring some water to the boil and take it off the heat before adding the grain. I use a grain sock/bag thing (it probably has a technical name) as it helps keep it all together, which makes it easier to remove from the water. My first time I didn't use one and had to strain the water a few times to get everything out. As for selecting which grains to use, I rely a fair bit on my HBS guy for guidance and must say that I haven't been dissapointed with a brew yet. [cool] [biggrin] I steeped grain for the first time last weekend. I just steeped the grain in a Chux cloth (you can buy giant ones too for bigger grain additions) bundled up loosely and sealed with a zip tie. I then boiled the mixture for 30 minutes and threw in the hops towards the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 i have been boiling and steeping hops that way. but in my mind i would think that boiling grain would be better if they were loose rather than compact in a bag. i just think that more sugar and flavour would be released. Boiling in a bag would be much easier than straining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Boiling grain is not recommended. It can extract tannins which cause unwanted and unpleasant flavours in your beer. What you need to do is remove the grains first, leaving behind the resultant liquid, maybe give them a rinse to get a bit more out and then boil that liquid without the grains in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 Hi Otto Man.[happy] I also think Nick needs some advice on maintaining a good temp for his FV through this brew outside a fridge. Perhaps you could enlighten him on how you achieve this, as from what I've read, you seem to have one of the better methods that works on FV's for those without a temp controlled brew fridge. Cheers, Beer. (Anthony). [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Posted November 7, 2012 Author Share Posted November 7, 2012 all good with steeping the grain, i have just reread Scotts original post with this recipe. temp is a drama though, i cant use the laundry sink for 14 days to stand the FV in cold water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 7, 2012 Share Posted November 7, 2012 all good with steeping the grain' date=' i have just reread Scotts original post with this recipe. temp is a drama though, i cant use the laundry sink for 14 days to stand the FV in cold water.[/quote'] If you don't mind me asking Nick, what recipe are you planning to brew? Beer. (Anthony) Edit: Sorry, just spotted it earlier in the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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