MikeS16 Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Hi, Looking to brew a beer for the wife... Thought the lawnmower (the mid-strength recipe) might be an option. She like a bitter style / plain style (and I am trying to slowly mod the palate...) - Any suggested adds to this? My fermentor is only 23 lte to full... so I plan to drop it down to 23 ltr. - I guess you get a slightly higher alcohol?. - Will this upset the flavor balance with less water Thanks for your help (again...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Bitterness is usually added by boiling hops, so this might be a good excuse to get into hop additions if you haven't already? You can make a simple hop tea to add by boiling them. The longer they're boiled for the more bitterness you get, but the boil time also affects whether you get flavour, aroma or just bitterness from them so it can be a bit of a juggling act. Adding more hops might be a bit much for your wife though if she just likes it plain. Other than that, if you can only do a 23L batch then adding less sugar should result in a lower strength beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 My fermentor is only 23 lte to full... so I plan to drop it down to 23 ltr. Are you saying that you have a 23 litre FV and you will add 23 litres or wort to it? So no headspace at all? You would be better off brewing a 19-20 litre batch. You can even brew it at the same gravity as the 23 litre batch and top it up with boiled water before bottling. - I guess you get a slightly higher alcohol?. - Will this upset the flavor balance with less water As for dropping the volume from 25 to 23 litres, I don't think you would even notice the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeS16 Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Thanks for the responses... Hairy, 23 Ltrs to the Mark - 25-26(odd) to the roof (no head space). Its an old fermentor. So do for 23...(yeap). - I was think of adding 250-500g of Dextrose or sugar to get it up a little - target would be 4.5 -5.0? Any thoughts. King. As for hops. only done 2 brews. Used Amarillo in a golden recipe (still in the fermentor 1) and an mixture of cascade and Nelson Sauvin in a Dark Ale...(bottled tonight. Both recommended form 2 different beer shops. Basically i have no idea what hops to put in a larger. Suggest i go with a bitter taste, so will boil early (as per suggestion). Can you suggest a hops. My GUESS (and its only that - as i found a sheet on the internet. This internet thing is a powerful beast.. ) is: - Pride of Ringwood - Santiam - Saaz - Stirling I would welcome any suggestions... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 I don't have much experience with brewing so my knowledge is a bit select and limited, but last time I was at the LHBS I asked about Hallertauer hops and was told they are very common in lagers. A starting point perhaps? They're low in bitterness (I think) so less likely hood of a complete fail ale. The OS lager kit actually has ale yeast by the way, so it's not really a lager, it's just designed to taste like one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeS16 Posted March 25, 2013 Author Share Posted March 25, 2013 Funny you say about the Yeats... as 2 kits I have purchased from Woolies, have not have the yeast in the Kit... I have purchased a larger yeast from Brewcraft locally..(hopefully OK - it says all purpose so who knows). Hallertau - May as well give it a go... Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Ruddager Posted March 25, 2013 Share Posted March 25, 2013 Alright, I'm going to have a crack at formulating a recipe for you, but I'm new to this so wait for one of the knowledgeable guys to okay it before jumping in [wink] Cooper OS Lager tin 500g light dry malt 600g Dextrose 15g Hallertauer, boiled for 30 minutes Kit yeast why not That's about it. Boil the hops in a few litres of water and strain it into the fermenter - that's about the easiest way to do it. The bitterness of the kit is "21.2" and my suggesting will add another "5.3" ... whatever that means [lol] If it sounds like too much then reduce it to 20 mintues. You'll reduce the bitterness but end up with more hop flavour. This chart might help you make sense of what I'm trying to say ... The other thing is that, bottled, this recipe will have about 4.6%ABV. The best way for you to alter that (if you wish) is to adjust the amount of dextrose. Each 100g will add (or take) about 0.2% It's based on a 23L batch too by the way. Use Hairy's method to achieve this amount why not. Note that when he says to add boiled water he means boiled not boiling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeS16 Posted March 26, 2013 Author Share Posted March 26, 2013 I will give it a shot... And will update. fermentor in Cleannig stage overnight. Will Kick of tomorrow.... Will update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hairy Posted March 26, 2013 Share Posted March 26, 2013 Funny you say about the Yeats... as 2 kits I have purchased from Woolies, have not have the yeast in the Kit... I have purchased a larger yeast from Brewcraft locally..(hopefully OK - it says all purpose so who knows). Hallertau - May as well give it a go... Thanks You may want to check with your LHBS to see if this is a true lager yeast or an ale yeast. The description of all purpose is a bit confusing. If it is a lager yeast then you will need to ferment it around 12 degrees (give or take a few degrees). Also, you may as well throw some Hallertauer in at 5 minutes too if you have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PB2 Posted March 27, 2013 Share Posted March 27, 2013 Funny you say about the Yeats... as 2 kits I have purchased from Woolies' date=' have not have the yeast in the Kit...[/quote'] If they are Coopers kits, missing the yeast, give our customer service a yell and we'll send out sachets + spares [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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