TC Bootmaker kit.

[Morrie]

OK - The TC Bootmaker kit in the FV is doing just fine despite the very slow start up. It reached FG a few days ago and is now sitting on 21C. I am going to do a dry hop in a few more days at 14C as mentioned in the BrewDog tips. Then a crash chill.

 

I've done a few taste tests from the SG tube (can't waste good beer) and I know it is only young, but my thoughts were that the Bootmaker hasn't got enough intensity for me. I used 1.5kg of LME with the kit. I've been drinking a bit of commercial IPA lately so I guess my taste buds are now tuned for a beer with more impact.

 

I still have 2 more Bootmaker cans left before I try a TC IPA kit. Have any of you blokes got any suggestions as to what I could do with the next Bootmaker I put down to achieve a bit more impact out of it?

 

I'm thinking along the lines of maybe just 17 to 20 litres in the FV? Or a hop boil? Or both?

[shitsngiggles]

What about a Bootmaker Toucan ?

[Otto Von Blotto]

That'd probably end up overly bitter doing a toucan. I reckon a short hop boil and dry hop, plus using 1.5kg dry malt rather than liquid, will probably get you what you're after. If you can't get the dry malt, then use a tin of liquid malt and perhaps drop the batch volume by a couple of litres as suggested.

[porschemad911]

I wouldn't do a toucan first up. As a starting point I'd try this:

• Bootmaker Pale Ale tin
  
• 1.5kg light LME
  
• 50g hop choice (anything that might suite a nice pale ale) boiled for 5 minutes in a few litres of water with some of the LME
  
• 50g dry hop after fermentation slows
  

 

That should give you a bit more of a flavour and aroma hit. I'd see how it turns out and adjust from there. You might find you still can't taste enough hops, or you might find it's overly intense when young then tones down nicely (or a bit too much).

 

For example, this was the late hopping schedule for my last IPA (10.5 litre volume in the fermenter) and it turned out pretty full on but so tasty!

 

10g Centennial @5mins

10g Mosaic @5 mins

23g Centennial @flameout (15 minute steep)

20g Mosaic @flameout (15 minute steep)

25g Mosaic dry hopped for 7 days

 

Cheers,

 

John

[Morrie]

Thanks fellas - yeah, I thought about a toucan with a couple of litres of extra water but decided it would still be a bit much. I've tried a toucan several years back and it was too far over the top for me. Mr Blotto - what would you suggest for a short hop boil for this? Time/quantity wise.

[Morrie]

Thanks John - your last post came in as I was writing my previous one. Sounds like a plan.

[Otto Von Blotto]

Some toucans work, but in this case I wouldn't think it would. John's suggestion sounds like a good starting point though.

[Beeblebrox]

I wouldn't do a toucan first up. As a starting point I'd try this:

• Bootmaker Pale Ale tin
  
• 1.5kg light LME
  
• 50g hop choice (anything that might suite a nice pale ale) boiled for 5 minutes in a few litres of water with some of the LME
  
• 50g dry hop after fermentation slows
  

 

That should give you a bit more of a flavour and aroma hit. I'd see how it turns out and adjust from there. You might find you still can't taste enough hops' date=' or you might find it's overly intense when young then tones down nicely (or a bit too much).

 

For example, this was the late hopping schedule for my last IPA (10.5 litre volume in the fermenter) and it turned out pretty full on but so tasty!

 

10g Centennial @5mins

10g Mosaic @5 mins

23g Centennial @flameout (15 minute steep)

20g Mosaic @flameout (15 minute steep)

25g Mosaic dry hopped for 7 days

 

Cheers,

 

John[/quote']

 

I've got my replacement sample can of Bootmaker & was considering whether to make it as is - up to 23 litres with 1.5kg LDM, or add some hops.

 

I just checked, & now realize the Bootmaker has the same bitterness listed as the Real Ale - which took my palate a while to adjust to.

 

With that in mind, having already been to the LHBS this morning, & purchased 100g each of Cascade & Galaxy hops, as well as a much needed hop spider, I'm considering a short boil for this one of just a little flavour/aroma hops.

 

Perhaps on the conservative side, something like:

500g LDM boiled with 500ml water,

25g Cascade 10 mins + 25g Galaxy 5 mins,

& perhaps a dry hop of one other or both on day 3-4 (again only about 25g each)?

 

Does this sound like a good plan?

[Morrie]

Beebs - I went for a late boil in my current Bootmaker of cascade and amarillo but went 500g LDM to 5 litres of water, which should bring the hop boil mixture somewhere near 1040SG.

[porschemad911]

G'day Beeblebrox,

 

I would do a 5 litre boil with the 500g LDM, add both the 25g Cascade and 25g Galaxy and boil for 5 minutes. Unless of course you have a particular aim in mind by boiling the Cascade for a bit longer than the Galaxy.

 

I have just finished the last bottle of my IPA. It was such a good beer, Centennial and Mosaic are a great combo (as are Cascade and Galaxy from what I hear). If I brewed it again, I'd bump up the hops a bit more as follows ... this is for a 10.5 litre batch:

 

15g Centennial @5mins

15g Mosaic @5mins

25g Centennial @flameout (15 minute steep)

25g Mosaic @flameout (15 minute steep)

25g Centennial dry hopped for 7 days

25g Mosaic dry hopped for 7 days

 

Cheers,

 

John

[Beeblebrox]

I must have had a brain fart.

Of course I meant 5 litres of water with 500g LDM!

 

I'm still thinking of 10 mins for the Cascade, 5 mins for the Galaxy.

 

I'm looking for the tropical fruit flavours of the Galaxy, but as the Galaxy pellets I bought are listed as having 13.8% average alpha, & the Cascade has 6.5%.

I don't want the Galaxy to overpower the Cascade, hence the longer boil for the Cascade, & shorter for the Galaxy.

 

25g of each, or thereabouts should be enough, considering the bitterness the Bootmaker already has.

 

I may even go under 5 mins for the Galaxy, as I'm only looking for a subtle flavour/aroma, & as stated, don't want it to overpower the Cascade; just a subtle blend.

[porschemad911]

From what I have heard, the overpowering quality of Galaxy is due to the strong flavour and aroma impact because of the high oil content, rather than because of the %AA content, which would only affect its contribution to bitterness.

 

This would mean when trying to balance the flavour and aroma contribution you'd use say twice the amount of Cascade as compared to Galaxy, rather than changing the boil time.

 

Given that you aren't looking to pick up a lot more bitterness over the base kit, and bearing in mind the oil balance, I'd do a 5 minute boil of maybe 30g Cascade and 15g Galaxy.

[Beerlust]

As I have come to learn from practical experience, you can pretty much 'two can' any of the kits out there. The difference you need to understand from doing it with one kit vs another revolves around the base IBU (bitterness) of the kit(s) being used. A kit with a lower bitterness level will require less additional unhopped malt to create balance than a kit with a higher bitterness level.

 

With the increase in additional unhopped malt required with some of the higher bittered kits used in a two can situation to create a suitable balance, it will come with an unavoidable increase in final ABV%.

 

Understanding the IBU (bitterness) of the kit you plan to use in a two can brew will certainly help you in deciding how much extra unhopped malt will likely be required to maintain a certain degree of balance.

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

[Beeblebrox]

As I have come to learn from practical experience' date=' you can pretty much 'two can' any of the kits out there. The difference you need to understand from doing it with one kit vs another revolves around the base IBU (bitterness) of the kit(s) being used. A kit with a lower bitterness level will require less additional unhopped malt to create balance than a kit with a higher bitterness level.

 

With the increase in additional unhopped malt required with some of the higher bittered kits used in a two can situation to create a suitable balance, it will come with an unavoidable increase in final ABV%.

 

Understanding the IBU (bitterness) of the kit you plan to use in a two can brew will certainly help you in deciding how much extra unhopped malt will likely be required to maintain a certain degree of balance. [img']wink[/img]

 

Cheers,

 

Lusty.

 

So in the case of doing a 2 can with the more bitter brews, the better option may be that the second can be a can of unhopped malt.

Perhaps if looking at modifying it for flavour & aroma, a short boil & or a dry hop would be a better option with these brews than using a second can of hopped malt to avoid excess bitterness.

[Beeblebrox]

From what I have heard' date=' the overpowering quality of Galaxy is due to the strong flavour and aroma impact because of the high oil content, rather than because of the %AA content, which would only affect its contribution to bitterness.

 

This would mean when trying to balance the flavour and aroma contribution you'd use say twice the amount of Cascade as compared to Galaxy, rather than changing the boil time.

 

Given that you aren't looking to pick up a lot more bitterness over the base kit, and bearing in mind the oil balance, I'd do a 5 minute boil of maybe 30g Cascade and 15g Galaxy.[/quote']

 

Sounds like a solid plan thanks for that.

[Morrie]

OK .... I have just had a couple of bottles of my first Bootmaker and it is a bit less than 2 weeks old.

This is my first temperature controlled brew and my first attempt at dry hopping. This is the one that had the very slow start up due to what we think was BRY97 yeast. So far I am impressed by what I have produced compared to what I have brewed previously. I think the dry hopping must disguise a lot of the immature flavours in the bottle. I still intend to fiddle with the bootmaker further, my next one will get 250g steep of crystal malt. The current one I have fermenting has had a late hop boil. I am very impressed with the bitterness and I am someone that likes a good IPA.

 

This is my first Bootmaker based recipe.

TC Bootmaker can.

1.5 kg of LME

Coopers supplied yeast, probably BRY97 Danstar.

Dry hop at 14º for 5 days than crash chill for 7 days.

Dry hop regime:

Cascade 30g

Amarillo 30g

East Kent Golding 30g

 

I went in a bit hard on the dry hopping because that was the only hop addition I did. They came through with a nice aroma and heaps of flavour which surprised me.

[Scottie]

Hey Morrie

 

I am really impressed with this kit. Mine is 9 weeks kegged after a total of 4 weeks in the FV, so it is fairly mature for a home craft beer. There is no twang in this which is good and this as my third or fourth sampling (session or mini session) shows a melding of the toffee malt flavours and the passionfruit from my dry hop.

 

Personally I don't think this kit would benefit from a crystal malt addition as it tastes like it already contains a fair hit of speciality malt. Probably steep some base malt (60 minute mini mash) if you want to freshen it up.

 

I highly recommend this kit to everyone brewing kits and bits and even extract. I didn't use the kit yeast opting for US05 my very basic recipe is below.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

 

 

Blundstone Pale Ale

 

20 litres

Thomas Coopers Bootmaker Pale Ale

1.5kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt

25g Galaxy at 5 minutes

US05

 

5% ABV

 

[Morrie]

Scottie:

Blundstone Pale Ale

20 litres

Thomas Coopers Bootmaker Pale Ale

1.5kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt

25g Galaxy at 5 minutes

US05

5% ABV

 

Scottie - what a nice simple recipe for a Bootmaker base. Something any novice could do and hopefully learn something at the same time. I noticed you had concentrated it back to 20 litres. I guess this should have given it a bit more body, IBUs and ABV. I haven't quite got my head around being able to use any wheat malt yet. I'm really enjoying the change from K&K sugar to 100% barley malt. Yes....my first bootmaker is only 3 weeks old in the bottle and there isn't too many of them left in the cupboard......going down nicely.

 

This is my current Bootmaker, crash chilling now: (I do like a fruity beer sometimes)

TC Bootmaker

1.5 kg Light LME

500g LDM

Safale US05

 

20g Cascade @ 10 mins

20g EKG @ 10 mins

20g Amarillo @ 5mins

 

Dry Hopped for 5 days @ 14ºC and then removed from FV.

20g Cascade

20 EKG

20g Amarillo

 

Crash chill 7 days.

ABV - bottle 5.4%

IBU - 39

EBC - 9

 

I think it may have been Lusty that said that he had intentions of doing another Bootmaker with an amber malt extract and smashing it with some American "C" hops.

 

[Scottie]

Hey Morrie

 

Certainly increases bitterness and %ABV. Not sure about body, the yeast still seems to chomp through it pretty well and it finished at 1.01.

 

Had to pull myself away from the tap after #3, really, this ranks in my excellent category.

 

Cheers & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

[Morrie]

G'day Scottie - I have a couple of questions about your Bootmaker recipe if you don't mind please.

 

1) Regarding, 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt....why did you use this and what is the result as opposed to light LME?

 

2) You mentioned passionfruit coming through in your dry hop. I'm thinking you may have used amarillo, but you didn't list the dry hop type and weight in your recipe list?

 

I really find this interesting that a mainly AG brewer can rank an extract kit with a few minor additions in an excellent category. You mentioned that the Bootmaker is now 9 weeks old in the keg so I guess it is aging nicely, so I need to try and hold on to some of mine for a couple of months too. I am keen to try this recipe of yours to see what the wheat malt actually does.

 

Cheers - Morrie

 

 

 

[Beeblebrox]

I put down my Bootmaker kit last Monday (4/4), & although the krausen was not as full on as I'm used to, all appears to be going well; obviously just a different yeast than most other brews (I used the yeast that came with the can).

I added 20g Galaxy hop pellets for a dry hop on Sunday, & almost immediately the remaining krausen started to fall out of suspension.

 

So the recipe is:

1 x Bootmaker can

1.5kg LDM

40g Cascade + 20g Galaxy boiled with 5 litres water & 500g LDM 5 mins.

20g Galaxy dry hop added on day 7.

Brew made up to 23.5 litres.

 

I'll leave the brew at least another 4 days at 21c, then will crash chill at around 4-5c for 3-4 days then bottle; I know a longer cc may be beneficial, but it's a compromise between quick turnaround & improving the clarity & flavour; I've only got 2 batches down recently & don't want to run out of beer between brews.

 

BTW this recipe is more or less inspired by the Pacific Summer Ale ROTM.

As the Bootmaker has enough bitterness from the hopped extract in the can, the added hops is just for flavour & aroma, hence the particularly short boil & dry hop.

 

So far it has a nice fruity aroma, so it should work out as planned.

I don't think I could have gotten nearly as good a result without the brew fridge though, & using the hop spider took the stress out of keeping hop sediment out of the FV.

[Scottie]

G'day Scottie - I have a couple of questions about your Bootmaker recipe if you don't mind please.

 

1) Regarding' date=' 1.5kg Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt....why did you use this and what is the result as opposed to light LME?

 

2) You mentioned passionfruit coming through in your dry hop. I'm thinking you may have used amarillo, but you didn't list the dry hop type and weight in your recipe list?

 

I really find this interesting that a mainly AG brewer can rank an extract kit with a few minor additions in an excellent category. You mentioned that the Bootmaker is now 9 weeks old in the keg so I guess it is aging nicely, so I need to try and hold on to some of mine for a couple of months too. I am keen to try this recipe of yours to see what the wheat malt actually does.

 

Cheers - Morrie

 

 

[/quote']

 

Hey Morrie

 

I will quote Coopers

The addition of Thomas Coopers Wheat Malt' date=' made from Malted Wheat and Pale Malt, will result in a softer mouth-feel and improved head retention.[/quote']

I agree with the softer mouth feel, I am a poor judge of head retention though

 

You really should try it, it comes in a can the same as LME. I used it heaps in my kits and bits days mainly with the Coopers Australian Pale Ale.

 

I am getting my passionfruit from the 5 minute boil of Galaxy, I didn't want a dry hop because I didn't want a lot on the nose given I really wanted to see what this kit was about. It is like I am AG but don't want to miss out on the new stuff that Coopers is offering.

 

I here what you are saying about a mainly SG brewer brewing a kit, I am just trying the brew again - to be totally honest I can't fault it.

 

Kegging is the bomb, a secondary ferment doesn't happen (force carb) so the off flavours that are produced in the bottle don't occur and it is ready to drink earlier, plus they reckon the more beer that is in contact with itself the faster it conditions.

 

Cheer & Beers

Scottie

Valley Brew

 

[Morrie]

Thanks for your help Scottie...

I had imagined that the wheat malt was 100% wheat malt. Its been a fair while since I've read through the Coopers fermentables and as you mentioned it is a blend of pale and wheat, so I am quite comfortable about trying it out.

 

Cheers - Morrie.

 

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

Agreed re the kegging. Beer conditions faster in larger volumes, which is why the old trick of leaving it in the FV for a week after it finishes fermenting works to clean up the flavours of it. While that would happen in the bottle it would take a lot longer.

 

I've only ever force carbed my kegs, be it quickly at high pressure or simply leaving them at serving pressure for a week, and I do prefer the flavour of them over the bottled portion of the same batch at the same timeframe. They seem fresher, crisper or something. The bottles do eventually improve to the same level as the kegs but it takes longer to happen.

 

I'll be tapping two kegs next Saturday which will be 3 and 6 weeks old respectively by that stage, and having been stored in the kegerator for 2 weeks (I put them in last Saturday when I cleaned out the last empty one in there). They were quick carbed when filled, but tomorrow I'm gonna burp them and hook them up to the gas at serving pressure for a few days just to make sure they're ready to go. The third keg will be filled that day, and placed at the back of the kegerator behind these other two, and hooked up only at serving pressure and left there until ready. Hoping it blows dry last...

 

These will be the first "aged" kegs I've tried, as all the other ones just went straight into the kegerator once filled and gassed up over a few days to be ready to drink.

 

Anyway, back on topic for a change I'll keep the Bootmaker kit in mind if I get into a situation where I don't have time to do an AG batch and just need a quick brew to put down to keep the stocks going. It doesn't seem to have any bad reviews, aside from the yeast problems but it sounds like that's all been sorted now which is good.

 

Cheers

 

Kelsey

[Big Cuppa]

I just made the TC Bootmaker Pale Ale with brew enhancer 3.

It has good colour and aroma but rather than citrus & pine flavour and aroma to me it has an aftertaste similar to ginger ale soft-drink, with less ginger of course and tastes like cloves.

It is not unpleasant and I'm thinking it would be a good base for a Julebryg.

 

Any similar thoughts?