Beer concentrates

[Sully]

I have brewed a coopers draught with liquid malt extract but instead of brewing at 23 liters i have brewed at 21 liters. Is this a good way to get a better beer out of these products

[warra48]

Yes.

[Sully]

Thanks for that Warra

[Trough Lolly]

I have brewed a coopers draught with liquid malt extract but instead of brewing at 23 liters i have brewed at 21 liters. Is this a good way to get a better beer out of these products

G'day Sully - one of the first rules of brewing beer with any kit, is to throw away the instructions and use your own instincts. In this case, you're spot on - it wasn't until I got sick and tired of drinking 23L of watery beer that I decided to leave a sanitised hydrometer in the fermenter as I topped up the fermenter with water until I reached the desired starting gravity (around 1.040 to 1.045). Sure, I didn't make too many 23L batches after that, but the beer that I did ferment had good body that made the volume irrelevant!

Cheers,
TL

[skurvy84]

i've got a coppers lager can i got with the kit and was wondering the same.

is there a minimum of water that should be added to kit beer, i was toying with the idea of using half the recommened amount of water (i would use 11.5L) and use the same amount of yeast and fermentables.

or is 11.5l to little, should it be more water?

sorry for the hijack

[Trough Lolly]

Put it this way; don't think about volume, focus on gravity.

One of the most important instruments you'll ever use in brewing is a hydrometer. If you want a balanced beer, stop adding water when the fermenter wort is showing a gravity of around 1.040 or more. That's a good starting gravity for the yeast - not too heavy for yeast that may be less than fresh in the kit and not too light to make the whole batch barely enjoyable. It's perfectly ok to put a sanitised hydrometer in the fermenter wort whilst you add water to the kit.

Remember, that the kits are pre-hopped so you want to keep the malt/hop flavour profile in balance and a starting gravity of 1.040 or more will do the trick. If you add hops because you've added excess top up water, you'll find the malt side out of kilter, ie, thin on the palate. If you add kilos of malt extract (which is a much better idea compared to sugar or dextrose), you'll find your beer will be full of sweet malt flavour but low on hop freshness to balance out the sweetness. It's easy to make beer - the fun part is trying to make a balanced beer that your palate enjoys.

Cheers,
TL

[Sully]

Thanks alot for the info Trough Lolly much apreciated

Cheers Sully