Making big beers

NewDirection

So most of my beer kit exploits have all come in a little on the low side to what I'd expect for the strength of beers.

I am planning on doing some big beers 6-7% next, and was wondering what was the best approach.

If I wanted a big IPA for example, could I just use the regular coopers IPA kit and throw in 1.5-2kg DME, or would it be better to get two tins the IPA wort, and add in 1kg of DME say.

Is there anything else needed when making these high strength beers, like adding bitterness for example?


I know the above post is all over the place, but any tips would be appreciated.

BeerNut

If you're sticking with kits it's best to get ones that are intended to finish at that strength, like some of the Brewferm Belgian-style ones.

If you want better flexibility it's time to go extract or all-grain.

Krusty_Clown

The 3kg Muntons IPA kit (which I'm brewing at the moment) describes an option of adding 1kg of brewer's sugar to raise it to officer's strength (approximately 6.5% by my reckoning). Might be an option.

sharingan

BeerNut wrote: »

If you're sticking with kits it's best to get ones that are intended to finish at that strength, like some of the Brewferm Belgian-style ones.

If you want better flexibility it's time to go extract or all-grain.

Got that Brewferm 'Old Brown Ale' on the go. Its a slow fermenter, only down to 1.020 as of yesterday (after 2 weeks).

@NewDirection - I would recommend 'double kitting' rather than upping fermentables. That way you preserve flavour. Some brew kits have instructions for increasing strength (often by creating in smaller volumes - double kitting will still leave you with a decent sized batch).

I have done a bit of brewing with malt extract only (usually with ginger beer) and the results lack a bit of body (but are made up for with the ginger adding its own flavour and kick). I don't think a mostly malt beer would be that nice (extract brewing notwithstanding).

Ronan cork

I made a lovely ipa using st peters ipa kit and put in an extra kilo or so ( don't have my book with me) of amber dme and boiled up and threw in 100g of cascade pellets. Turned out at about 6.5% and very bitter but with great body and tons of flavour. I like my ipa's very bitter but maybe half the cascade would produce a more rounded beer

Krusty_Clown

Ronan cork wrote: »

I made a lovely ipa using st peters ipa kit and put in an extra kilo or so ( don't have my book with me) of amber dme and boiled up and threw in 100g of cascade pellets. Turned out at about 6.5% and very bitter but with great body and tons of flavour. I like my ipa's very bitter but maybe half the cascade would produce a more rounded beer

Why did you boil up the Cascade pellets; just for the extra bitterness? I'm doing something similar with the aforementioned Muntons IPA kit, and was just going to add the Cascade pellets after fermentation is pretty much done and leave it for two weeks (hoping to get extra floral hopiness rather than more bitterness). I'm assuming (from reading sage advice on this forum) that I can add the hop pellets (in a sanitized muslin bag) un-boiled.

Ronan cork

Yeah it adds a bit more hop flavour to the beer but when making the wort the infection risk is higher than when adding to secondary so it makes sure there are no bacteria on the hop bag and on the hops. I put them into the Tins when I fill them with boiling water to get the last of the lme off the sides.
Yes when fermentation is complete you can just add them as the alcohol makes it harder for infection to take hold but I usually give the bag a blast of starsan just to be sure

BeerNut

Hops are totally self-sanitising. They're a natural antiseptic in themselves. With kit brewing and dry hopping there's never any need for bags or boiling: just bung them in. Pellets might leave some gunk in, but that'll sink to the bottom, in the fermenter or in the bottle.

sharingan

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Why did you boil up the Cascade pellets; just for the extra bitterness? I'm doing something similar with the aforementioned Muntons IPA kit, and was just going to add the Cascade pellets after fermentation is pretty much done and leave it for two weeks (hoping to get extra floral hopiness rather than more bitterness). I'm assuming (from reading sage advice on this forum) that I can add the hop pellets (in a sanitized muslin bag) un-boiled.

You can add hop pellets without the muslin bag too. They break up and go right down to the bottom with the sediment.

Krusty_Clown

Wow! Opened the bag of Cascade Hop Pellets, and the smell is incredible (massive difference to the hop tea bag I used for my last kit). Specific gravity was down to 1.019 (from my starting gravity of 1.064), so I figured that was low enough to add the hops without introducing risk to the batch. Added 50g of the Cascade pellets. So, will this impact the SG readings further down the line? I presume there will be some level of break-down of the hop pellets which will increase the SG, or will the pellets just settle at the bottom of the fermenter, so any change to SG will be relatively unnoticeable?

Ronan cork

Hops do not dissolve in water so will not effect gravity

Krusty_Clown

Took a sample yesterday and the beer is tasting really good (even at this early stage), but I got a bit of a shock when I checked hydrometer readings. I was expecting the fermentation to grind to a halt at around 1.019 (as suggested in the instructions when adding additional fermentables (1kg brewers sugar)), but it's gone from 1.064 down to 1.010, so is approximately 7.1% after two weeks (including one week with the additional hops). It seems that the constant 18.5'C caused by the Irish summer suits the yeast.

I still have green sludge on the surface of the fermenter (which I associate with the hop pellets). It looks a little like this, but not quite as thick. Will this drop to the bottom eventually, or should I transfer the beer to a secondary before bottling?

sharingan

What exactly is the 'brewers sugar' if its dextrose, it will ferment completely, unlike malt which is about 75% fermentable. That would explain your unexpectedly low FG (or go most of the way towards it.

Krusty_Clown

sharingan wrote: »

What exactly is the 'brewers sugar' if its dextrose, it will ferment completely, unlike malt which is about 75% fermentable. That would explain your unexpectedly low FG (or go most of the way towards it.

Yep, Dextrose. Thanks for solving that one. Still didn't think it would get down to that level. it'll have to be more of an occasional beer, than a 'go to' beer. Will skip the additional fermentables the next time!

sharingan

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Yep, Dextrose. Thanks for solving that one. Still didn't think it would get down to that level. it'll have to be more of an occasional beer, than a 'go to' beer. Will skip the additional fermentables the next time!

'Other Fermentables' are usually fine, as long as it is spraymalt. But you have to be careful when mixing malt and and 100% fermentable sugar or your expected FG will be off.

For instance, any honey wine, fruit wine or 100% sugar ferment will ferment down to 0.990 in most cases.

Krusty_Clown

Thanks for the helpful advice sharingan. Any thoughts on the green foamy layer at the top of the fermenter (which I attribute to adding the hop pellets)? It's been about 9 days since I added the pellets, so i was going to bottle soon. Not sure if the foam is suspended pellet matter or just a standard by-product of dry-hopping? Think I can ignore it and go ahead and bottle, or should I siphon to a secondary and bottle from there?

sharingan

Sounds like a by product of dry hopping - the fine particles will stay mixed in the foam until the foam clears. It should clear out in time, and the hops should settle then.

Or you could sprinkle more finishing hops over the foam to burst the bubbles and let them all sink, unless you are being specific about the amount of hops you want to use (aroma hops would be best at this stage - early fermentation tends to get rid of most of the hop aroma).

I wouldn't worry about the foam too much. I certainly wouldn't use any measures that could compromise your beer, just to remove hoppy foam.

When you bottle you can discard the sludge at the end, and time in primary will assist your beer more than racking.

Krusty_Clown

Cheers. Will leave it for a few more days to see if the foam dissipates and then will bottle it regardless. I kicked this one off on the 10th, so it's had 16 days. A few more days won't do it any harm. Hopefully fermentation is well finished and the SG doesn't drop any further!