Beer making 101
Kit Hacking Recipes
Posted by Neil Bamford, August 31st, 2010 | 1 Comment
We will start off the recipe section with a couple novice hacks. Simple modification of the water added, a quality yeast culture and dry hopping are the keys. Follow the directions provided in the kits with the following exceptions.
These recipes are for 5, 4 and 3 gallon batches. You will need to adjust your priming sugar to match recipe volume and beer style. Generally, ¾ of a cup of corn sugar should suffice for 5 gallons, a ½ cup for 4 gallons, and 3/8 of a cup for 3 gallons. If you find these priming rates too low or too high, change them to suit your taste.
American Brown Ale
Munich Dark Lager Brewhouse kit
4L spring or carbon filtered or RO water
Replace dry yeast with Wyeast 1272 American Ale II (Anchor Liberty) liquid yeast
56g Falconers Flight hop pellets, dry hop last 7-10 days in fermenter
American Style IPA (3 Cees IPA)
India pale ale Brewhouse kit
4L Water
Replace supplied dry yeast with Wyeast 1056 American ale (Sierra Nevada) liquid yeast
14g Cascade hop pellets, dry hop last 7-10 days in fermenter
14g Columbus hop pellets, dry hop last 7-10 days in fermenter
14g Centennial hop pellets, dry hop last 7-10 days in fermenter
*Want to make this a Kick ass IPA or Imperial version simpy add no water and double both the hops and the yeast.
English Style IPA
India pale ale Brewhouse kit
4L spring or carbon filtered or RO water
Replace dry yeast with Wyeast 1028 London Ale (Worthington White Shield) liquid yeast
14g UK Golding hop pellets, dry hop last 7-10 days in fermenter
14g Fuggle hop pellets, dry hop last 7-10 days in fermenter
The following recipes are considered advance hacks as they require you to heat up 2 US gallons of water to 170 degrees to steep your grains and then to boil for a certain amount of time in order to sterilize the wort and to extract the bittering effects from your hops. You will then need to cool down the wort in an ice water bath. To do these advanced hacks you will require a minimum 3 US gallon pot (stainless or aluminum), thermometer, stove, sink and ice.
Brew House Irish Stout
(Dry Irish Stout: Guinness, Murphy's)
Ahh, wine of the country. Dry, smooth, quaffable, and distinctly satisfying. Many homebrewers who started in the dark ages (the 1970s) wanted nothing more than to make Guinness, the ne plus ultra of the homebrewer's art. The secret lies in the barley; use lots of roast barley and, for that dry "popcorn" taste, flaked barley. Here's how:
Ingredients for 5 gallons:
1 Brew House Munich Dark Lager kit
12 oz. roast barley
8 oz. flaked barley
1 oz. Northern Brewer hops
Wyeast 1084 Irish ale yeast
Optional ingredients:
8 oz. quick oats
12 oz. lactose
1. Crack your roast barley and place it, with the flaked barley, in a grain bag. If you wish to make an oatmeal stout (Samuel Smith), include the quick oats.
2. Add grain bag to 2 gallons of cold water in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grains, add the Northern Brewer hops, and boil for 20 minutes. If you want to make a milk stout (Mackeson's), dissolve lactose in the liquid during the last 5 minutes of the boil.
4. Remove pot from heat, cool, and use the liquid to make up the 5 gallon (23l) volume of the kit. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package (package #1).
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 60–70°F.
6. From this point, follow the Brew House kit instructions for secondary fermentation, bottling, etc.
Initially, this stout will have a very sharp, grainy, roasty taste, quite coffee-like. With 6 weeks of aging, it will take on a mellow, smooth, luscious character, with the bitterness of the grains integrating with the maltiness of the dark lager base. The crispness of the Northern Brewer hops will unite it all, and suddenly the voice of Saint Brigid will ring in your ears: "I dream of Heaven, with a great lake of beer. . . ."
Variations on a theme:
So, you're looking for the ultimate stout adventure, the big, bruising black buccaneer of the brewers' business, an ale so big, only the Russian Empire could hold it—Russian Imperial Stout. Follow the recipe above, but instead of using water for steeping the grain and hops, use about 2 gallons of wort out of the kit. After boiling, add this liquid to the remaining wort and don't add any water. If you've done everything right, you'll wind up with about 3 gallons (11.5l) of wort at a starting gravity of 1.075–1.080. You can ferment with the 1084 yeast. After this, follow the Brew House instructions, but rack to a 3 gallon carboy on day 5-7. This beer should be aged for at least a month before bottling, and another two months before drinking. When it's ready, it will leave you speechless: try a scoop of good ice cream in it for a sinful Czarist float (we favor chocolate gelato). Also, save a few bottles for a year or two; you'll be amazed by the changes they undergo.
Further variations:
* Take an unpreserved (no sorbate, benzoate, sulfite or other chemicals) fruit purée or juice concentrate (cherry, raspberry, and blackberry work well) and add it to the stout, either the dry Irish or imperial style. The amount you use will depend of the concentration of your purée or juice, but try a quart or so to begin with. Follow the regular schedule, adding the fruit to the boiled liquid after removing it from the heat.
* Make a holiday stout by following the imperial stout recipe and adding cinnamon, dried orange peel, nutmeg, anise, and any other appropriate spices to the liquid during the last 5 minutes of the boil. Start with two tablespoons or less of each, depending on how well you like your spices. Keep in mind that you'll have 3 gallons of this stuff, so if you overdo it . . . .
* Espresso stout . . . the perfect morning pick-me-up! Make the regular dry Irish version (no oatmeal, no lactose) and add 8 oz. of finely ground dark-roast coffee to the grain/hop water after removing it from the heat. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, cool, and use the liquid to make up the volume of the kit. Don't worry about the coffee floating all over the top: it'll settle out with the yeast by racking day. Mmm, mountain grown, the richest kind . . . Mrs. Olsen never had it so good!
What else goes into a stout? If you're in the Pacific Northwest, probably more hops. If you're a millet- producing region, try some sorghum syrup. In New England, maple syrup. In Seattle, prime each bottle with an extra shot of espresso. In short, your stout can truly be yours. Tell us your favorite recipe: we can't have all the good ideas!
Imperial India Pails of Ale
(West Coast Pale Ale: Pyramid, Grant's, Anchor)
One of the most impressive pale ales to come out of the Pacific Northwest in recent years is Rogue Ale's I2PA (Imperial India Pale Ale). Deep golden, with a fine maltiness, I2PA is a delicious beer. Drinking it is like getting ones head trapped in a hop conveyor. Layers and layers of hop bitterness, raging hop flavor, and enveloping hop aroma overwhelm the senses, leaving one breathless and ready for another pint.
The people at Rogue Brewing were kind enough to confirm the exact ingredients for us, something not a lot of big breweries would do. The ingredient list—with the precise quantities—would make you gasp and/or laugh. John Maire (Rogue-in-Chief) has an answer to any question: "Add more hops." How can you duplicate this beer? Well, you can't, but we'd like to think this recipe is reminiscent of a truly stupendous pale ale. What's a lupomaniac to do? So much time, so little hops . . . .
Ingredients for 3 gallons:
1 Brew House Pale Ale kit
1 lb. Light caramel malt 10-20L
2 oz. Cascade hops
2 oz. Saaz hops
4 oz. East Kent Goldings hops
Wyeast 1056 American Ale yeast
1. Crack your grain and place it in a grain bag.
2. Put 2 gallons of wort from the Brew House kit in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Add grain bag and place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grain, add the Cascade hops, and boil for 10 minutes. Add Saaz hops and boil for a further 10 minutes (20 minutes in all).
4. Remove pot from heat, cool, and use the liquid to make up the 3 gallon volume. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package. NOTE: Don't worry about the hop sludge. Dump it in the primary (all of it). It will settle out before the first racking.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 60–70°F.
6. From this point, follow the Brew House instructions but rack to a 3 gallon carboy on day 5-7. On day 20, when the beer would normally be ready to bottle, rack into a clean carboy and add the East Kent Goldings as a dry hop. (Dry hops expand quite a bit, and you're using a lot of them. Make sure you leave enough space in the carboy). Wait for a month for the full flavor of the hops to come out, and then rack off, prime and bottle as usual.
Two months in the bottle would be almost enough time for this amazing beer to mature. The 1056 yeast is very clean and aggressively attenuative, much like Rogue's pacman yeast, and will strip away any off flavors to reveal a beer with smooth maltiness and insane bitterness. More hops!
Variations on a theme:
Changing the crystal malt comes to mind, with brumalt (Gambrinus honey malt) topping the list of possibilities. More hops could be added, but only by those pushing the ludicrous button pretty hard. The addition of kettle sugars (such as brown sugar) to boost the gravity might be nice. Experiment, but above all remember: there's no such thing as too much hops!
Pavement Pounding Porter
(Porter: Samuel Smith, Sierra Nevada)
Porter has a long history as a beer style in its own right. It evolved from the dark-roasted barley that was common in England before the industrial revolution. The acidity of the brown malt combined well with London's slightly alkaline water, producing delicious dark beers. Roastier and less black than today's stouts, porter highlights subtle hoppiness and fruity yeast qualities—no other black beer does this quite as well.
Ingredients for 5 gallons:
1 Brew House Cream Ale kit
8 oz. 50°L crystal malt
8 oz. chocolate malt
½ oz. Hallertau hops
Wyeast 1318 London Ale Yeast III
1. Crack your grains and place them in a grain bag.
2. Add grain bag to 2 gallons of cold water in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grain. Boil the liquid for 10 minutes, then add Hallertau hops and boil for 10 more minutes (20 minutes in all).
4. Remove pot from heat, cool, and use the liquid to make up the 5 gallon volume of the kit. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 60–70°F.
6. From this point, follow the Brew House kit instructions for secondary fermentation, bottling, etc.
Variations on a theme:
The recipe above makes a style of porter called "ruby." There are several more styles, including robust, prosperity, Pennsylvania, and original London. There is also West Coast porter, typified by Anchor Brewing and Sierra Nevada; its unique aroma and flavor come from a twist of piney, citric American hops. In addition to having developed stylistic differences, porter previously attracted the use of all sorts of adjuncts—some aromatic, some flavorful, and some downright toxic. Capsicum pepper, grains of paradise, quassia (ersatz cinnamon), molasses, spruce, juniper, ginger, etc. etc. have all been recommended as porter flavoring from time to time. Let your imagination be your guide, but be moderate to begin with: we can still remember the 2 quarts of molasses we put into a batch of porter. . . .
Further variations:
* For a robust porter, use the above recipe but include 3 oz. of black patent malt. For your 2 gallons of grain-steeping liquid, use 1 gallon of water and 1 gallon of wort from the Cream Ale kit. This should yield 4 gallons with a starting gravity of approximately 1.060.
* For a smoked porter, use the basic recipe and add 8 oz. of any one of the following crushed grains: German rauch malt, or home-smoked pale malt. Smoked porters take a little getting used to, but they have an elusive, delicious quality that makes them "more-ish." You can add more smoked malt, but remember that the smoky quality should complement the roast grains, not overwhelm the
Dupe-All Golden Ale
(Belgian Strong Golden Ale: Duvel, Lucifer)
For the most part, Duvel is simply made, using Belgian pils malt and some sucrose. Its complexity derives from the yeast used—or, rather, the yeasts. Originally Duvel was fermented with 20 strains of yeast, but these were eventually refined to two strains; naturally Moortgat isn't talking about which two they chose. For each batch of Duvel they split the wort, ferment the two portions separately with the different yeast strains, and then blend them. They also add sucrose (yes, table sugar) to the secondary fermenter to increase the strength of the beer without changing the color. The result is a beer as light as pilsener, with a sweet, pear-like aroma, and 8.5% alcohol . . . yeehah!
Ingredients for 4 gallons:
1 Brew House American Premium Lager kit
1 lb. CaraPils malt
1 lb. Belgian Candi Syrup
1 oz. Kent Goldings hops
1 oz. Saaz hops
Wyeast 1388 Belgian strong ale yeast
1. Crack your grain and place it in a grain bag.
2. Place the grain bag in a 3 gallon (or larger) pot with 1 gallon of cold water and 1 gallon of wort from the kit. Place over medium heat. Bring temperature to 170°F and hold for 20 minutes, stirring the grain bag occasionally.
3. Remove and discard grain, add Kent Goldings hops and sugar, and boil for 20 minutes. Remove pot from heat, add Saaz hops and steep for a further 5 minutes.
4. Cool the liquid and use it to make up the 4 gallon volume. Top up with water if necessary. Do not forget to add the pH adjustment package.
5. Pitch your yeast culture and ferment at 65–75°F.
This beer will require long aging (at least three months in the bottle) before it develops the smooth, delicate fruitiness and complexity that are the hallmarks of Duvel.
Variations on a theme:
"Dupe-All" is an authentic example of a Belgian strong ale, but there are many variations within the style. Heavier, more robust varieties use dark candi sugar to increase the color and fermentable extract without increasing maltiness. Many Belgian beers include spices and herbs for further complexity.
* Proceed with the recipe as normal, but include three tablespoons of fresh-crushed coriander and one tablespoon of dried curaçao orange peel in the boiling liquid. ( don't use regular orange peel. It metamorphoses into an odd canned-ham smell). The spice will mark the beer with an authentic Belgian touch. Alternately, you could carbonate your bottles with curaçao liqueur: about 5 oz. per gallon will be sufficient (and will add a lovely kick). If you don't feel like coming up with a half bottle of expensive liqueur for a batch, try priming a few bottles this way and use corn sugar on the rest.
Post filed under: Beer Kits
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