Basic method

Most brewers start off with a kit brew. It’s an easy way to make beer and learn some basics of brewing. Most kits contain 1.5 kg to 1.7 kg pre-hopped malt extract. Usually the instructions on the can go something like this:

• boil 2 to 3 litres of water
• empty can into a sanitised fermenter
• add 1 kg of white sugar into fermenter
• pour on boiling water and stir to dissolve
• top up to 23 litres with cold tap water
• add yeast supplied with kit
• ferment 7 days then bottle

If done correctly, this will usually give a passable but thin bodied and bland beer. However, a Coopers kit from the supermarket will cost $14 to $17, plus a couple of dollars for the sugar, which works out at less than $1.15 a litre ($2.30 a six-pack) for something that’s probably no worse than some of the cheapest mainstream commercial beers, and sometimes better.

For a little more time and money, you can use kits to brew something a lot better that’s still much cheaper than buying commercial beer.

Adding malt extract

You can improve the body of a kit beer by replacing the sugar with a 1.5 kg can of liquid malt extract (or 1.2kg of dried malt extract). This will yield roughly the same alcohol content as adding a kilo of sugar, because  sugar is fully fermentable but malt extract is not fully fermentable. The non-fermentable part gives the beer flavour and body.

The process is:

• bring 2-3 litres of water to the boil
• take the kettle off the heat
• dissolve the malt extract in the water, stirring constantly so it doesn’t caramelise on the hot bottom of the kettle
• bring the dissolved malt extract to the boil (still stirring)
• boil 15 minutes to sterilise
• use this boiled liquid to dissolve the kit as per the standard instructions above.

One of the best readily available kits is Coopers Original Series Stout. This kit can give you a respectable stout with just a can of extract added instead of sugar. Try pale malt extract to start with. Amber extract would also work fine. For a really inky black as midnight stout, some people add dark malt extract.

For lighter kits like a pale ale, I would stick to pale malt extract. A fairly bitter kit like Coopers Real Ale can handle a full can of added malt extract, but for a lightly hopped kit like the Australian Pale Ale or Lager a whole can of extract might throw the malt off balance with the hops and make the beer too sweet. In that case try half a can (or 500g dried extract) and 300-500g sugar. (Use dextrose rather than table sugar if possible.) Even better, use a full can and add more hops.

Adding hops

For hop flavour and aroma (but not much extra bitterness), add 20g or more of hops to liquid in which you dissolve the kit. Boil for 15 mins with the malt extract for a decent whack of flavour, or add at the end of the boil for flavour and aroma. (See the Toucan Pale Ale recipe below.)

Better yeast

The yeast supplied with Coopers kits is not the same yeast that’s used in the Coopers ales you buy at the bottle shop. It is chosen because it will work at a much higher temperature than most ale yeasts and therefore it is less likely to fail in hot Australian conditions when brewing without temperature control. It works, it ferments quickly, but it seems to leave a funky taste in the brew. For a few extra dollars there are better alternatives that result in a cleaner tasting beer.

Here are some good quality dried ale yeasts that I’ve tried:

Danstar Nottingham: excellent all round yeast, neutral flavour, ferments quite dry, settles well. Available online from http://www.brewshop.co.nz/

Danstar Windsor: not as dry as Nottingham, so results in a maltier, fuller bodied beer. Settles very well. Excellent for stouts and English bitters. Available online from http://www.brewshop.co.nz/

Fermentis US-05: excellent all round yeast, neutral flavour, ferments very dry. Can be a bit slow to settle. Good for hoppy pale ales and US styles. Available from most home brewing shops and online sellers (including Brewers World in Kapiti Lights)

Fermentis SO4: not quite as dry as US05. Settles well. Use for English styles. Available from most home brewing shops and online sellers (including Brewers World in Kapiti Lights)

Gervin Ale yeast: reputed to be the same strain as Nottingham (and it’s cheaper). I can’t tell the difference. This is my favourite dried yeast. Only available from the Brew House in Newtown (or online via their website http://thebrewhouse.co.nz/).

“Toucan”

A quick and easy way to get a full malt flavour is to do a “Toucan” (ie, two can) brew using two cans of kit instead of one can plus sugar or malt extract. This doubles the amount of malt, but bear in mind it also doubles the bitterness. Therefore it’s most successful with kits that are very low in bitterness. The Coopers Australian Pale Ale kit is only 18 IBU (a measure of bitterness) and so is ideal for this. Two kits combined add up to 36 IBUs, which is still fairly moderate, and the malt and hops remain in balance. Add some flavour and aroma hops and you have a nice all malt beer, not too bitter, with plenty of hop character.

The recipe below is just as quick and easy as doing a standard kit plus sugar brew, but it’s a lot tastier.

Toucan Pale Ale

2 x Coopers Australian Pale Ale kits

40 g Rakau hops (0 minutes)

20 g Nelson Sauvin hops (0 minutes)

20 g Rakau hops (dry)

10 g Nelson Sauvin hops (dry)

US-05 yeast

Instructions

1. Bring 2-3 litres water to boil.
2. Throw in the first lot of hops and turn off the heat.
3. Leave hops about 5 minutes to steep.
4. Meanwhile pour the kits into a sanitised fermenter.
5. Pour the hot water onto the kits, straining the hops with a sanitised sieve.
6. Stir with sanitised metal or plastic stirrer until kits are dissolved.
7. Top up to 23 litres with cold water.
8. Pitch yeast (once temperature is below 24◦C).
9. After 2-3 days of fermentation, throw the dry hops into the fermenter.
10. Wait another week before bottling.
11. Leave bottles 3 weeks before drinking.

This recipe is ideal for trying different hop varieties, each of which tastes different and will change the taste of the beer. Rakau and Nelson Sauvin are two fruity flavoured New Zealand varieties that go together very well. Once you’ve brewed a batch according to the recipe (or if you can’t find the right hops), try replacing the hops in the recipe with one of these options:

• a 2:1 blend of Cascade and Nelson Sauvin (40g Cascade and 20g Nelson Sauvin in the boil; 20g Cascade and 10g Nelson Sauvin as dry hops)
• a 50:50 blend of Cascade and Motueka (30g of each in the boil; 15g of each as dry hops)
• any fruity tasting hop on its own, such as Cascade, Motueka, Riwaka, Amarillo, Galaxy, Mosaic, or Zythos (60g in the boil; 30g as dry hops)

The hop flavour will be very forward in the first couple of weeks and will gradually recede and integrate with the malt flavours as the beer ages.

Adding grains

Adding steeped or mashed grains can improve the malt flavour and complexity of a brew, add body, improve the head, and transform the style of beer, especially if hops are also added. The process for steeping and mashing grains will be covered soon, both on air and here. Watch this space!