Mountmellick Beer Kit Instructions
MOUNTMELLIC BASIC BEER KIT RECIPE
The following recipe is recommended to produce a bull-bodied beer with an alcohol content of 3.5 to 4% by volume, and a mild hop character. Warm the can of malt extract in a pan of hot water to make it easy to empty. Stir the contents of the can into a one gallon container of warm tap water. Rinse the can with warm water and add the rinsings. Make up to 3.6 U.S. gallons with tap water in a clean container, and when the wort is near room temperature, add the yeast with stirring. Specific gravity of the wort at this point should be approximately 1.042 at 70 degrees Fahrenheit. A single-stage plastic fermenter with an airlock is recommended.
Allow the wort to ferment in the covered container at approximately 70 degrees Fahrenheit is recommended. Within seven days, the wort should be fermented to a specific gravity of .008 to 1.014, with a residual fermentable sugar content of 0.1% to 0.2%. Siphon the beer off the sediment into a second clean container. Take two cups of beer and heat to a boil in a saucepan, dissolving in this one half to one cup of sugar, depending on the degree of conditioning desired. Brewers corn sugar is recommended although cane sugar is acceptable. Mix the sugar solution into the beer in the second container. Now bottle the beer, or place it into a clean draft beer pressure barrel. Allow to stand for seven days at 70 degrees Fahrenheit to condition, then age for about three weeks in a cool place. Refrigeration during ageing will speed clearing, although the beer will clear without refrigeration.
To make a stronger, lighter-bodied beer, add two pounds of brewing (corn) sugar, and increase the volume of the wort to five U.S. gallons. A fuller hop character can be achieved by adding up to 2 ounces of fresh or pelletized hops. If you do add hops boil the malt and hops in one gall of water for up tone hour before making the wort up to volume. Be careful not to add the yeast until the full 5 gallons has cooled to near room temperature.
A grain malt character can be incorporated in the beer by adding up to one pound of cracked or crushed crystal malt near the end of the boils allowing the grain to remain in the wort during fermentation.
The secret of successful brewing is cleanliness. Bottles and equipment that contact the beer should be sterilized with a mild chlorine solution (an ounce of chlorine bleach per gall on of rinse solution) or with a proprietary cleaner-steriliser like B-Brite, then thoroughly rinse with hot water.
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