brewferm pils belgian lager kit

deanrobinson

hi thinking of getting the brewferm pils belgian lager kit. do you think the yeast that comes with it will be fine or will an upgrade be better. if so which one and why . thank you

HBO_Staff

The Brewferm range do tend to come with quite good yeasts that are suitable for their beer and lager styles, and they do produce some good results with great reviews on the range. We think most people use the yeast they supply under the lid, if you wanted to try an upgrade then maybe take a look at the liquid yeasts, they cost more and are an upgrade, but can produce some really great results, this one would be suitable:

http://www.home-brew-online.com/ingredients-c45/white-labs-wlp800-pilsner-lager-yeast-p3002

People's opinions vary on how much difference they say the yeast can make, one good thing to do if possible - brew the same beer refill twice, once with the original yeast, and again with the upgrade, and see what you think to the difference in flavour. Many people who upgrade - especially if brewing grain from scratch - never go back

deanrobinson

ok thanks. would the coopers beer enhancer 3 and a 500g muntons light spray malt be ok to put in instead of any sugar. will be making the 20 L recipe. cheers

HBO_Staff

Instead of using sugar you can change this for spraymalt or Brew Enhancer - this will give it more body and flavour as it is spray dried malt rather than just sugar, just be aware it will give it more malty flavour too which is often wanted in beers, not always in lagers or ciders though.

The general rule is though, sugar is fine and will ferment out, but for more body, flavour and head retention use Brew Enhancer which is blend of sugar and spray dried malt, or upgrade to spraymalt which will give even more flavour as it is not mixed with sugar. Often people don't do this because spraymalt is more expensive so it starts to cost more.

If using spray malt we recommend this range from Cellar Supplies - they are great quality and dissolve easily and don't clump like some other versions do:

http://www.home-brew-online.com/search/sugar-and-enhancers-t262/super-spray

deanrobinson

so would you say a kilo of brewing sugar and a 500g of cellar supplies woul be better for an brewferm belgian pils thanks

HBO_Staff

If the Pils asks for 1.5Kgs in total the you can use any mixture of sugar and spray malt, a kg of brewing sugar and 500g of Cellar Supplies light would give it good body and flavour.

A slightly different way of dong it, but because the Brewferm range often make smaller batches, some people will make a double batch by using 2 tins of Brewferm and then the amount of sugars required in total, and make a double batch - so if the tin makes a batch of say 9 litres, they double it all up and make 18 litres in one go.