Lager Kit without using extra sugar?

[ghenghiz]

I have completed half a dozen or so kits and have been loving the results . Of late I have been trying some 'all extract' kits from wilko, and a muntons one - they taste so much better, with a great head and more body. I was wondering if you could take a regular lager kit (wilko / coopers etc) and simply add half the water (11 litres?)? Would this mean no extra sugar would be required and I get an 'all extract' brew? Presumably I'd have to half the yeast too?

Any thoughts / advice appreciated.

[rootsbrew]

In a word: yes. A 1.7 kg kit + 12 litres water, will make a pretty decent (though quite smalll) brew. The amount of yeast determines how quickly fermentation starts, so use the whole thing - you've got less fermentables, so you'll have less trub.

Why make a half-batch, though? It's the same effort as a full batch but you only get half the beer!

It is true, to get a better beer, use malt instead of pure sugar. In your lager case, try adding 1.5 kg extra light or wheat DME (or a mix of the two) with a 1.7kg lager kit and make the wort up to about 25 litres.

Btw, in both cases, you're still kit brewing - (AFAIK) it's only extract brewing when you're using no kits and only extract, e.g. boiling up the hops with the malt and adding a touch of irish moss just before flame-out, etc, etc. Nothing wrong with adapting a 1 can kit to suit your needs!

[ghenghiz]

That's great, thanks for the detailed reply. I like the idea of smaller batches as I can experiment a bit more without having to bottle and store so much beer thanks for advice on the yeast, that makes sense.
I guess the difference between extract brewing and kit is that kit lme has been hopped already?
I think the next brew will be a smaller one, cheers.

[cellone]

Hi ghenghiz.
It sounds as if you're after a more intense hop/malt flavour. Briesse do various hopped LME and I've been thinking about using one with my favourite lager kit.

I have tried shorter brew lengths but have been more impressed with additional hops etc. The easiest flavour change you can make with most lager kits is to swop the yeast for a lager yeast.

[ghenghiz]

Cellone, I had similar thoughts about lager yeast and have a sachet of youngs (don't know if its any good) ready. I think the cooler temps this time of year would be more suitable too some hopped lme sounds like an area to explore, thanks

[cellone]

I've not tried Youngs lager yeast, so not sure what it is like. Usually buy the Coopers Pilsener when I do a kit. It comes with a decent lager yeast, but every time I've used a liquid yeast I noticed a big improvement.