Home made beer kit

[shanek17]

Hello I am a fellow fermentationist and I am having a brewing dilemma. The other day I was in my cupboards and noticed that I had a box of granola bars and they expire this month, I looked at the ingredients and noticed Barley malt extract, also it contains whole grain rolled oats and other ingredients that made me think BEER! ( the granola bars are preservative and color free)

So heres my idea, I am going to make three 1 gallon batches and make each one slightly different and compare the results. I went to the LHBS and picked up some cascade sterling hop pellets (28g) and some Morgans ale yeast. I then went grocery shopping and found some Pure Fancy Molasses on sale. I don't know if this will be as good as DME or liquid malt but its worth a try.

Anyways my point here is that Iv only ever made beer the easiest way which is with those pre hopped extract kits therefore I have no idea how to use the hops! I mean iv seen the videos and heard the beer podcasts and understand you gotta toss the hop pellets in the boil, but how the heck will I do it? Im thinking boiling it in water or dry hopping? Also how much of the 28g should I be using per 1 gallon batch? Iv tried the crazy intense IPA's and I'm not a huge fan lol I am young and have a sensitive pallet still. so easy on the hop addition suggestions

 

[Pumpkinman]

here is a quick guideline for hops - The longer you boil them, the bitter they get. Most recipes call for:
Bittering hops at 55-60 mins
Flavoring hops at 10-15 mins
Aroma hops between 5 mins-1 min left in the boil.
(not to mention dry hopping in the secondary for more aroma)
Depending on the brew, I've used as much as 3-4 oz of hops in a 5 gallon recipe, and as little as 2 oz.
Cascade are nice mild aroma hops, for 1 gallon batches, I'd use maybe 1/4 -1/2 oz split up at 60 and 5 mins.
I don't think that you are going to get the same effect using molasses in place of DME, or LME, but it is absolutely worth the try!

 

[Jeff180]

Your idea is ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome!

I can't find a flaw in your logic.

I'm thinking if you went heavy on the hops it might hide off flavors. I'm basing this on the fact that I never seem to have had a bad IPA.

 

[shanek17]

Your idea is ridiculous. Ridiculously awesome!

I can't find a flaw in your logic.

I'm thinking if you went heavy on the hops it might hide off flavors. I'm basing this on the fact that I never seem to have had a bad IPA.

It is ridiculously awesome! Lol. its all part of the fun... Yea i would like to get a good bitterness and flavor in my beer. But heres the thing i got 1 oz of cascade sterling hops to work with , thats it. I went to the lhbs twice now in the past 24 hrs and im not goin back again anytime soon. Its not really that local of a store to where i live.

Is there a good way to stretch this 1 oz between three 1 gallon batches and achieve good bitterness and flavor? i was thinking like 5grams hops for 60 minutes and 4g at last 20 min for Flavor.

Also since im using granola bars should i toss in some irish moss? technically the granola bar label says barley malt extract so i dont know if irish moss is needed. But there are other ingridients in them such as soy protein. Rice flour. and peanut butter.

 

[Jeff180]

1 oz might be fine since you don't like it too hoppy. That's about the same amount as the stout I made. That recipe was 2 oz for 5 gallons. I don't notice any hops in the taste.