Canned Pilsner

[Mismost]

"brewed" a Muntons Pilsner last night. Mini mashed with a pound of Crystal, used half Light DME and half simple syrup for the "kilo" of added sugars. Rehydrated the Muntons yeast and built up a starter over the course of Sunday. Pitched at 9:00 PM.... airlock going like a steam engine this morning. Not counting the yeast work, total time was about hour and half....most which was watching the Olympics while the grain "mashed" at 175 for an hour.

Love these no boil type can kits. may not be award winning beer, but is good beer! Thinking of throwing a vanilla bean in and letting it settle in a secondary for a week or so later on....just because I have the bean!

 

[Redbird1]

Unless you added the proper enzymes, you steeped (not mashed - Crystal will not convert on its own) and at a very high temperature and for a very long time. Any reason you chose 175 or the full hour? 175 might result in tannin extraction, especially for a full hour. You generally get all of the benefits of steeping within 20 minutes or so and most of the resources I've read say to keep it around 160.

 

[Mismost]

Steeped it is then! Bet it makes beer. I frankly have zero desire to get into the "let's spend all day boiling grains"....just don't have the time. Perhaps when I retire and I need something to fill my days. Honestly, you can't even call this brewing! Warm some stuff up and throw it in the bucket. I love it simple.

 

[Redbird1]

I'm sure it will make fine beer. You can save even more time if you cut your steep to 20 minutes and 160F. If you really want to do a mini-mash you can add some base grains (like 2 row) or enzymes to get conversion. Steeping should be just fine though for your method though. Also, I know what you meant, but never boil grains.

 

[ceeaton]

Crystal malt only needs to hang out in warm water to extract the goodies. No mashing necessary like @Redbird1 said. Never raise your grain temps above 170*F unless you are doing a decoction mash.

My only concern is that if you didn't pre-boil the water you added to the kit, you might run the risk of infection to your brew. Even bottled water has a certain amount of bacteria present that can ruin a batch. I always boiled my wort from a kit even if I didn't need to add any hops (ie. pre-hopped kit/can/dry malt) for at least 15 minutes. Beer doesn't have the alcohol to protect it as much as wine does (why most ferment beer under airlock, unless using a good top fermenting English yeast), plus adding Kmeta isn't an option. I always pre-boil any liquid I add to a batch of beer or wine, just to be safe. Hope it turns out well!

 

[Mismost]

I always use RO, UV sanitized store bought water since my well has very hard water and thus a salt softener. Have never had a problem before....but, it could happen.

Expound on why you can't use Kmeta or Camden tablets IN THE WATER....if have let it sit for 24 hours or more. I never have, but assumed you could.

 

[Redbird1]

I use tap water exclusively for brewing and have never boiled, including 2+ gallons of top off water after doing extract batches. I must have good local water since I've never had a problem.

I've definitely heard of people using Campden tablets 24 hours in advance and then build their water profile from there. I think @ceeaton is referring to adding it after fermentation is complete, the way one would do when making wine..

 

[ceeaton]

I think @ceeaton is referring to adding it after fermentation is complete, the way one would do when making wine..

You are correct. If you use Kmeta too late in the process, you may stun the yeast enough to increase the time needed to bottle condition the beer. Plus, as others have said before, beer usually get drunk pretty quickly, so if you put to much Kmeta in, you'll taste it in the final product. Living yeast competes long enough with most nasties to keep the beer tasting good until one has finished drinking it.

 

[Mismost]

in spite of not mashing the mini mash correctly, this beer came out great. First time I ever added sugar measured directly to each bottle, but it carbed up great...just about perfect I'd say.
Justa fizzy yellow beer, very mellow, but has a back end wallop. Two beers and I was hearing bees buzzing in my ears.

Think I'd like to run another one and throw a vanilla bean in the mix. Going to try a drop of extract in a bottle and see if I like it.