Beer Forum

Wait...I didnt understand until I read the link you had posted in your post. Very interesting about the "Altbier" I have heard of it, never tasting it before. Will have do more reading since (I think) uses ale yeast but is considered an lager.

ed71 wrote:Yes I know that. I just dont have the patience or the probable low temps to make a lager. Ales are so much easier to make cause of the average near room temp controls. And from what I read...about 3 months till drinking a lager. (am I wrong?) What would happen if I were to use an ale yeast to the LME in question and to brew it in a ale like time frame with temps?

you'll get an ale. as siwelwerd said, ale vs lager has nothing to do with the malt, it is determined by the yeast you use. lager yeast is bottom-fermenting, ale yeast is top fermenting. lager is then 'lagered' for 6 weeks (give or take 4 weeks) after primary fermentation, so you're correct that lager will take longer to make than an ale at minimum.

ed71 wrote: while I wait around for the partial kits to ferment and carbonate.

by the way, you'll have to wait for fermentation and carbonation of the recipe you're asking about, no different than the 'partial kits' (what do you mean by 'partial kits' anyway?)

Sorry bout that, (been drinking bout half of my 5 gallon brew) somehow I got confused and used the "partial" part instead of LME extract cause of the this particulate board index name...."Extract & Partial Mash Brewing" somehow it stuck in my mind. But then again when I get an email saying I get a response, I log in, then I have to open the board index and then pick this specific board room then go to the recent thread. For some reason, the connected email doesnt directly take me there...(Or am I doing it wrong?)
Any how, that was the answer I was looking for. So I CAN make an ale with this stuff at a cost effective way. Not sure if it will taste good or bad. If the LME is only 2.50 a pound, and I want to make 5 gallons of it, it would cost me bout 15 bucks and money for the yeast, (im not sure which one though) and money for the hops. Im guessing bout 27 or 25 dollars. Probably could do without the hops but then I'd lose the "beery" taste and end up with something different. Basically its only a few bucks cheeper this way. Might have to stick with the old dollar store fruit drink homemade hooch wine.

You can also use the Munich as just a portion of your malt bill... it'd still be cheaper based on the sale price at your local shop.

I highly suggest you try an experiment where you brew a batch, then split the wort into two containers and pitch different yeast strains.
You will be amazed at how different they will taste - generally to the point that you would never know that they were made from the same ingredients. My point here is that it is the yeast that drives the flavor profile far, far more than is given credit. Using ale yeast will produce a beer that has the ester profile (and possibly even phenolic profile if its a phenolic producing strain) of that yeast strain, while using a lager strain will produce a beer with the (lack of) esters, (lack of) phenolics, and probably a bit of sulphur. These flavors (or lack thereof) will taste very different.
I'm not saying they will taste bad. Just different.

All that said, if you are just looking to get a quick cheap buzz, get a bottle of TreeTop or other apple juice with no preservatives, dump it into a slightly bigger sanitized container and pitch a packet of US-05 or Nottingham with a pinch of yeast nutrient. Give it a few weeks and you'll have a surprisingly drinkable ethanol delivery vehicle with almost no effort.

Im guessing bout 27 or 25 dollars. Probably could do without the hops but then I'd lose the "beery" taste and end up with something different.

Don't leave the hops out of that beer. Hop bitterness is required to balance the sweetness of the malt, or you'll end up with a pretty un-enjoyably sweet final product.

HTH

BDawg wrote: All that said, if you are just looking to get a quick cheap buzz, get a bottle of TreeTop or other apple juice with no preservatives, dump it into a slightly bigger sanitized container and pitch a packet of US-05 or Nottingham with a pinch of yeast nutrient. Give it a few weeks and you'll have a surprisingly drinkable ethanol delivery vehicle with almost no effort.

+1 for a cheap cider suggestion, there not being any preservatives is an important component, and you'll want to back sweeten (add sugar at the end), but this eliminates any brewing process, and is pretty cheap, maybe $15-20/5gal.

If you want really cheap, go with cans of frozen concentrate.... you can thaw a can and top up to 1 gal, mix and take a gravity reading... use that to dial it in to whatever starting gravity you want.