Extract brew help/ question

Hi All,

Just needing a little nudge in the right direction

I am wanting to start doing extract brew step up from kits

I have found a few recipes but am confused about the water quantity as i want to try and achieve 20L so i can fill a cornie keg.

for example:
5 l of water for steeping grains
add malt extract
boil
add hops

do i just add the 15L of water after that? this will aid the cooling for sure and allow me to pitch yeast just like a kit?

thanks for any help

Jonniepeek said:

do i just add the 15L of water after that? this will aid the cooling for sure and allow me to pitch yeast just like a kit?

Click to expand...

Yes - the beauty of Extract is that you can do a low-volume boil, and top up to volume with cold water afterwards, thereby not needing a cooling stage. I normally do a slightly bigger boil, 7-8L not 5L, as with a lot of hops there won't be a lot of liquid. It's not an exact science.

You don't really need to boil the extract, although I have seen it said this helps with hop utilisation. And I have seen Extract recipes that call for a full-volume boil: not needed in my opinion, just do a small volume boil and top up with cold water.

Jonniepeek said:

Hi All,

Just needing a little nudge in the right direction

I am wanting to start doing extract brew step up from kits

I have found a few recipes but am confused about the water quantity as i want to try and achieve 20L so i can fill a cornie keg.

for example:
5 l of water for steeping grains
add malt extract
boil
add hops

do i just add the 15L of water after that? this will aid the cooling for sure and allow me to pitch yeast just like a kit?

thanks for any help

Click to expand...

I only do batches up to 10 litres of extract or 5/6 litres of biab.This is my way,others will differ.
Boil as much water as you can handle..If you have a 10/12 litre pot that you can use that is fine.Smaller will do.
Steep your grains for 30 mins in 5 litres at 66/67c.You can run some water through the bag at around 72c,say 2 litres,but you don't have to. Top up to 10/12 litres or your size pot,add half the extract and get boiling for 30/40 minutes,i do 40 mins but you do not have to..Add remaing extract at 15 mins.Add your hops (i use hop bags)at whatever intervals your recipie suggests.Strain if you can into FV,top up with water to desired amount,job done.
I have even not boiled any extract but always do nowdays,up to you. I find spray malt preferable to liquid,but personal opinion.You can make some very decent beers using extract and steeping grains.

Thanks guys that the perfect answer! looking forward to getting a bit more involvement.

I bought a 15l pot so i will experiment with that .

do you guys ever just make your own recepes up?

for example:

3kg of light extract
500g of CaraGold
500g of Pale Cara Malt
Vic Secret hops 50g ( bittering)
NZ Wakatu hops 50g ( dry hopping)
Yeast TBC :whistle:

this is something i have just made up when researching and reading description of grains and hops and what their flavors do. for my love of crisp golden ales:).

Jonniepeek said:

Thanks guys that the perfect answer! looking forward to getting a bit more involvement.

I bought a 15l pot so i will experiment with that .

do you guys ever just make your own recepes up?

for example:

3kg of light extract
500g of CaraGold
500g of Pale Cara Malt
Vic Secret hops 50g ( bittering)
NZ Wakatu hops 50g ( dry hopping)
Yeast TBC :whistle:

this is something i have just made up when researching and reading description of grains and hops and what their flavors do. for my love of crisp golden ales:).

Click to expand...

Quite often or i tinker with known recipies:lol:
Use the recipie builder available on here at top of page:thumb:

Jonniepeek said:

do you guys ever just make your own recepes up?

Click to expand...

Yes - just go for it, your recipe sounds good.

You can often replicate AG recipes by substituting the pale malt mash stage with extract then doing the rest of the recipe the same i.e. steeping the speciality gains, doing the hop boil. It gets a bit more tricky when you have grains that need mashing, but you can still do a small mash in a saucepan as these will be small in quantity.

Thanks everybody!

i knew there was a reason i joined!! :grin::thumb:

Jonniepeek said:

Hi All,

Just needing a little nudge in the right direction

I am wanting to start doing extract brew step up from kits

I have found a few recipes but am confused about the water quantity as i want to try and achieve 20L so i can fill a cornie keg.

for example:
5 l of water for steeping grains
add malt extract
boil
add hops

do i just add the 15L of water after that? this will aid the cooling for sure and allow me to pitch yeast just like a kit?

thanks for any help

Click to expand...

what darrellm said. 5 litres of water in steeping grains may not be enough liquid to easily dissolve the extract. in which case just use a bit more for the boil, perhaps with an extra for sparging the grains. But yes you can top up to the volume you want with water

darrellm said:

Yes - the beauty of Extract is that you can do a low-volume boil, and top up to volume with cold water afterwards, thereby not needing a cooling stage. I normally do a slightly bigger boil, 7-8L not 5L, as with a lot of hops there won't be a lot of liquid. It's not an exact science.

You don't really need to boil the extract, although I have seen it said this helps with hop utilisation. And I have seen Extract recipes that call for a full-volume boil: not needed in my opinion, just do a small volume boil and top up with cold water.

Click to expand...

+1 on all of that.
I use a 3.5 litre pot and a 5 litre pot to make up a typical 16/17 litre brew.
I use the small pot for the late hop boil and the other for the long hop boil.
I probably use about half the malt, and the rest just goes into the FV like you would for a kit.
If you can get hold of the Graham Wheeler book Brew your Own British Real Ale there are many extract recipes equivalents to the all grain recipes. Try your local library they might have a copy for loan.
Finally don't buy cheap unbranded 1.5 kg cans of LME. I and others have found some of this may give the dreaded twang in your beer.

Finally don't buy cheap unbranded 1.5 kg cans of LME. I and others have found some of this may give the dreaded twang in your beer.

Click to expand...

Very good point, i am always a believer in you pay for what you get, i have always used mutons and never had any issues. tried to find some fancy organic stuff once to see if it made a difference but could not find any