Moving on to extract
- Thread starter Bunglebrewsbeer
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Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
You get your stuff off line or are there stockists nearby ?
I get stuff online mainly. It's generally fresher and cheaper, and shops cater for kit brewers in the main, limited range of AG stuff. There's a brew shop in Sale, and I believe the one in Stockport does quite a lot of stuff.
http://www.traffordhomebrew.co.uk/
http://www.thebrewshop.com/
http://www.traffordhomebrew.co.uk/
http://www.thebrewshop.com/
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
I've used the one in sale for the kits ive made and some equipment. Will look online though for ingredients once I get all my kit sorted.
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
I was looking at a landlord clone extract kit on brew UK this morning.
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
I'll have a look at that too then. Want to make a malty English mild or bitter ideally.
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
Excellent. You've links for all sorts. I'll have to give you a sample of something I get round to making when I get it on the go.
http://www.geterbrewed.com/extract-brewing-kits/
To be honest there are millions of extract recipes on the web and you can buy the ingredients separately for them. The homebrew company sells 1.5L cans of extract for £4.95. And 3kg of DME for £14. Get some crystal, chocolate, roast barley etc and some hops and off you go.
You can also convert a lot of AG recipes pretty easily. For example found this recipe for a 3.5% ABV mild (19 Litres):
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...-ale-for-intermediate-homebrewers-recipe.html
4.75 pounds Maris Otter malt, crushed
0.6 pounds Crystal 40L malt, crushed
0.3 pounds Crystal 120L malt, crushed
0.15 pounds chocolate malt, crushed
0.5 ounces Northern Brewer hops - 60 minutes
1 package liquid English Ale Yeast (Whitelabs WLP002 or Wyeast 1968)
Crystal and chocolate can both be steeped, so extract version just needs extract instead of Maris Otter.
4.75 pounds = 2.15kg grain
Dry Malt - Multiply by 0.6 = 1.3kg DME
Liquid malt - Multiply by 0.7 = 1.5kg LME
You could use other hops - Northdown or Challenger for example. They are really just to provide some bitterness.
The 40L and 120L crystal are different colours measured in Lovibond. In the UK most grain is described in EBC colour units, which are roughly double - so you want crystal around 80ish EBC and 240ish EBC. Don't worry about differences, 20 EBC won't make much difference.
To be honest there are millions of extract recipes on the web and you can buy the ingredients separately for them. The homebrew company sells 1.5L cans of extract for £4.95. And 3kg of DME for £14. Get some crystal, chocolate, roast barley etc and some hops and off you go.
You can also convert a lot of AG recipes pretty easily. For example found this recipe for a 3.5% ABV mild (19 Litres):
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/...-ale-for-intermediate-homebrewers-recipe.html
4.75 pounds Maris Otter malt, crushed
0.6 pounds Crystal 40L malt, crushed
0.3 pounds Crystal 120L malt, crushed
0.15 pounds chocolate malt, crushed
0.5 ounces Northern Brewer hops - 60 minutes
1 package liquid English Ale Yeast (Whitelabs WLP002 or Wyeast 1968)
Crystal and chocolate can both be steeped, so extract version just needs extract instead of Maris Otter.
4.75 pounds = 2.15kg grain
Dry Malt - Multiply by 0.6 = 1.3kg DME
Liquid malt - Multiply by 0.7 = 1.5kg LME
You could use other hops - Northdown or Challenger for example. They are really just to provide some bitterness.
The 40L and 120L crystal are different colours measured in Lovibond. In the UK most grain is described in EBC colour units, which are roughly double - so you want crystal around 80ish EBC and 240ish EBC. Don't worry about differences, 20 EBC won't make much difference.
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
Is the maths side of things you did there to work out the required amount the same everytime to establish how much extract required?
Yes- it's based on an AG mash efficiency of 75%, which is pretty standard for AG recipes. Check this out...
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/3-simple-steps-converting-grain-recipes-extract/
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/3-simple-steps-converting-grain-recipes-extract/
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
So pretty much most AG recipes can be converted them? That's handy that is.
It depends what grains are used. A lot can be converted, yes. But a lot contain grains, other than the base grain, which need mashing. Munich, Vienna, Wheat, rye, amber malt, brown malt and things like oats and flaked barley need mashing.
You can get round this by doing a mini-mash - add some base malt to your steeping grains, and keep the temperature in the 65-70C range for 45-60 minutes, and you can add in any grains you like - the enzymes from the base malt will convert them all. This is partial mash brewing - which enables you to make any recipe, without mashing the bulk of the base malt, which you replace with extract. You don't need a mash tun, you can do it all in the pot, and I've made AG standard beers this way.
Here is an example of a Brown Ale, with a mini-mash:
http://beerandwinejournal.com/fugmission/
You can get round this by doing a mini-mash - add some base malt to your steeping grains, and keep the temperature in the 65-70C range for 45-60 minutes, and you can add in any grains you like - the enzymes from the base malt will convert them all. This is partial mash brewing - which enables you to make any recipe, without mashing the bulk of the base malt, which you replace with extract. You don't need a mash tun, you can do it all in the pot, and I've made AG standard beers this way.
Here is an example of a Brown Ale, with a mini-mash:
http://beerandwinejournal.com/fugmission/
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
Blimey. Expect lots of brain picking. Think I'll just start off steeping things and using DME then tinkering with hops before I get to baffled with it all. What you say sounds like a smaller version of BIAB methods then?
I enjoy giving advice on here, it helps me think through what i know. And I'm a teacher!
Don't get baffled - take one step at a time, but these are small steps. Get an extract kit and make it, when you feel confident try using a recipe and buying the ingredients. Then move on to mini-mashes, which are similar, just adding base malt and controlling mash temperature. And yes, it's like making a small BIAB brew and then adding extract and water to increase the amount of beer you end up with. Have a look at the recipe I just added above for a brown ale.
And check out this link for good explanations of extract and partial mash brewing, step by step:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/intermediate/brew-beer/
Don't get baffled - take one step at a time, but these are small steps. Get an extract kit and make it, when you feel confident try using a recipe and buying the ingredients. Then move on to mini-mashes, which are similar, just adding base malt and controlling mash temperature. And yes, it's like making a small BIAB brew and then adding extract and water to increase the amount of beer you end up with. Have a look at the recipe I just added above for a brown ale.
And check out this link for good explanations of extract and partial mash brewing, step by step:
http://www.homebrewersassociation.org/how-to-brew/intermediate/brew-beer/
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
The brew UK kits ive looked at say to do it in a 10L batch to start. I take it I could just lob all the stuff in the pack ( as per instructions ) but say topping the pan upto 25L allowing for loss and ending up with 23L that the kits say it makes. Or would doing the kit with that volume to start with alter tastes and strengths of final product?
Extract kits are generally designed for people who don't have big boilers, but there's no reason why you can't boil the full volume. The main thing to get right is to make sure all the extract is dissolved fully when it's boiling - you don't want burnt extract on the bottom of your pan, it will give a burnt taste and it's hard to clean! Maybe boil less than 25 litres, you can add cold water later. And I'd suggest adding half the extract at the start and half at the end of the boil. Stir in in after you switch the heat off. Boiling extract darkens it a bit.
Bunglebrewsbeer
Landlord.
Yeah I've seen various times when to add some say none until after the boil has finished. Some say dissolve in cold water and pour in pre boil some say all at start as water is warming in prep for boil. Some say half at start half at end.
