First Extract Brew

Afternoon folks,

I will be attempting my first extract brew next saturday, after finally getting around to buying a big enough pot!

I'm looking forward to this more as it gives me a bit more freedom to mess about with ingredients and learn how to influence the final taste of the beer. I wanted to make a pale(ish) ale using English hops, with the idea of it being a summer ale. I also want it to be really hoppy. I've also got the ingredients to do an American IPA with Citra and Amarillo, hence why I wanted to go with English hops on this one.

I've been toying about with Brewtoad and come up with the following:-

2kg Light DME
640g Honey
500g Caramalt

15g East Kent Golding - 60 min
12g Challenger - 60 min
8g East Kent Golding - 30 min
8g Challenger - 30 min
12g East Kent Golding - 5 min
12g Bramling Cross - 5 min
15g East Kent Golding - 7 day dry hop
20g Bramling Cross - 7 day dry hop

1/2 tsp Irish Moss - 15 min

1 pack Safale S-04

If the figures it gave me are correct, I should get the following for 20ltr:-

SG - 1053
FG - 1016
IBU - 31
ABV - 4.8%

I am going to try and do 15ltr boil in a 20ltr pot, so as not to lose too many IBU.

I know to put half DME in at the start and half at the end, and also to put the honey in at flameout to retain the flavour. I want it to have a hint of honey in the back ground, but not over the top. I guess the hops may mask this anyway.

Anyone with more experience spot any glaring errors there or any tweaks I need to make before it's too late?

Thanks in advance.

EDIT - I should have said I've already bought the above ingredients!

You probably already got this sorted but you got something to steep the grains in? I assume you bought them crushed?

Just watch out for it boiling over during the hot break - it's sticky, messy and smelly!

I've only done one extract brew. I found it more of a faff and way more expensive than AG.

Covrich said:

You probably already got this sorted but you got something to steep the grains in? I assume you bought them crushed?

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Yeah, they are pre crushed. I was planning to steep them in the stock pot in a muslin bag?

CreweBrewer said:

Just watch out for it boiling over during the hot break - it's sticky, messy and smelly!

I've only done one extract brew. I found it more of a faff and way more expensive than AG.

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Will be keeping an eye on it at all times! Yes, DME isn't the cheapest, is it?! Read clibit's guide to a simple AG earlier, think that could be the way to go some time a bit further down the line.

Can't comment on AG quality vs extract yet as only done my first one today, but extract is a definite step up from kits on terms of quality. I don't find it a faff, less that biab was but I guess that will get easier over time.

Not an expert on recipes so can't help there, but I was doing about 6-8L boils in my 12L pan so I'd have thought you'd be fine, you can always do a slightly reduced boil volume, though I've heard (and my beer sort of confirms it) that hop utilisation is lower when you do that, resulting in a slightly elusive taste.

Garethhuwwilliams said:

Can't comment on AG quality vs extract yet as only done my first one today, but extract is a definite step up from kits on terms of quality. I don't find it a faff, less that biab was but I guess that will get easier over time.

Not an expert on recipes so can't help there, but I was doing about 6-8L boils in my 12L pan so I'd have thought you'd be fine, you can always do a slightly reduced boil volume, though I've heard (and my beer sort of confirms it) that hop utilisation is lower when you do that, resulting in a slightly elusive taste.

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Cheers. As long as everything is laid out in order beforehand, it should be fairly straightforward (touch wood!) and a bit more rewarding than a kit, as long as it turns out ok! My nerdy, methodical side will come in handy!

Looks good...only comment on recipe is that if you are wanting a pale(ish) ale, then 500grm caramalt might be quite a lot depending on the colour grade....EBC 40 should come out still fairly pale, but EBC150 or above might err toward Irish Red.....either will taste great though. : Good luck...as CreweBrewer said...don't turn your back on the boil esp until protein break has happened and the hops have settled down. Versus a kit you should notice a cleaner flavour, and will get the full spectrum of hop flavour/aromas based on your hop schedule. Remember to oxygenate the wort after boiling to ensure decent yeast growth...I transfer my cooled wort in approx 3 * 7ltrs lots via a sanitised (starsan) 25lts plastic wine fermenter with screw top and give it a vigourous shake.

Cheers Tartan. I've just checked and the pack says EBC30, so I guess I'm ok? Didn't realise there were different colour grades of caramalt, so I appreciate the info. I did wonder about carapils? But didn't know if this would be too light (and LHBS didn't have any at the time anyway).

That's a good plan about aerating the wort, but I only have the one FV. Will just have to give it a good stir. Will make the effort to rehydrate the yeast this time too, general opinion seems to be that it makes a difference.

Yes.... rehydration in water (not water and sugar) makes for a much speedier start to fermentation i.m.o. EBC30 should be perfect. I've done a couple of pale/blonde ale extract recipes this year (normally do AG now) and found that having a little caramalt in there just adds to the body, flavour and mouth feel.