Extract brewing

Well, I've got a Sculpin and Gumballhead clones bottled and ready to try this weekend, Arrogant ******* and Racer 5 clones in the fermentors and the next two brews (a cream stout and a Jai Alai clone) planned for when the fermentors are empty again. I reckon after these I'll know whether I'm going to make the move up to AG...

BeerCat said:

That's quality. Done some really nice 15l brews using a tin of this. 1kg pale malt mash in a 7l pot or use a bit spray malt.

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just .£4.95 for 1.5kg? is this a cheaper option to kits Im wondering

BeerisGOD said:

just .�£4.95 for 1.5kg? is this a cheaper option to kits Im wondering

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I think your right there, a cheaper option.
I reckon you could do a 15min boil with some dry extract and hops and chuck it in the FV with a tin of this and your laughing.
I made 3 batches using these tins and all were really great. You can get 23Kg for £60 and 3kg of dry extract for £14. No idea how long the extract last for if opened though but i bet its good for a while.

ideas please chaps,

http://www.colchesterhomebrew.co.uk/recipes.html

this link has an adnams southwold recipe I can (almost) achieve easier than the others as all I need is the hops. The only other niggle is I don't have the LIGHT malt extract, but I do have 7 tins of Rayners malt extract I could use (appears darker)
can I get away with using a 7.5L stock pot for the boil?

Been doing small experimental batches,6 litres or so of various recipes,some Stout's,bitters,IPA's etc and all way better than any kit that i have done.
When i do a 6 litre batch i steep grains for 30 mins in 4 litres water, rinse 1 litre water through them, bring the liquor to the boil,add part of my spray malt or liquid(no bother with liquid Holland and Barratt malt ) add hops as per my recipe add 1/4 protofloc tablet at 15 mins. Cool in sink to 80c, add any aroma hops(removing pan from sink)allow to stand for 20 mins then continue to cool in sink ,strain into FV add remaining malt,top up to 6 litres and add yeast.
So far no problems at all---that's done it:mrgreen:

Just racked 6 litres of Endeavour Ale and 8 litres of Black IPA, bottling on saturday:thumb:

chub1 said:

Been doing small experimental batches,6 litres or so of various recipes,some Stout's,bitters,IPA's etc and all way better than any kit that i have done.
When i do a 6 litre batch i steep grains for 30 mins in 4 litres water, rinse 1 litre water through them, bring the liquor to the boil,add part of my spray malt or liquid(no bother with liquid Holland and Barratt malt ) add hops as per my recipe add 1/4 protofloc tablet at 15 mins. Cool in sink to 80c, add any aroma hops(removing pan from sink)allow to stand for 20 mins then continue to cool in sink ,strain into FV add remaining malt,top up to 6 litres and add yeast.
So far no problems at all---that's done it:mrgreen:

Just racked 6 litres of Endeavour Ale and 8 litres of Black IPA, bottling on saturday:thumb:

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Chub,

could I get away with say a 11-12L batch if I halved the recipe from my link I sent yesterday using an 7L stock pot?

I think 7l is probably a bit small - even the small batch recipes I've seen call for an 11l boil.

7L should be fine, all the BrewUK Extract recipe packs specify a 6-8L boil and that's for a full 23L. That's the beauty with Extract - you don't boil the full volume, only part of it, then make up the difference with cold water - so you often don't need to worry about cooling.

You don't need to add the extract to the boil, you can add it straight into the FV, the boil is just for the hopping stage.

darrellm said:

7L should be fine, all the BrewUK Extract recipe packs specify a 6-8L boil and that's for a full 23L. That's the beauty with Extract - you don't boil the full volume, only part of it, then make up the difference with cold water - so you often don't need to worry about cooling.

You don't need to add the extract to the boil, you can add it straight into the FV, the boil is just for the hopping stage.

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I agree, however i am still learning so always open to correction. I use the recipe builder available on here. All i know is, even with a new ceramic hob cooker getting even 6 litres onto a rolling boil takes a b####y long time and of course as soon as you add any spray malt it will come off boil for a short while.I do mostly 6-10 ltr batches as i don't really want to be drinking 30-40 pints of the same beer
I add around half my extract for the boil and then remainder to FV and top up, it's worked for me so am sticking with it:lol:
I will hasten to add that a lot if not most of my limited knowledge has been gleened from the good folk on here

darrellm said:

7L should be fine, all the BrewUK Extract recipe packs specify a 6-8L boil and that's for a full 23L. That's the beauty with Extract - you don't boil the full volume, only part of it, then make up the difference with cold water - so you often don't need to worry about cooling.

You don't need to add the extract to the boil, you can add it straight into the FV, the boil is just for the hopping stage.

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great advise, so glad I get on with it this weekend.

is this just a fifteen min boil? hops beginning and toward the end/flame out:smile:

In Greg Hughes recipes, some have a suggestion of using extract and steeping the specialty grains, but some have no suggestion of extract.

Why couldn't you use extract in every recipe? Surely its just a substitution for grain regardless of the recipe?

nicowk said:

In Greg Hughes recipes, some have a suggestion of using extract and steeping the specialty grains, but some have no suggestion of extract.

Why couldn't you use extract in every recipe? Surely its just a substitution for grain regardless of the recipe?

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Because some grains you have to mash not just steep. So extract brewers dont have the full range of available reciepes that AG brewers do

Yes, some of the more complex recipes have things like Torrified Wheat, Wheat Malt, Munich Malt etc which need to be mashed.

However, many AG recipes are just Pale Malt, Crystal Malt and maybe some Chocolate Malt, the latter two which you can steep and the first one is substituted my malt extract, so you can convert a lot of AG recipes to Extract.

Linalmeemow said:

I've read that the LME is the source of homebrew twang - does anyone have any experience of this? I've been using DME and my first batch has had no sign of twang, but I have no idea if this is the reason why...

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I've come to the conclusion that HB twang has more than one source.

1) I you use plain sugar as a fermentable this can give the twang. I've read it opinioned that as the yeast has to break down the sugar from a disaccharide to a monosaccaride to metabolise it and this is what gives the twang

2) Yeast produce all kinds of compounds during fermentation but less if fermented cooler. Kits often give (the wrong) much higher temps in the instuctions to ferment at than ideal. These higher temps are more likey to produce a fully fermented beer and faster but also produce more esters and possible off flavours, such as the twang.
Kit homebrewers often do not have any temp control and simply free ferment. Swings in temp can often produce off flavours (twang). More so in fact that if fermented at higher than recommended temps as flucctuations stress the yeast.
A while back I read a post from a kit brewer who also used a fermentation fridge. He claimed he never had HB twang

3) Fresh ingredients. If your LME/DME is begining to go stale it will produce HB twang. Before it gets to you, you have no idea how long it has been sitting on a shelf. It might have a use by date on it but it doesnt have a 'When it was produced' date'. I once made a beer with stale mild ale malt. It definately had a stale smell but I couldn't be bothered to take it back to where I bought it from. The brew I made from it had a definate twang, just like a kit. And just like a kit it conditiond out after a few weekd

The reason I'm interested in those craft a kits is because I'd plan on using a liquid yeast with one and control the temp so it on the cooler side. Whenever we get a 'how can I pimp my kit' question on the forum the normal response from forumites it to dry hop/add some steeped grains. Using a liquid yeast is almost never suggested, even though yeast is probably the most important ingredient. As mentioned above I believe free fermenting a kit can lead to HB twang. So I fancy making a kit of my own devising but using controlled fermentation and my house yeast (WYeast 1469)

just popped all my grains and spray malt in a cooler area. last thing I need is a stale beer.