A Simple Guide to Extract Brewing

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This simple guide to extract brewing may be of use to those who have acquired some basic skills whilst brewing kits, and are considering moving on and trying new things. Many people will move directly to all grain (AG) brewing, but for some, for whatever reason, this may not be an option, whether only temporarily or permanently.

Extract brewing sits in between brewing beer from liquid malt kits and AG brewing. It offers the opportunity to brew beers of your choice, as a progression from boosting kits, with the flexibility of brewing smaller volumes like AG if that suits your circumstances, rather than being forced to brew 20plus litres of beer as required by most kits. And you don’t need any more equipment to brew extract beers other than a stock pot and which can be smaller than the final volume of wort, although a fine mesh kitchen type strainer may be useful for filtering out hops after the boil (see later). The main disadvantage of extract brewing is that it is not much less expensive to make extract beers compared to kit beer (unlike AG), although to some this may not be important. However for some extract brewing might be an attractive way to brew their beer rather than staying with kits or moving forward to AG.

Most AG recipes can be converted to extract, however if the recipes require any grain adjuncts that require mashing such as unmalted oats or torrified wheat, there is a need to convert the grain starch to fermentable sugars and this will require a ‘mini mash’ using a diastase containing grain like pale malt to carry out the conversion, since diastase containing malt extract is extremely difficult to obtain.

In extract brewing both spray malt (DME) and liquid malt (LME) can be used. Some cheap LME has been known to cause the ‘twang’ in the finished product, so using DME or premium LME may deliver a better product but at higher cost.

To convert recipes a simple approximate conversion is 1kg Pale Malt = 750g LME = 650g DME

An extract brew usually contains the following basic steps to produce wort suitable for brewing:-

1. An optional grain steep if crystal malt, chocolate malt or any other grain malt is to be used to enhance the flavour of the wort. Usually 30 minutes at about 65 -70*C will be sufficient but the liquor from the steep plus the sparging liquor of the spent grain will require boiling to sterilise.

2. An optional ‘mini-mash’ which is needed if unmalted grains in small quantities are to be used. This will require mashing the unmalted grain with diastase containing grain like pale malt for an hour or so at about 65*C. Sometimes a mini-mash can be used even if there is no unmalted grain present if the brewer feels it will enhance the brew, but notably grain bills are much smaller than for AG brews

3. A hop boil with the liquors from 1 and 2 above with some water plus some of the malt extract. It serves to sterilise any liquor from grain mashing and steeping, and also to extract bitterness from the hops for the long boil time, with short boil hops being mainly added for flavour, just as for an AG brew. Enclosing the hops in a bag may be useful since the hops will be retained in it when the wort is transferred to the FV, however the disadvantage of this is that it restricts hop movement and may inhibit the hops giving up their ‘goodness’. Note that only some of the malt extract needs to be used for the hop boil, and also, and importantly, only a proportion of the overall final wort volume needs be boiled. The rest of the malt extract and water to top up to the required brew volume can be added directly to the FV just like a kit. So as an example only a third to half of the malt extract and the liquid volume will be needed for the boil.

4. When the boil is complete the wort will need to be cooled. Depending on the stock pot used this can be done by immersing the pot in a sink or a bowl of cold water, occasionally stirring the sink contents and changing the water when it gets warm, and/or stirring the wort with a sanitised spoon. Aim to cool the wort to below about 30*C .

5. Add the remaining malt extract and some hot water to the FV as for a kit, thoroughly mixing and aerating. Then add the cooled wort, filtering out the hops and any solid ‘break’ from the boil, and adjust the final wort to the required volume by adding water to additionally achieve the required yeast pitching temperature. Aerate as normal. Pitch the yeast and off you go!

Useful references:-

Recommend an Extract Recipe plz - The HomeBrew Forum (This includes a recipe)

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/guide-to-brewing-2-extract-brewing-c-58_60.html (This includes a recipe)

https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/what-to-brew-next.67160/#post-631825 (This has a mild beer recipe)

‘Brew Your Own British Real Ale’ by Graham Wheeler. (This contains many recipe conversions from their AG equivalent. In print and widely available, local libraries may have a copy to borrow.)




 
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Thanks Terrym.

Worth noting that Home Brew Beer by Greg Hughes contains instructions for malt extract equivalents to the all grain recipes in the book - not all, probably about 50% of them.

I note that Brewersfriend allows you to create malt extract recipes too. I would be interested if there are any thoughts for those who might want to concoct their own recipes here, i.e. is there anything that could go much wrong with simply experimenting with malt extract brewing?
 
I would be interested if there are any thoughts for those who might want to concoct their own recipes here, i.e. is there anything that could go much wrong with simply experimenting with malt extract brewing?
At its simplest all you need is malt extract and hops. If you wanted to there is no reason why you couldn't use brewing enhancer or brewing or even table sugar as for a kit, but that rather defeats the object of making up an extract brew, although I have made some brews with a small amount of Golden Syrup. The most difficult bit is selecting the hop type or types and calculating the quantities required and the boil times. However if you copy a recipe this is usually done for you. So its probably best to copy at first and then have a go on your own recipe, perhaps making up a small volume brew.
 
This was devised to use up some ingredients, especially the last can of cheap LME I had. I called it Extract Dark Ale. It turned out OK. Initially it was quite spicy like a Christmas Ale but after months af maturing it has mellowed out.

1.95kg Liquid Malt (1.5kg can +0.45 H&B )
100g Chocolate Malt*
25g Black Malt*
50g Crystal*
300g Pale Malt**
100g TW**
350g Golden Syrup

* Steep for 30 mins at 65*C; boil for 15 mins
**Minimash for 60 mins

25 g Target - 65 min boil using minimash plus 250g LME to 5 litres
10 g Challenger - 10 min boil used 200g LME to about 3 litres

¼ protofloc tab at last 10 mins to 65 min boil wort
To 18 litres, OG 1.044
GV12 yeast
Racked after 10 days then added Hop Tea 20g Challenger + 20g Target with about 350ml water. Tea plus hops to FV.
FG 1.010
 
Ris-ky business - brewdog homebrew comp finalist. (advanced extract brewing)


Malt & Sugar:

2kg very dark dme
2kg medium dme
500g wme
250g dark candi sugar

Grains:

250g choc
250g carafa special III
250g roasted barley
500g dark crystal

steep grains in 2 litres chase spring water (other water is available)

strike temp 76.8 - mash/steep temp 65

rinsed with 2 litres water at 50 degrees

added 4 litres to boil

and 4kg dme and candi sugar boiled for 15 min

50g mandarina bavaria in 1 litre of water separate 15 min boil

all pitched into fv and final 500g WME stirred in.

topped up to 22 litres(determined to end up with 20 litres of beer) = 60 x 33cl bottles!

Mj belgian ale yeast rehydrated in 150ml 30deg water

pitched at 29 degrees - fermenting at 22

og 1090 - fg 1011.

10.37%

tastes very drinkable out of the sample jar, rich chocolate hints with dark fruits and sherry hints. Super now!

fabulous level of sweetness - not sickly balanced with a light bitterness. superb.

what a fantastic dessert beer :-)

primed with 150g sugar

NOTE: unless you re-hydrate the yeast 1 packet of yeast sprinkled onto the wort will NOT do the job.
 
Brilliant write up Terry, as always, no nonsense, clear, concise and to the point. I would always point any beginner to your write ups and the rest of us could do ourselves a big favour re-reading them as a refresher. A real asset to the forum.
 
I'd really recommend Step.2 the mini-mash. This is ideal for both improving the beer and reducing your spend on malt extract.

Just lately I've been doing 50/50 grain/DME and the brews have been absolutely superb. Some might say "why not go fully AG" but you can do a lot smaller mash using this method, which cools quicker after the boil - I did a brew in under 3 hours yesterday. Plus using brewing software you can size your brew to use full 1kg or 500g bags of DME. I do my mini-mash in a 12L stockpot, in a grain bag, and it sits in a slightly-warmed but turned-off oven for an hour to keep the mash temp up. Stirring at the start, mid-point and end I can get 68% efficiency (you may get more, or less).

Here's a recipe I've just brewed based on Orkney Dark Island, it turned out excellent.

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 15.0
Original Gravity (OG): 1.047
Final Gravity (FG): 1.010
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 4.79 %
Colour (SRM): 17.3 (EBC): 34.1
Bitterness (IBU): 24.0
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 68

Grain Bill
----------------
1.000 kg Dry Malt Extract - Light (41.15%)
0.900 kg Maris Otter Malt (37.04%)
0.200 kg Brown Sugar, Light (8.23%)
0.125 kg Chocolate (5.14%)
0.125 kg Crystal 60 standard (5.14%)
0.080 kg Torrified Wheat (3.29%)

Hop Bill
----------------
11.0 g Challenger Leaf (8.5% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
14.0 g Challenger Leaf (8.5% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
 
Another one from my library of brewing tinterweb links; a 15 minute extract American Pale Ale with Simcoe as a single hop.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/15-minute-pale-ale/
Hi Terry, Great write up. I do add my hops slightly differently by using an induction pressure cooker (I have a 15l Italian one that is fantastic) on my 3kw buffalo hob to make hop tea. I use less than the normal quantities of hops(so it's cheaper!!) in a muslin bag with about 2l boiling water then get up to pressure/simmer and 10-15mins just maintaining the temp (I put towels over to insulate it) I add most of the liquor to the LME and top up with boiled water water, heat to 75*C to sanitise and then gently transfer to my speidel 30l FV's bottom feeding with cold water from the tap to balance (20-25*C) my re-hydrating yeast temps. Take OG/adjust, PH/PPM and taste test - I may add the last hop tea if It needs more bitterness. Then seal and do the shakey-shakey for 1 min to aerate. I have blow off tubes into jugs with StarSan. This is a hop tea link; https://beerandbrewing.com/use-hops-tea-to-enhance-flavors-in-your-beer/
 
I prepared this for another member who had received a gift of a big bag of Goldings whole hops, and thought I would share it since, from what I understand, it turned out good. It illustrates that you can make good extract beer with the simplest of equipment and ingredients.

Basic Goldings Bitter

1.5kg DME
60 or 80g Goldings Whole Hops
Ale yeast

1. Two thirds fill two 5 litre saucepans with water and heat to boiling.
2. Remove from heat then add about 250g of DME to each and stir to dissolve. Put back on heat when all the lumps have gone, and establish a rolling boil.
3. Add 30g of hops to pan #1. This is a 60minute boil (to add bitterness), so set a timer or make a note of finish time.
4. Make sure the hops are immersed and wetted, topping up with boiling water as required during the rolling boil .
5. Add 15g hops to pan #2. This is the 10 minute boil (to add some bitterness and some flavour). Set timer
6. Ditto 4 for pan #2.
7. Sanitise the FV.
8. Add about 1 litre of boiling water to FV and add the remaining DME (1kg). Stir vigorously to dissolve and aerate the wort.
9. When pan #2 time is up take off heat and add another 15g of hops (to add flavour), and thoroughly immerse in wort. These are flame out hops. Set aside for 5 mins but no more
10. Place pan #2 in sink of cold water and cool to below 30*C, lower if possible.
11. Pour wort from pan #2 into FV using sieve to keep back hops. Sparge with a little cold water to get the sugars out.
12. Repeat 11 for pan #1 when time is up.
13, Vigorously aerate wort in FV for about a minute or two.
14. Top up wort in FV to 12 litres using boiling or cold water as required to achieve 19-20*C. If too hot, allow to cool.
15. Take SG.
16. Pitch with yeast.
17. Cover and leave for about 10days in a warm place at about 19-20*C.
18. Add 20g hops. This is an optional dry hopping step for aroma.
19. Cover and leave for another 6 days with the last 2 in a cold place. Take SG.
20. Siphon into bottles. Use a sanitised nylon mesh sock on the end of siphon tube to stop hops going forward. If no sock available consider not dry hopping at all or face some hop bits in your beer.
21 Prime at the rate of 0.5tsp per 500ml. Leave in a warm place for 1 to 2 weeks.
22. Move to a cold place if available for 2 weeks and try the first bottle. Your beer may improve with keeping and will be at its best from about week 8 on from bottling.
 
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3. A hop boil with the liquors from 1 and 2 above with some water plus some of the malt extract. It serves to sterilise any liquor from grain mashing and steeping, and also to extract bitterness from the hops for the long boil time, with short boil hops being mainly added for flavour, just as for an AG brew. Enclosing the hops in a bag may be useful since the hops will be retained in it when the wort is transferred to the FV, however the disadvantage of this is that it restricts hop movement and may inhibit the hops giving up their ‘goodness’. Note that only some of the malt extract needs to be used for the hop boil, and also, and importantly, only a proportion of the overall final wort volume needs be boiled. The rest of the malt extract and water to top up to the required brew volume can be added directly to the FV just like a kit. So as an example only a third to half of the malt extract and the liquid volume will be needed for the boil.

Just for clarification on this. If I am looking at a final volume of 9lt, I could steep and then boil e.g. 4lt and then top up cold water? Are there are any 'rules' with regards to doing the steep/boil and the amount of water used? I am assuming there would be a minimum volume of water required?

Also, for DME, I assume that mixing it into the hot wort post-boil would be better than trying to mix into the cooled, pre-fermentation, wort.
 
Just for clarification on this. If I am looking at a final volume of 9lt, I could steep and then boil e.g. 4lt and then top up cold water? Are there are any 'rules' with regards to doing the steep/boil and the amount of water used? I am assuming there would be a minimum volume of water required?

Also, for DME, I assume that mixing it into the hot wort post-boil would be better than trying to mix into the cooled, pre-fermentation, wort.
I am not aware of any 'rules' that dictate grain steep liquid volumes. I usually use about 500ml water for very 100g of steeping grain and then sparge with another 500ml. Others may do it differently.

If you add the DME post boil you will affect the rate of hop extraction you achieve, in broad terms it will be more, so the beer may turn out more bitter. Conversely if you use all the malt in a smaller volume boil you will get less extraction. So the balance is to use about half the malt in a half volume boil. Doing it this way means that the hop extraction rates ( from calculators) are slightly out compared to those predicted from a full volume boil, but I've found out by trial and error about where I want to be. Others may know how to work the calculators correctly for short volume boils and be able to advise.
 
I am not aware of any 'rules' that dictate grain steep liquid volumes. I usually use about 500ml water for very 100g of steeping grain and then sparge with another 500ml. Others may do it differently.

If you add the DME post boil you will affect the rate of hop extraction you achieve, in broad terms it will be more, so the beer may turn out more bitter. Conversely if you use all the malt in a smaller volume boil you will get less extraction. So the balance is to use about half the malt in a half volume boil. Doing it this way means that the hop extraction rates ( from calculators) are slightly out compared to those predicted from a full volume boil, but I've found out by trial and error about where I want to be. Others may know how to work the calculators correctly for short volume boils and be able to advise.

Thanks again.
 
Sorry to open an old thread just getting into this hobby, so far only attempted cider or wine, fairly simple kit or make from supermarket juice.

I like the odd pint of the dark stuff Guiness, and was going to try one of the Irish stout kits, a few have said they all have the kit taste? I seen that extract brewing is not as full on as AG.

For context I am not a beer or lager drinker, cider or wine. I like some stout so interested if i can have a bash at that.

Getting some contrasting advice on what equipment is needed to do this, some say need a lot of kit like
a boiler - thought a big stock pot would work for a small batch?
Wort chiller - thought chilling the stock pot in a sink with col water did this?

My kit just now is basic, some plastic fermentation buckets, etc for cider or wine.

what kit will i need to do this?

is there any recipes for Irish Stout or the like?

Am i better just playing safe with and off the shelf kit?

cheers

Alan
 
Hi Alan firstly you don't need to do a full volume boil I use dry malt extract.(Dme) You will need to steep/mash some grains and the should be a reduced volume boil with the wort you get from that. I use a big stock pot for this. I've never had a homebrew twang using DME. I've seen extract based recipes for stout. I found one and modified it a bit. Can't post it at moment as on hols but if no-one else posts one I'll dig it out.

This will be dependant on remembering to do so... But that's a side effect of brewing , beer tourism hols ... 😳
 
Hi Alan firstly you don't need to do a full volume boil I use dry malt extract.(Dme) You will need to steep/mash some grains and the should be a reduced volume boil with the wort you get from that. I use a big stock pot for this. I've never had a homebrew twang using DME. I've seen extract based recipes for stout. I found one and modified it a bit. Can't post it at moment as on hols but if no-one else posts one I'll dig it out.

This will be dependant on remembering to do so... But that's a side effect of brewing , beer tourism hols ... 😳
cheers enjoy your hols!
 
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