Extract Brewing Questions

[Jimbo75]

Hi all,

Having recently decided to set off on the road to AG I have chosen to do an extract brew by way of introduction. I've done numerous kit brews and am aware of the basic science and techniques and also have a fair amount of the necessary kit. The only thing I am really missing (besides the hops and DME!) is a boiler and I was hoping if possible to avoid purchasing one.

My question concerns whether or not I can scale down my brew length and then potentially scale it back up again to my desired volume. My (probably misguided) plan was to do my boil on the hob in large pans using 10 litres of water into which I will have dissolved enough DME for a 23 litre yield. Having done the boil to the usual 90 minute schedule and to whichever recipe I choose I will strain off into my FV. I was then planning to top up the wort to the required volume (or more likely to achieve my target SG) with cool water.

So my questions are as follows:

- Is there any risk associated with dissolving a large amount of DME into a relatively small amount of liquor? Is there a danger that the liquor could reach saturation and affect the results of the boil?

- Will I still be able to extract the required amount of bittering and aroma from the hops by boiling in a reduced volume of water?

- Can I dilute my concentrated wort in the FV with cold water and still achieve the required result in terms of fermentable sugars and flavour characteristics present in the wort?

- Will adding cool water in this way do the same job as an immersion chiller would?

In my mind all this should work but I suspect there will be various chemical reasons why my plan is entirely flawed!

Any answers or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Jimbo

 

[StrangeBrew]

- Is there any risk associated with dissolving a large amount of DME into a relatively small amount of liquor? Is there a danger that the liquor could reach saturation and affect the results of the boil?
Not in a 10 litre pot it should be fine

- Will I still be able to extract the required amount of bittering and aroma from the hops by boiling in a reduced volume of water?
Smaller boil size compared to batch size will reduce the hop utilisation - Use a little extra hops compared to the recipe

- Can I dilute my concentrated wort in the FV with cold water and still achieve the required result in terms of fermentable sugars and flavour characteristics present in the wort?
Yes

- Will adding cool water in this way do the same job as an immersion chiller would?
Yes as long as you end up with within yeast pitching temp range

:

 

[Jimbo75]

Many thanks for your response StrangeBrew. I'll definitely give it a go in that case!

 

[pittsy]

also , you should read all the brew FAQ on the top of the page on the far left next to the Malt miller link , 1 of the question/answers will help lots the 'sugar points' 1 will help you here ! Also check out 'beer brew guide' on this forum its got a piece about extract brewing with a large pot , to make 23l of wort you will prob only need to boil about 10 to 15l max then add the rest of clean water to make up the rest of your batch. I only have a large stock pot and ive managed to AG with no probs at all (my pot is 22l and only boil about 12l ) hope this helps :

 

[Jimbo75]

Thanks for the reply pittsy. I've taken a look at those forum topics and they are very useful.

I do have one further question though. I was wondering if brewing in an open vs. closed vessel makes any difference to the final characteristics of the the wort? Besides the greater loss in volume through evaporation of boiling in an open pot, is there any reason to do one or the other? I don't currently have a single pot large enough to boil 10 litres so I'll probably split the liquor across 2 vessels and boil covered to avoid a large loss through evaporation. Has anyone else done this?

 

[pittsy]

I do boil mine with a lid on as it helps to get the temp up as its so large a pot i use 2 rings on my hob and as long as you split your ingredients in half then just split your water in half too , you will prob need to boil about 6L ish in each to get a 5 gallon batch (adding water after boil this also helps get your temp down for pitching your yeast ) I'm drinking a lovely wheat beer that isn't even condition fully (in a plastic keg , too easy to pull a pint from lol ) and it was part extract with grain , its fantastic, really does **** over kit brews . :drink:

 

[artiums_enteri]

The only risk associated with boiling in a smaller volume of water would be the possible scorching or caramelization of the extract in the kettle. Most experts now recommend late additions of the extract to avoid the "twang."

I would not recommend boiling with the lid on because as you boil you are trying to get naturally occurring sulfides such as DMS out of the wort. If you leave the lid on the sulfides just fall right back into solution.

 

[pittsy]

I would not recommend boiling with the lid on because as you boil you are trying to get naturally occurring sulfides such as DMS out of the wort. If you leave the lid on the sulfides just fall right back into solution.

thanks for the tip , i didn't know that :)