Way To Amarillo IPA - first extract brew!

[grapefruitmoon]

In the process of doing this one at the moment. Gone OK so far I think. Pics to come! Small incident with the pan boiling over when I added the 2nd batch of extract, not too bad though. :)

 

[rickthebrew]

Hope it goes well for you You realise the next step will be the darkside I managed one extract brew before getting the gear together for AG brewing, it was the smell of the hops :shock:

 

[grapefruitmoon]

I can feel the darkside calling! The smell of the hops really got me too. The wife won't be happy!

As promised, some pics from the brew day...

Ingredients!

Hops weighed out.

Boil started and first ingredients added.

Boiling away nicely.

Oops! Slight overspill! :shock:

Everything added, now steeping.

Strained and topping up to 21L.

Yeast pitched!

Smells fantastic, can't wait to taste it!

 

[Tony]

Great pics .. nice job!
I love the rising sun in the last pic! Did you buy Japanese yeast?


:whistle:

 

[rickthebrew]

Looking good g, is that the brew website recipe? i did the summer ale and was really impressed with it compared to kits - i pushed onto AG because i thought extract was quite an exspensive way to brew - my AG set up cost well under 100quid and was the right move You`re in the right place if you want to take the next step :whistle: :thumb:

 

[grapefruitmoon]

Yeah it's the recipe from the Brew UK site. Was quite straightforward to do. I fancy the summer ale one as well, considering that for my next attempt (although given that I've now got about 76 pints on the go it could be a while!). I'm very tempted to move to AG, price is a big factor. How much would you reckon something similar would work out to going AG? I paid £21 for the extract ingredients.

 

[rickthebrew]

to brew a 4% ale you would need around 4kg of pale malt - i pay 28.50 for a 25kg sack direct from my local malsters, some will pay less and others more. I get all my hops from barley bottom - great hops and service and cheapest on the net (fellow brewer started a business :thumb: keeps prices really competitive) from 2.99 up to around 6quid for 100grams hops. Yeast from 1quid a pack - cheaper in bulk or reuse from brews or salvage from bottle conditioned ales.

so, grain and hops (say 100grams depends how you like it - i do brews with nearly 200g hops sometimes :party: ) yeast and some basic water treatment and finings around 9quid - electric for the boil maybe a quid or two. I just brewed a hoppy IPA with 6kg grain and loads of hops that will be around 16quid.

But do an AG brew and when you taste it you`d glady pay more - think how much decent bottled ale costs :thumb:

 

[jenki]

I just brewed a hoppy IPA with 6kg grain and loads of hops that will be around 16quid.
But do an AG brew and when you taste it you`d glady pay more - think how much decent bottled ale costs :thumb:

Bang on - yeah you can save money - but it's about the quality, even from modest equipment, follow the guides on here and your making great beer, ok dearer than 20packs of fosters :evil: but so much better :

 

[robsan77]

i worked out that 40 pints cost me about £10!

I made my own gear out of 3 5 gallon fermentation buckets and got setup for under £40! if you can get some stuff on freecycle you can do it cheaper still.

so my first brew cost me £50 for 40 pints. £1.10 per pint.
my subsequent brews cost me 25p per pint.

edit: bear in mind tho that i now want to upgrade my set up already (2 months in) and get pumps, herms, underbacks and all sorts..... its very addictive stuff!

 

[rickthebrew]

sorry we seem to have hijacked the original post but you`ll see that everyone will push you towards AG, some one posted ages ago that its like going from black and white tv to HD tv - it`s true :thumb:

 

[grapefruitmoon]

So my IPA has been conditioning for 8 days now, just having a cheeky wee bottle of it the now...it's a winner! Easily the best I've brewed so far, and the first I've thought "this is as good as I get down the pub". And hopefully it will get better with age!

Dark side is calling...on the lookout for things to make my mash tun and boiler with...it all your guys fault. :grin:

 

[rickthebrew]

glad it turned out good grapefruitmoon ( thats a name for an AG brew do some research and you`ll see how easy it is to go AG - i did my first one at the end of october last year - number 12 planned for saturday :lol:

just be warned its really addictive the dark side :twisted: :lol: :twisted: :lol:

 

[rickthebrew]

sorry meant to ask how the amarillo hops are - i`ve got a bag begging to get brewed

 

[jonewer]

sorry meant to ask how the amarillo hops are - i`ve got a bag begging to get brewed

Have brewed with these before. Very good citrus tang and decent alpha.

 

[rickthebrew]

cheers j :thumb: