Advice On Extract Beers

[robbiep]

Hi guys,

I am new to the forum and look forward to interacting with you all.

When using the kit extracts, i believe that that you need to use the whole can, which makes 20l.

The problem with me, although i love beer, i dont drink huge quantities, maybe 6-8 beers a week.

I prefer the idea of making smaller batches of beer, but more variety. I have the following questions regarding extract beer:

1: Can you make smaller batches?
2: Does extract beer taste better that what you get at bottle shops. i.e Does Coopers Pale Ale (extract) taste better than if you bought it in a bottle shop?
3: Can you create your own recipies with extract beer?

I spoke to the guy at a Brew hop and he said 99.99% of home brewers used extract. You guys recon this is the case?

Cheers,
Robbie

 

[verysupple]

Welcome!

1: Yes you can make small batches. Actually, if you make a ~20L batch with just a can it's going to be pretty thin (both taste-wise and alcohol-wise) so making a smaller batch isn't a bad idea.

2: If you do a good job your beer will be far better. My first few batches were quite enjoyable to drink but they tasted so different to commercial beer it's hard to say if it was actually better. Having said that, with a bit of practice your beers will be consistently better than commercial stuff.

3: Of course you can! Here's Ian's spreadsheet which a lot of us use to help develop recipes. http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=29655

Additionally, this spreadsheet will help you get the body and alc. right for your smaller batches.

Hope this helps, happy brewing.

EDIT: typo

 

[Black Devil Dog]

Making smaller batches is a good option if you aren't a big drinker and want to try a variety of styles.

Use a can of extract and maybe 250g of dextrose to make 10 litres.

As for tasting better, well that depends. Some of my beer tastes pretty good and some of my beer tastes pretty ordinary.

If you get the basics like sanitation and temperature control sorted, you will be able to make some nice beers. Are they better than commercial beers though? Some of my friends tell me that some of my beer tastes as good or better than commercial stuff.

You can create your own recipes, yesterday I made a brew of my own design and the smell coming from the airlock makes me wonder why I did it. Is smells like a fruit punch/beer mongrel. Time will tell how good/bad it is.

Good luck with your brewing.

 

[MaltyHops]

...
When using the kit extracts, i believe that that you need to use the whole can, which makes 20l.
The problem with me, although i love beer, i dont drink huge quantities, maybe 6-8 beers a week.
I prefer the idea of making smaller batches of beer, but more variety.
...

Can easily pour half the contents of a can into a tupperware container
and stored in the freezer. There's no problem with sanitisation if you
dissolve the wort concetrate in, say, 1/3 of the total volume and boil
for a few minutes.

Boil, cool and chill the other 2/3 of the water beforehand to cool down
the boiled wort in the fermenter before yeast pitching.

Scaling everything down would allow smaller sized equipment to be used
and easier to handle - eg. use a 10L cube as a fermenter, could put it in
an esky with frozen bottles of water to cool it down, lots of possibilities).