All Extract Brewing...

[Pandreas]

Hi Everyone,

Have searched the forums for all extract brewing and discovered lots of people do it (and swear by it), but precious little information on HOW this is done....

I'd like to ditch the kits and start extract brewing because I like the idea of buying plain Light and Dark liquid extracts or perhaps dried wheat extracts and then steeping some grains and adding hops for flavour. I suppose I'd like to make some beers I can say are truly of my own design.

My questions are:

1. Are all plain malt extracts equal?
2. If not, What brands are best?
3. Can I buy them in bulk to save $$$? My LHBS won't supply in bulk....
4. Can I bulk buy Hops? Again my LHBS will sell only in packets up to 25g....
5. Can anyone suggest a proven all extract recipe?

Sorry if this question seems naieve, but although I am new to brewing I don't want to muck around with kits and trying to copy commercial beers for any longer than I have to...

Cheers,
Patrick

 

[DJR]

No bulk Extract and no bulk hops - you are getting screwed.

You can make "extract" beers by adding the extract to water, boiling it up and adding hops, then diluting it afterwards. Plenty of info out there on doing that.

First off find a brewshop that will sell bulk extract or at least the cans of unhopped extract, make sure it's as fresh as possible, Morgan's is OK but there is plenty out there. As for hops, find somewhere that sells about 100g packs, they are good to start with. The sponsors of the site supply them and you can order online, they're worth a try.

 

[PostModern]

You need to find a new brew shop to take the next step, it seems.

There are a few brands of extract available. I found that liquid malt was more of a pain to store and measure. Stick and sloppy. I used primarily Bintani light dry extract which comes in 20kg sacks at about the $100-$120 mark depending on how well you can sweet talk the retailer. LHBS used to get it in for me on request. Ferments well and stores well, easy to measure on the scales with no losses. Coopers liquid extract is available in 28Kg buckets and in a range of colours. Cheaper than dry, but you have to factor in the liquid content, and how you're going to pour it out of your bucket into the measuring vessel and kettle. You can buy a "honey gate" to insert into the spiggot to make pouring easier.

 

[Jerry]

Totally agree with PostModern.

You really need to find another LHBS. Are there many options in Geelong? The only one I know of is in McKillop St.

If not then buying in bulk will probably mean a trip to Melbourne. I know Greensborough Home Brew sell in just about any quantity you want. I would imagine Grain & Grape do the same.

Also agree that trying to measure out liquid extract accurately is a HUGE pain in the arse.


Scott

 

[Stoodoo]

Yes, unfortunately Geelong has no decent home brew shop, if you're wanting to try all grain/partial or extract brewing. It's ok if you're only kit and kiloing. I have to laugh everytime I walk into the store and see non vacuum packed packets of both pellet and flower hops just lying on the shelves. The hops would get heated up pretty warm in that store during summer. Grain and Grape would be your closest decent home brew store if you want to extract brew. G & G have both bulk malt and hops available, though craftbrewer have the largest range of hops available in Aus - as far as I know, and their prices and service can't be beaten (except if you want some Cascade flower hops, Damnit Ross when are they coming in?). Anyhow, good luck with your new path to brewing heaven.

Cheers

 

[blackbock]

My questions are:

1. Are all plain malt extracts equal?
2. If not, What brands are best?

Coopers get very annoyed when someone suggests their extracts can be substituted by the Morgans range. They insist that it is not the same stuff but according to information on the labels, colourwise they are only a bees dick apart. Morgans do not quote solids content on their cans, but I wouldn't mind betting they are practically identical. Coopers claim there is a difference, but then clam up when asked what the difference might be. I'll bet noone could distinguish between brews made from either...

Getting fresh extract is the most important factor, not brand :excl:

 

[bconnery]

1. Are all plain malt extracts equal?
2. If not, What brands are best?
3. Can I buy them in bulk to save $$$? My LHBS won't supply in bulk....
4. Can I bulk buy Hops? Again my LHBS will sell only in packets up to 25g....
5. Can anyone suggest a proven all extract recipe?

Cheers,
Patrick

Patrick,

I have been all extract and then partial mashing for a few years now and it's pretty easy basically.

An excellent reference is Laurie Strachan's australian homebrewing book. I haven't seen if the new one is as good but just that book and the web got me from kits to all extract and partials before I even found ahb...

Hops and bulk extract appear to have been covered ok so here's my tips on method and recipes. Fresh is best and bulk is ideal but not always easy. My HBS has actually stopped stocking the bulk Coopers due to price increases...


I like to use all light extract and rely on steeping grains for flavour and colour. I'm not saying this is the best method, I just feel it gives me the most control in formulating recipes.

Measuring and using half amounts of extract is a pain, it's easier just to adjust your recipes to whole amounts depending on your source size. Luckily 3kg of extract, or two 1.5kg tins is a nice amount for most recipes...

You'll need a good stock pot or similar, 10L minimum, 15 even better.

This is my post on the best method of kit brewing. If you follow that method, with extract as your "kit" I believe very strongly you'll like the results.

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=14384



All extract recipes.

I've got a bunch. They virtually all contain some measure of steeped grain.

Hops are super important. I'll say it blatantly. Craftbrewer. No affaliation just another in a long long line of satisfied customers.

I'll put a couple here but if you want to PM me your email I'll drop you my older brewing notes.



An another note you can still easily use programs like beersmith, or online calculators, for recipe formulation. They are very good with all extract because it is more common in the US I believe, where many HBS sell "kits" of extract with grains and hops bundled as a beer style.



Mild Thing (This was my first all extract. I did one more kit beer after tasting this, and only because I had the kit...) Apologies for the lack of layout and punctuation, just copied it from my spreadsheet...

50-60g Roast Malt, 1kg Dark DME, 1Kg Light DME, 50g Hallertau hops, a teaspoon or so of cinnamon. SAFALE S-04 Yeast

roast malt in stocking bag(optional. I don't bother anymore, just steep and strain) until water reaches around 75C, remove bag and rinse.

500g Dark DME, 500g Light DME, 30g Halltertau @ 60, 500g Dark DME, 500g Light DME @ 5. 30g Halltertau and cinnamon @ 2

Ferment @around 20C, even though I didn't...



English Bitter (quite a dark one, but very nice)

3kg LME. 100g Crystal 100g Dark Crystal 100g Chocolate 50g Roast Malt 100g MaltoDextrin 250g Carapils 10g Progress 70g First Gold. 20g Saphir Nottingham yeast

Steeped chocolate in cold for a few hours. Steep crystals, roast malt and carapils. 1.5kg LME, Progress, 10g Saphir, 50g First Gold @45. Runnings from grain @30. ME & remaining hops @5.

Ferment @20C



Any other questions please feel free to PM me.

 

[braufrau]

5. Can anyone suggest a proven all extract recipe?

This turned out beautifully for me
SNPA clone
but I used simcoe instead of perl (my HBS guy suggested that)

 

[bconnery]

Here's a bunch of links too. Most of them are american so you have to learn to adjust for grains you can't get and imperial to metric, but there's heaps of recipes around...

Plus you can also learn to convert AG recipes. There's plenty of info around about that...
Some sites with good tips:

http://www.byo.com/feature/1369.html
http://www.brewingtechniques.com/library/index.html

http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index...mediate-Brewing



Recipes

http://www.firststatebrewers.com/brewtips/maltextract.php (tips here too)

http://brewersconnection.com/catalog/house.html

http://www.thebrewhut.com/ViewTBHExtractRecipes.cfm



Mixed with AG but lots of extract...

http://ericsbeerpage.com/Beer/Recipe/recex2.html

http://brewery.org/brewery/gambmug/gambmug.shtml

http://www.tastybrew.com/newrcp/styleview.html (also recipe calculation...)



More AG but still quite a few extract

http://www.stoutbillys.com/stout/RECIPENS.htm

 

[shamus]

if you want to buy hops in 100g packs then Check out www.craftbrewer.com.au

 

[PostModern]

if you want to buy hops in 100g packs then Check out www.craftbrewer.com.au

That would be 90g packs.

 

[shamus]

close enough

 

[jaytee]

5. Can anyone suggest a proven all extract recipe?

Sorry if this question seems naieve, but although I am new to brewing I don't want to muck around with kits and trying to copy commercial beers for any longer than I have to...

Two suggestions for recipes are

JP's recipes on www.howtobrew.com - just convert to metric and try each style. The instructions were invaluable to me when I started out with extract & steeping grains.

The Grain & Grape Beer Of The Moment recipes.

As you try a few of them you'll get a feel for what different ingredients add to a brew and be able to make a better judgement in formulating your own recipes to suit your tastes

 

[Aviary]

Hi,

I just started doing extract brewing also, mainly to get more control of the hops.

I found www.beertools.com has a good searchable directory of extract recipes and a feature that allows you to convert all the numbers to metric.

Hope it helps,

David.

 

[drsmurto]

Extract CPA clone

3.00 kg Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 92.3 %
0.10 kg Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 3.1 %
0.15 kg Carared (20.0 SRM) Grain 4.6 %
20.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [10.00%] (60 min) Hops 21.2 IBU
10.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [10.00%] (30 min) Hops 8.2 IBU
10.00 gm Pride of Ringwood [10.00%] (10 min) Hops 3.9 IBU
1 Pkgs Cooper Ale (Coopers #-) Yeast-Ale

Assumes a full boil. I cheated and halved the exract, halved the volume so SG was approx the same. Used a recultured CPA yeast from 2 longnecks. Easy drinking pale ale.

 

[Pandreas]

Thanks for everyones advise and input!

I will definately have to visit some other home brew shops! Even though the people at my LHBS are really nice and helpful, their advise is often at odds with the methods and opinions of many of the experienced brewers on this forum. This has made me uneasy....

Also, last time I went into the HBS I enquired about All Grain brewing, only to be told hardly anyone does that and I should stick with the kits! Received NO advice....

Anyway, Final straw is that I was actually told by my LHBS that they couldn't order bulk hops AT ALL, and that the price for bulk LME was $9kg. Thanks everyone for letting me know this is BS.



It seems that DME is the way to go. PostModern, I will definately be looking for 20kg bags of DME for around the $100-$120 mark.... cheap beer at last! I was thinking that $30-$40 per brew was a bit excessive!!!!!

Jerry, the only HBS in Geelong as far as I know is the one in McKillop St, perhaps if there was some more competition thay would stock bulk ingredients!

Stoodoo, will definately check out Grain & Grape and the Craftbrewer range of Hops.

Thanks all for recipes & links, just the sort of help I am looking for to get an idea of how to use different sorts of grain and hops to achieve the various styles of beer.... This is one hobby with a huge learning curve, but I'm loving it!

Cheers All! :beer: :beer: