Calling All Extract Brewers

[Prof. Pils]

ack!
never made it to the store to get some kitchen scales so I'll have to wait 'til tommorrow night to get it on - can't measure the hops without scales!
bugger.

cheers for all the advice,
I've read as much as I can find on partial boils and I was in two minds whether to leave some malt out and add it late in the boil, or get as big a boil as my pot will handle (its a big pot, probably 19 litres), with comfortable headspace and go with all of it. Taking into account my lack of an immersion chiller (thanks Josh for reminding me of yet ANOTHER essential piece of kit I need ) and how hard it might be to crash cool.
Twas easier for me to work out the hop utilisation going with the whole lot for 60 minutes so had decided to do that - now I'm undecided again!
So many ways to skin a cat.

I worked out with my 3.1kg malt at 10 litres for 60 minutes and my hop regime above was going to give me 39 IBU's, I've read an APA should be between 30 and mid 50's, so 39 was a decent nudge towards the middle of that range for my first. Was prepared to sacrifice some colour to make the maths/boiling/hopping regime easy. I'll have to recalculate if I go with half, don't want my first one to be too bitter...

tommorrow then.

cheers again, most excellent help.
bH

[post="101717"][/post]​

Must buy digital scales & thermometer.Absolute rules. Good beer dont come cheap.
Good luck Barney.I've used ice for years for cold break.SHHHH dont tell anyone.

 

[barneyhanway]

done and in the fermenter.

managed a 15lt boil in my pot, great stuff. I'll know for next time.
found it damn hard to get the boil started, both with water and once I dumped the malt in. then my wife said "put the lid on the pot". duh.
boiled all my extract and the dextrose for 60 minutes,
32g Green Bullet for 60
15g pac hall for 10
10g pac hall @flameout, rest for 10
into the sink, took a fair while to cool, and I didn't have a thermometer so it was kind of guesswork. note: buy a thermometer. good advice there prof.
after over an hour I got impatient, sieved it into the fermenter, added my chilled water. 23deg! a couple over target, but I'm happy with that.
made up to 23litres, OG 1046
pitched 2 packets of muntons gold,
hopefully I'll see some bubbles in the morning.

lessons learned:
what pellet hops smell like! pretty pungent I have to say, pregnant wife didn't appreciate!
my pot takes 15 litres with ease, I totally recommend one this size minumum, still have to watch for boilovers, especially with lid on! note: get gas burner, I tested the extreme range of my ceramic hob.
how long it takes to cool in sink. note: make immersion chiller.
how bitter the test tube tasted! I sample all my wort's from the tube I use for hydrometer test. this one was vastly different. very flavoursome and pungent, and very bitter finish. this is a very good sign.

I read so many posts about how different extract is to kits before taking this plunge, take my word for it, from brew number one, the smells, tastes, experience is in a totally different league. from the sample I tasted I'm sure the end result will be too. watch this space.

thanks again for all the advice/suggestions, mucho gracias.

 

[Prof. Pils]

One step @ a time Barney, sounds like your doing a good job.I reckon it'll be bubbling soon with 2 packs of yeast in. Whats the AA rating on those green bullets and where do you get 'em? I just read back further that U were 3 wks in the primary? sounds a bit long unless U were doing a lager @ 3c.Mine only takes 10 days @ 5c and 2 days @ 10c 4 the diacetyl rest.I cant use my pluto unfortunately @ this time & requires me 2 order 1 up on the intercom when SWMBO is next trekking down to the washing line.
Good luck Barney. It's all worth it.
Cheers Glenn.

 

[barneyhanway]

NZ green bullets, 11%AA
I'm in kiwiland, so shouldn't really have any trouble getting green bullets!
Hauraki Homebrew is my vendor of choice, never know they might be able to courier something across the ditch. Not sure how that works with quarantine etc...

no bubbling this morning, have to say I was a little disappointed.
patience grasshopper.

I was going to leave it to secondary ferment in the primary fermenter if that makes sense, I have no second container so was just going to leave it for longer.
I had read on howtobrew and some other sites that up to 3 weeks on the trub will do no damage. I'll probably get impatient and bottle it after 2

 

[Prof. Pils]

Barney, u could get a couple of these @ Bunnings (about $18 ea with tap)I used these 4 yrs 4 conditioning.(I like to lager) U could drill a hole in the top 4 airlock but I never bothered.Just keep an eye on it & vent Co2 off till no more.If u get 2 u can use the other 4 bulk priming & bottling like this.Then you're streamling the process.
It's a shame yr not in Melb.I.ve still got 3 left.I gave 2 to an 18yr old newbie(6 kits so far) that I've recently taken under my wing.He asked me if he could use 1 to rack off the primary & prime with dex & use it as a keg.You know - bypass the bottling stage!If only it was that easy.Soon he'll be playing with lpg I think.It's a worry.A small amount of knowlege is a dangerous thing.
Hope this helps.
Cheers Glenn.

 

[barneyhanway]

posting back for the record,
2 weeks later and in the bottle. Looking very clear despite quite a bit of hop residue in the fermenter, it really did drop right away. Kind of glad I didn't rack to secondary now, its fine how it is, and smells and tastes great.
I'm champing at the bit to try one cold and fizzy, will wait for this weekend - the bottles should have firmed up by then.

Straight onto the next one tonight I think, the same but with light LME (as opposed to amber), no dextrose, and maybe slightly less green bullets for 60min, maybe 25gm instead of 32gm. This one is just great for me, but might be a tad bitter for my dad - a lion red drinker from way back.

Cheers.



[edit] add "no dextrose"[/edit]