I'm posting this here because the forum title is kits and extracts, even though KK is the icon in the topic list 
There has been a thread recently about all extract brewing. I did this for a few years now and feel that it is a great method for making tasty beers for those who can't, won't or haven't yet gone to all grain, which is great fun but is a lot of work and not necessarily for everyone...
This post is likely to be PistolPatch long, so eventually I will pdf it, if people like it enough. Or PM me for the document if you find it useful
By now some observant people may have noticed this all sounds very familiar. Yes, this post absolutely is a version of my kit and kilo method post done for extract. Soon I'll probably do the same for mini-mash too J
The guide will be divided into 3 sections, equipment, recipe and method.
There are certain things I'm not going to go into, sanitation, temp. control, dry hopping, all sorts of other bits. Sanitation should be a given. This is really about a method of brewing that gives you a lot of scope for different beer styles and control over your recipes.
Big Disclaimer.
This is all of course all an opinion. It is based on my experience with brewing and stuff I have read and applied. It is not intended as the gospel but I really do feel this method produces very tasty beers, and really starts to give you a good idea of how to formulate recipes and using hops and grains etc.
I'm certain I'll leave something out so feel free to be critical, add, discuss etc
Part 1 Equipment.
A pot, 10-15L, or bigger but this will do, stockpot.
Another large pot (any decent size saucepan from the kitchen will do for steeping grains
Large strainer.
Fermenters, hydrometers etc. which are pretty useful regardless of your method J
Part 2 the method.
I'm going to do this with a recipe.
This is a dark English Bitter.
3kg LME 100g Crystal. 100g Dark Crystal. 100g Chocolate. 50g Roast Malt. 250g Carapils.
10g Progress 70g First Gold. 20g Saphir ( I had this around. Substitute Goldings or something else from Germany if you like)
Nottingham yeast
The day before place as much water in the fridge as you can. I fill up a bunch of water bottles so I have 15 odd litres of cold water to top up with.
Place grains in 2L of cold water and slowly raise temp so that it reaches around 76C. Exact temp doesn't matter, just don't boil them and it helps to bring it up as slowly as you can.
As a guide I usually steep in 2L of water per kilo of grain, so that it is close to mashing levels, but with smaller amounts I tend to use 1-2L minimum...
Strain into stock pot.
Rinse with 1-2L of water at around 76C.
Place cans of LME in a sink of hot water for 10 minutes to warm.
Bring a small amount of water, say 2-3L, to the boil in stock pot with grain runnings, so you should now have about 5-7L altogether.
The amount of water from the grains will vary according to recipe, so always top up so you have about 5L minimum in the pot. The more the better kind of but leave room for the boil in the pot...
When the wort reaches boiling let it go for 5 10 minutes then start the hop additions.
10g Saphir, 50g First Gold @45.
You can use a hop bag. I usually just strain into the fermenter.
A 60 minute boil is kind of the usual but with an extract brew it isn't quite as important. It's more about getting the desired level of IBUs.
Remove from the heat and stir in the LME @10.
You should boil the extract for a minimum of 5-10 minutes. Longer is fine but you will start to darken your beer. You just need to decide if that's what you want
10g Progress, 20g First Gold, 10g [email protected]
Cool using one of the various methods. Such as: place in a sink of iced water, replacing water as it heats. Cool this as much as possible as it easier to cool this and then top up with water.
Strain into fermenter.
Top up to desired level, say 21L, in your fermenter using pre-cooled water and more if required.
Cool, if it isn't already, to around 20C for an ale or else desired temp.
Aerate, Pitch yeast, lock and you are away.
If using dried yeast I don't feel you need to re-hydrate, although I do with Nottingham
Yeast choice and techniques are a whole other topic that is the same regardless of whether you are using extract or not.
Keep cool using available methods, wet shirt, fridge, 100 can cooler etc. etc.
So it's that simple. Boil adding hops at various stages, boil remaining extract, cool and ferment.
Part 3 Whys and wherefores.
The reason for boiling is that it aids in protein coagulation, allowing the protein to sediment out (called the hot break), which in turn makes for a clearer beer. You can get a decent hot break with extract that has only been boiled 5 to 10 minutes.
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index...020413075309659
You also provide another method of reducing the potential for infection. Boiling even for 5-10 minutes helps to remove any possible nasties.
Runnings from steeped grain must be boiled for 10 minutes minimum for the same reason I think.
Boiling for 5-10 minutes is the minimum. You can boil for longer but your wort will darken. This isn't an issue for darker beers so you can boil for longer for these if you wish
If you are adding sugar do not boil for the full amount of time. There is no benefit to doing this. In fact, there can be some minor negative effects in doing so. The main reason the extract is boiled is for protein coagulation.. Since sugar is 100% carbohydrate and no protein, we don't have to do this. If you did boil the sugar for the entire length of time, the higher resultant specific gravity of the liquid being boiled would cause the hot break to be not quite as good as it could be. Also, the higher gravity will have a negative effect on hop utilization and could even cause the wort to darken more (called caramelisation), causing a darker beer.
Basically under this method you are using extract as a base malt, then controlling the colour and flavour using specialty grains, and hop levels as desired. There are lots of extract recipes around on the web so you'll have almost as much scope as doing AG.
As I said, I've spent a few years using this and mini-mashes before I went AG and I think you'll find the extra little effort is well worth it!
Hops
Here's my hop guide. Not complete or definitive but I find it useful
You will be controlling your IBUs and flavours yourself now. A calculator such as beersmith or promash is useful here. You need to adjust for the fact that you aren't doing a full volume boil.
Why grains and what to select.
Certain grains require a mash. They don't have enough power to convert to sugar on their own. Specialty grains as they are usually called contain enough sugars and are used to add flavour and colour.
Check out my grain guide for a starter on grains to use where and when and just read. Grumpys and Weyermann are good starter sites for some information, and this one as well
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Grains
Specialty grains give colour and flavour as I said, so adding them will allow you to utilize the extract as a replacement for base malt and experiment with creating your own beers. Also the practice of steeping I have outlined above is very close to a mash. Mini-mashing is essentially steeping to a controlled temperature level. It is simple with the same equipment outlined above to do a mini-mash and learn some of the techniques for mashing without going to new equipment.
There has been a thread recently about all extract brewing. I did this for a few years now and feel that it is a great method for making tasty beers for those who can't, won't or haven't yet gone to all grain, which is great fun but is a lot of work and not necessarily for everyone...
This post is likely to be PistolPatch long, so eventually I will pdf it, if people like it enough. Or PM me for the document if you find it useful
By now some observant people may have noticed this all sounds very familiar. Yes, this post absolutely is a version of my kit and kilo method post done for extract. Soon I'll probably do the same for mini-mash too J
The guide will be divided into 3 sections, equipment, recipe and method.
There are certain things I'm not going to go into, sanitation, temp. control, dry hopping, all sorts of other bits. Sanitation should be a given. This is really about a method of brewing that gives you a lot of scope for different beer styles and control over your recipes.
Big Disclaimer.
This is all of course all an opinion. It is based on my experience with brewing and stuff I have read and applied. It is not intended as the gospel but I really do feel this method produces very tasty beers, and really starts to give you a good idea of how to formulate recipes and using hops and grains etc.
I'm certain I'll leave something out so feel free to be critical, add, discuss etc
Part 1 Equipment.
A pot, 10-15L, or bigger but this will do, stockpot.
Another large pot (any decent size saucepan from the kitchen will do for steeping grains
Large strainer.
Fermenters, hydrometers etc. which are pretty useful regardless of your method J
Part 2 the method.
I'm going to do this with a recipe.
This is a dark English Bitter.
3kg LME 100g Crystal. 100g Dark Crystal. 100g Chocolate. 50g Roast Malt. 250g Carapils.
10g Progress 70g First Gold. 20g Saphir ( I had this around. Substitute Goldings or something else from Germany if you like)
Nottingham yeast
The day before place as much water in the fridge as you can. I fill up a bunch of water bottles so I have 15 odd litres of cold water to top up with.
Place grains in 2L of cold water and slowly raise temp so that it reaches around 76C. Exact temp doesn't matter, just don't boil them and it helps to bring it up as slowly as you can.
As a guide I usually steep in 2L of water per kilo of grain, so that it is close to mashing levels, but with smaller amounts I tend to use 1-2L minimum...
Strain into stock pot.
Rinse with 1-2L of water at around 76C.
Place cans of LME in a sink of hot water for 10 minutes to warm.
Bring a small amount of water, say 2-3L, to the boil in stock pot with grain runnings, so you should now have about 5-7L altogether.
The amount of water from the grains will vary according to recipe, so always top up so you have about 5L minimum in the pot. The more the better kind of but leave room for the boil in the pot...
When the wort reaches boiling let it go for 5 10 minutes then start the hop additions.
10g Saphir, 50g First Gold @45.
You can use a hop bag. I usually just strain into the fermenter.
A 60 minute boil is kind of the usual but with an extract brew it isn't quite as important. It's more about getting the desired level of IBUs.
Remove from the heat and stir in the LME @10.
You should boil the extract for a minimum of 5-10 minutes. Longer is fine but you will start to darken your beer. You just need to decide if that's what you want
10g Progress, 20g First Gold, 10g [email protected]
Cool using one of the various methods. Such as: place in a sink of iced water, replacing water as it heats. Cool this as much as possible as it easier to cool this and then top up with water.
Strain into fermenter.
Top up to desired level, say 21L, in your fermenter using pre-cooled water and more if required.
Cool, if it isn't already, to around 20C for an ale or else desired temp.
Aerate, Pitch yeast, lock and you are away.
If using dried yeast I don't feel you need to re-hydrate, although I do with Nottingham
Yeast choice and techniques are a whole other topic that is the same regardless of whether you are using extract or not.
Keep cool using available methods, wet shirt, fridge, 100 can cooler etc. etc.
So it's that simple. Boil adding hops at various stages, boil remaining extract, cool and ferment.
Part 3 Whys and wherefores.
The reason for boiling is that it aids in protein coagulation, allowing the protein to sediment out (called the hot break), which in turn makes for a clearer beer. You can get a decent hot break with extract that has only been boiled 5 to 10 minutes.
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index...020413075309659
You also provide another method of reducing the potential for infection. Boiling even for 5-10 minutes helps to remove any possible nasties.
Runnings from steeped grain must be boiled for 10 minutes minimum for the same reason I think.
Boiling for 5-10 minutes is the minimum. You can boil for longer but your wort will darken. This isn't an issue for darker beers so you can boil for longer for these if you wish
If you are adding sugar do not boil for the full amount of time. There is no benefit to doing this. In fact, there can be some minor negative effects in doing so. The main reason the extract is boiled is for protein coagulation.. Since sugar is 100% carbohydrate and no protein, we don't have to do this. If you did boil the sugar for the entire length of time, the higher resultant specific gravity of the liquid being boiled would cause the hot break to be not quite as good as it could be. Also, the higher gravity will have a negative effect on hop utilization and could even cause the wort to darken more (called caramelisation), causing a darker beer.
Basically under this method you are using extract as a base malt, then controlling the colour and flavour using specialty grains, and hop levels as desired. There are lots of extract recipes around on the web so you'll have almost as much scope as doing AG.
As I said, I've spent a few years using this and mini-mashes before I went AG and I think you'll find the extra little effort is well worth it!
Hops
Here's my hop guide. Not complete or definitive but I find it useful
You will be controlling your IBUs and flavours yourself now. A calculator such as beersmith or promash is useful here. You need to adjust for the fact that you aren't doing a full volume boil.
Why grains and what to select.
Certain grains require a mash. They don't have enough power to convert to sugar on their own. Specialty grains as they are usually called contain enough sugars and are used to add flavour and colour.
Check out my grain guide for a starter on grains to use where and when and just read. Grumpys and Weyermann are good starter sites for some information, and this one as well
http://www.bodensatz.com/staticpages/index.php?page=Grains
Specialty grains give colour and flavour as I said, so adding them will allow you to utilize the extract as a replacement for base malt and experiment with creating your own beers. Also the practice of steeping I have outlined above is very close to a mash. Mini-mashing is essentially steeping to a controlled temperature level. It is simple with the same equipment outlined above to do a mini-mash and learn some of the techniques for mashing without going to new equipment.
