Extract brewing help

[Aussie Mick]

I tried a Dr. Smurto's Golden Ale extract recipe in December, and it was very palatable indeed. I emptied both cans into the fermenter and "mashed" the caramalt, then boiled hops as directed.

I have recently read that boiling the extract will give much better results. Just wondering if anyone has tried this method of boiling the whole amount of extract, and whether it makes a BIG improvement.

TIA

 

[PhilipB]

Gday Aussie Mick,

I am new to this as well and my understanding is by adding your malt extract to the boil, allows the hops to infuse into the wort ( including the malt) during the boil.

Each recipe is different and the hops provides, flavor, aroma and bitterness to the wort. Adding the malt to the boil means the malt picks up this from the hops.

 

[fw00r]

HI AM,

From memory doing a partial boil with the steeped sweet liquid (from the caramalt) and maybe a portion of the liquid extract will put you in the right gravity (sugar dissolved in wort) range for hop utilisation.
This range is about 1.040 IIRC.

I've attached a recipe from the Kit and Extract Beer designer spreadsheet (on AHB) to illustrate this point. Particularly the line "Bring Boil SG to 1.040 add either..."

View attachment Cascade Pale Ale.pdf

 

[Aussie Mick]

Thanks fellas.

As I said, I was very happy with my first effort, and didn't really want to get into boiling all the extract in many litres of water, as I don't have a cooking coil. If a partial boil will improve things, then I will try this method, and cool it in an ice slurry bath as normal.

Thanks for the attachment fw00r. I'll check it out before I put on the Dr. Smurto brew again this w/e.

 

[LAGERFRENZY]

Hey Aussie Mick - there is a pretty comprehensive guide on steeping grains and boiling with some extract (not all of it though) here:

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/70529-a-guide-to-extract-with-specialty-grain-brewing/

There is a rough guide in there on how much malt extract needs to be added to the liquid to reach the gravity range that the other guys touched upon. Boiling too much malt extract in too little amount of water can and usually does lead to some of the extract getting stuck in the bottom of the pot and getting burnt.

 

[manticle]

Are you topping up with Perth tap water or something else currently?

Main difference between full boil and partial will be removal of undesirable elements from the water (and Perth water in my experience needs all the help it can get) plus hop utilisation has a relationship with wort gravity (easily sorted without full boil).

 

[Aussie Mick]

That's a very useful link LF. Thanks for that, I'll check it out tonight.

You are correct manticle. Perth's northern suburbs water is very aggressive. It eats away hot water storage units in around 7 years, compared to around 25-30 years for Auckland. My tap water is dual filtered to 5 micron. So far all my brews have been pretty good ( to my tastebuds), but I am very happy to listen to suggestions for improvement.

I don't really want to get involved with full boils just yet, as I don't own the equipment. If I was going to go that far, I would definitely prefer to go AG.

 

[Gigantorus]

[SIZE=12pt]Mick,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]I've been doing extract brews for a few years now. Some of my learnings are…[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]By adding some or all of your liquid malt extract or dry extract at the start of the boil you are concentrating the flavour of the liquid. Very much like simmering a stew with the lid off - it looses water and becomes more concentrated in flavour.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Some like to add all malt extracts at the start and some like to add 1/3 or half at the start and add the rest late in the boil or into the fermenter. I've been doing some Behemoth Brewing (NZ) recipes (Murica recipe attached) and they all call for adding it all at the beginning and doing a 90 minute boil (Murica needs 4kg of LDME added at the beginning). I've found that these brews have a much more concentrated flavour, depth and thickness to them - which is probably the key point in all this. Adding lots of extract at the beginning will give you a much thicker brew compared to adding at the end, which will give you a thinner brew.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]The only down-side with adding all at the beginning (if you want to call it that) is that you tend to get a lot of foam creation during the boil. So you just need to be mindful of this and have a spray bottle filled with cold tap water ready to give the foam head a spray every so often (this knocks the foam down and stops boil-overs). The only other thing to be mindful of if adding at the beginning is to ensure you stir and mix in the extract well and don't let any sit on the bottom of your pot and get burnt, which will put a burnt flavour throw the brew.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Happy brewing.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Cheers,[/SIZE]

[SIZE=12pt]Pete[/SIZE]

View attachment Murica - APA - Recipe.pdf

 

[Leyther]

[SIZE=12pt]Mick,[/SIZE]

...
[SIZE=12pt]I've been doing some Behemoth Brewing (NZ) recipes (Murica recipe attached) and they all call for adding it all at the beginning and doing a 90 minute boil (Murica needs 4kg of LDME added at the beginning). I've found that these brews have a much more concentrated flavour, depth and thickness to them - which is probably the key point in all this. Adding lots of extract at the beginning will give you a much thicker brew compared to adding at the end, which will give you a thinner brew.[/SIZE]

Pete,

looks an interesting recipe, hows it come out, I notice they refer to Sierra Nevada and Epic Pale Ales, hows it compare? I'm looking for a recipe to put on this weekend, was going to try this LCPA clone http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/52328-lcpa-extract-recipe/ but might give this one a go instead, my last LCPA clone (bought from LHBS) was a bit of a disaster.

 

[Gigantorus]

Pete,

looks an interesting recipe, hows it come out, I notice they refer to Sierra Nevada and Epic Pale Ales, hows it compare? I'm looking for a recipe to put on this weekend, was going to try this LCPA clone http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/52328-lcpa-extract-recipe/ but might give this one a go instead, my last LCPA clone (bought from LHBS) was a bit of a disaster.

Leyther,

It's a heavy and tasty brew. I made a slight change to the grain bill etc. - my recipe and pic of the brew attached.

I had one on the weekend and it has become a lovely beer. Just needs time to develop and mellow a little. All of Andrew Childs (Behemoth Brewing) beers are big and hoppy, and generally are 90mins boils.

In terms of your question as to what it might be similar too???? Probably something like the current Celebration Ale from Sierra Nevada.

Cheers,

Pete

View attachment Amurica-Recipe-Dec-2016.pdf

 

[Leyther]

Leyther,

It's a heavy and tasty brew. I made a slight change to the grain bill etc. - my recipe and pic of the brew attached.

I had one on the weekend and it has become a lovely beer. Just needs time to develop and mellow a little. All of Andrew Childs (Behemoth Brewing) beers are big and hoppy, and generally are 90mins boils.

In terms of your question as to what it might be similar too???? Probably something like the current Celebration Ale from Sierra Nevada.

Cheers,

Pete

My local bottle shop has a Sierra Nevada tap takover starting today, I'll have to grab a celebration ale and give it a go, not had that one before, my favourite of theirs is the Hop Hunter IPA, not as bitter as Torpedo but oozing hoppy flavour.

 

[Aussie Mick]

Great advise well received fellas. Big thanks, I am taking it all in

 

[Gigantorus]

The attached SN PA recipe was in the BYO book. Recipe was provided by Sierra Nevada, who was one of the sponsors of the book. It's All Grain and Extract with Grains.

Cheers,
Pete

 

[Aussie Mick]

Thanks Pete, I actually ordered that book today after reading your thread.

I like the fact that the recipes are converted to extract.

Also, the other book you mentioned sounds interesting as that is all extract recipes converted to AG. I need both books I think.