First Extract And A Question

[Gulpa]

Hi Guy,

I put down my first extract brew yesterday. At this stage Im a bit concerned
that I did not get even remotely close to my bitterness targets.

My recipe was:

1.7kg Liquid extract
1.25kg Dry extract
200g Dextrose
250g Crystal
35g Willamette (6%) @ 60min
20g Willamette @ 10min
5g Willamette @ flameout
15g Cascade @ flameout

I was hoping for something in the range of 25-30 IBU but the wort didnt
taste very bitter at all. It was also very sweet so Im not sure if this was
masking the bitterness. I will probably get a better idea when it finishes
primary.

If I do have a problem, I was wondering if I can increase bitterness by doing
a very small boil with a high alpha hop and add this to secondary? Is there
a reason I shouldnt do this?

Thanks,
Andrew.

 

[James Squire]

Hey Andrew,

Firstly congrats on the first crack, getting your head around recipe formulation won't take too long.

IBU's are gonna be somewhere around 17-18 from that recipe. For the lower AA% hops you really need a genorous amount in the first addition and/or extra additions between 60min and 10min. To up to around 28IBU's try throwing in another 30g @30min.

Adding a small boil worth of hops to the fermentor now will do nothing for your bitterness, will just up the hop 'aroma' of the brew.

Regardless of the low bitterness, you'll still enjoy your first extract.. it just may be a touch sweet.

Cheers and good luck,

JS

 

[Stuster]

Plugging that into Promash gave an OG of 1050 and 34 IBUs for a 23litre volume? Sounds ok for now. I'd leave it this time and if you find you'd like more hops next time, then...

Download the Promash demo and have a play with it. It's pretty easy. Try Beersmith too and you can see which one you like. Both are fine.

Well done on the first extract. Hope you enjoyed it. :super:

 

[Gulpa]

Thanks JS,

The bitterness calculator that I used indicated I should get 30IBU with 36g of 6% hops. I admit I havent researched anything about efficiency when doing extract brewing. Do you really lose that much?

Thanks,
Andrew.

 

[James Squire]

Correction!

Stuster is correct, just realised I had my volumes set low from messing around with recipe's last week.

Sorry folks, sorry Gulpa!

JS

 

[Weizguy]

Gulpa,

For pity's sake, tell me what yeast you used. I'm in suspense!

As the beer dries out from fermentation, you will find the bitternes to become more apparent.

Seth

 

[Stuster]

Weizguy

he's gone now so you may never, ever know. :lol:

 

[DJR]

Should be fine, the bitterness doesn't really come out at you that much with a lot of sugar in solution. If it's below the target level when you finish then pick up some isohop or do a small boil in some diluted wort.

 

[Gulpa]

Thanks Guys,

Sorry for the incompletness of my recipe. Im still getting the hang of things. :unsure:

23 Litres
Wyeast 1056

I will probably check out Promash sometime soon.

I have only really tasted canned bitterness before which I find sticks out a bit in the wort. This brew wasnt like that so it had me worried. I hope its just that Im not experienced with the smoothness of real bittering .

Cheers,
Andrew.