First Extract Brew, Any Simple Suggestions?

[wbosher]

Hi guys,

I've done a lot of reading and You tube watching about extract brewing, and after four kit brews I think I'm ready to take the next step.

I don't have the time commit several hours doing AG just yet, (thanks kids ), but I can put aside a couple of hours on a Friday or Saturday night once their in bed, so should be fun.

I've had a look in the RecipeDB but there is sooo much to chose from, has anyone got any suggestions for a simple first time recipe? Not sure exactly what I want to do but was thinking moderate to high IBU ale of some sort.

I've got a bag of Cascade hops, so something that could use those preferably.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bignath]

are you using (or intend to use) brewing software like Brewmate, Beersmith etc...?

what equipment have you got, or intend getting?


Straight off of my dome...id probably do something like:

enough malt to get to around 1.045-1.050 for your batch size.
bitter with something either fairly neutral (magnum's a popular choice) to get maybe 15-20IBU's from a 60min addition. Could use Cascade, but you'll have to use more of it than if you were to use magnum due to it's typically lower AA%.

15-20IBU's worth of Cascade at maybe 30mins

1g per litre of Cascade at flameout/into the cube or dry hop with same quantity.

Ferment with Safale US05 @ 18deg for a week, cold condition if possible for another week at 1deg, then bottle or keg.

Should go okay.

 

[wbosher]

I have noticed this one which looks fairly simple but have some questions - http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=917. Bitterness might be a little on the light side but should be ok.

The recipe calls for 3kg of LME, I want to use DME because its cheaper. Would that work out to about 2.5kg of DME?

Also TF crystal? I'm used to seeing light, medium etc...but not sure what the TF refers to.

 

[wbosher]

are you using (or intend to use) brewing software like Brewmate, Beersmith etc...?

what equipment have you got, or intend getting?

I've got a big stock pot to do the boil, a meat thermometer, a sieve and/or colander...I think that's all I'll need. I'll be getting stuff like muslin bags when I get the DME and crystal. Also got 100g Cascade hops (NZ).

I use Ians spreadsheet at the moment, not sure on it's accuracy but everyone around here seems to love it so that works for me.

Looking at around a 23L brew.

 

[bignath]

I have noticed this one which looks fairly simple but have some questions - http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...&recipe=917. Bitterness might be a little on the light side but should be ok.

The recipe calls for 3kg of LME, I want to use DME because its cheaper. Would that work out to about 2.5kg of DME?

Also TF crystal? I'm used to seeing light, medium etc...but not sure what the TF refers to.

Would work out to APPROX 2.5kg yep. I recall some figures that liquid malt extract (LME) still contains 10% water, so you'd use less Dry Malt Extract for the same strength beer.

TF would be for Thomas Fawcett branded malt. It's most likely grain, as i am unaware they do extracts. Possibly do, i've never seen them though.

 

[bignath]

I use Ians spreadsheet at the moment, not sure on it's accuracy but everyone around here seems to love it so that works for me.

Great idea on the spreadsheet. I used to use it before i moved to All Grain brewing.

It is quite simply

 

[wbosher]

Another question...sorry.

When adding hops to the boil, what is generally the best method? Just throw them in the pot and strain them later, or use muslin bags? Or is that just pretty much each to their own?

Also, with the crystal, how easy/hard is it to crush them with a rolling pin (I don't have a grinder or any other way of doing it)? I can get either crushed or uncrushed from the LHBS. I'm thinking about getting a big bag of uncrushed because it's cheaper that way, and crushing what I need myself and storing the rest until next time. If that's too much of a mission I'll just buy what I need crushed.

 

[bignath]

Another question...sorry.

When adding hops to the boil, what is generally the best method? Just throw them in the pot and strain them later, or use muslin bags? Or is that just pretty much each to their own?

Also, with the crystal, how easy/hard is it to crush them with a rolling pin (I don't have a grinder or any other way of doing it)? I can get either crushed or uncrushed from the LHBS. I'm thinking about getting a big bag of uncrushed because it's cheaper that way, and crushing what I need myself and storing the rest until next time. If that's too much of a mission I'll just buy what I need crushed.

re; hops...up to you mate.
You can put them in bags to fish out later, or you can throw 'em in and let 'em swim around by themselves. Don't need to strain them later if you can't be bothered, or obviously if using a bag for your hops, you'll take them out. It's the oils in the hops you want, so it doesn't matter either way. Leave them, remove them, the oils will be left behind regardless.

It's easy enough to crush small amounts of specialty grains with a rolling pin or even better, belt them with a meat tenderiser, but it's frustrating work. Anything more than a couple of hundred grams will give you the ***** pretty quick, but it can be done.
I used to get a chopping board, some gladwrap, my grain and the tenderiser. Pull out some gladwrap, place on the board, put the grain on top of the gladwrap, and then pull the rest of the gladwrap over the top, then hit away until all the grain kernels are split open.
You can alternatively use a cheap, small food processor, spice chopper etc, but be careful about how long you whizz them for or you'll end up with flour.

 

[wbosher]

re; hops...up to you mate.
You can put them in bags to fish out later, or you can throw 'em in and let 'em swim around by themselves. Don't need to strain them later if you can't be bothered, or obviously if using a bag for your hops, you'll take them out. It's the oils in the hops you want, so it doesn't matter either way. Leave them, remove them, the oils will be left behind regardless.

It's easy enough to crush small amounts of specialty grains with a rolling pin or even better, belt them with a meat tenderiser, but it's frustrating work. Anything more than a couple of hundred grams will give you the ***** pretty quick, but it can be done.
I used to get a chopping board, some gladwrap, my grain and the tenderiser. Pull out some gladwrap, place on the board, put the grain on top of the gladwrap, and then pull the rest of the gladwrap over the top, then hit away until all the grain kernels are split open.
You can alternatively use a cheap, small food processor, spice chopper etc, but be careful about how long you whizz them for or you'll end up with flour.

Thanks for the help mate, I might give this a shot as soon as my fermenter is free. I might just go with pre-crushed this time around, 400g sounds like a lot of grains.

 

[DU99]

if you have Ian's spreadsheet there's a extract version of Smurto's golden ale.you sub the hops for what you have.

 

[wbosher]

Yeah that looks pretty good too. There are so many recipes out there my head is spinning.

I'm off work today for school holidays, and my daughter has only just gotten up - about 10:30am. Been looking at recipes for almost an hour and a half now. :lol:

 

[Arghonaut]

I've just put down an extract "Golden Cascade Lager". Based on Dr's Golden Ale, but with Briess Pilsen light DME, Bavarian Wheat DME,munich LME and caramunich1. Subbed in cascade for amarillo, doubled the flameout addition, and fermenting with S-189 @ 12 degrees.

If time is really an issue, try a "10-min APA". Whack in all your hops for 10 minutes, works great with extract as unlike allgrain you dont have to boil for 60+ minutes to drive off DMS precursors, so you can crank it out in no time. Aim for 1050 OG and 40 IBU. I did a longer writeup on my method for it here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=909740

If you dont have enough hops to hit 40 IBU, try doing a 20 and 10 , or 30 and 10 minute addition.

 

[scottc1178]

If you like something a little hoppier, I can recommend the extract version of tony's little creatures bright ale clone. I've done it a few times and it never fails to please.

 

[Nick JD]

I find all-malt extract beers end too high FG and can be cloying unless they are bittered heavily.

With LDME a 2:1 malt:dextrose comes out really nice. It also reduces the high cost (get a bit too flash and you can buy a FWK) of extract brewing.

There's a tendency for people leaving kits to want to "never use bloody sugar in my brewing ever again!" but used wisely, sugar is great in brewing.

 

[wbosher]

I have just been having a play with Ian's spreadsheet and come up with something. Just having a play, and I have no experience in this so could be bloody awful, but the spreadsheet says everything is in the "Good" range for an APA.

23L
LDME - 2.5kg
Medium Crystal - 400g
Dextrose - 500g
Cascade - 30g @ 60min
Cascade - 30g @ 20min
Cascade - 10g @ 0min
Yeast - US05

IBU - 41.2
EBC - 19.2

OG - 1.053
FG - 1.010

%Alc - 6.1

What do you think? I've already got the 500g of dex and the Cascade pellets.

 

[slash22000]

I have just been having a play with Ian's spreadsheet and come up with something. Just having a play, and I have no experience in this so could be bloody awful, but the spreadsheet says everything is in the "Good" range for an APA.

23L
LDME - 2.5kg
Medium Crystal - 400g
Dextrose - 500g
Cascade - 30g @ 60min
Cascade - 30g @ 20min
Cascade - 10g @ 0min
Yeast - US05

IBU - 41.2
EBC - 19.2

OG - 1.053
FG - 1.010

%Alc - 6.1

What do you think? I've already got the 500g of dex and the Cascade pellets.

Sounds almost perfect.

400g of medium crystal is going to have what I would argue to be a fairly intense taste in a pale ale. You might want to consider a pale crystal or back the medium down to maybe 200g.

I'm not sure where 6.1% ABV is coming from - my calculations show 5.48% ABV, which is on the high end for an APA but still within BJCP guidelines (4.5 - 6.0 %).

You might also want to consider skipping the zero minute hop addition and dry hopping 1g/L for aroma 1 week before you bottle/keg. Cascade will be great, but for a real punch maybe try some Centennial and/or Citra.

 

[wbosher]

400g of medium crystal is going to have what I would argue to be a fairly intense taste in a pale ale. You might want to consider a pale crystal or back the medium down to maybe 200g.

- sweet, that'll save some money. The only reason I went that high was to bring the FG up to the "Good" range. But the spreadsheet still says 1.009 with 200g, could alway up the LDME to 3kg to bring it back up.

I'm not sure where 6.1% ABV is coming from - my calculations show 5.48% ABV, which is on the high end for an APA but still within BJCP guidelines (4.5 - 6.0 %).

- From Ian's spreadsheet. Reducing the crystal to 200g has brought %Alc down to 5.8, I'm happy with that. I changed the crystal from 120 to 153, which is what my LHBS has for medium. That may have thrown your figures off a little.

You might also want to consider skipping the zero minute hop addition and dry hopping 1g/L for aroma 1 week before you bottle/keg. Cascade will be great, but for a real punch maybe try some Centennial and/or Citra.

- noted. I'm using Cascade because I have it in the freezer. It's NZ Cascade which I think is stronger than the US version - 7.3 vs 5.6 alpha rating

 

[Nick JD]

NZ Cascade is a better hop than it's US cousin, I reckon.

That recipe sounds great with the tweaks. I'd add more dex and less malt, but that's a personal pref.

Next time, replace the Cascade with Citra (same IBUs). It'll blow your mind!

 

[wbosher]

That recipe sounds great with the tweaks. I'd add more dex and less malt, but that's a personal pref.

What sort of proportions are you thinking Nick, and more importantly why? Would it be too sweet otherwise? I don't like sweet very much.

 

[Blitzer]

I've just put down an extract "Golden Cascade Lager". Based on Dr's Golden Ale, but with Briess Pilsen light DME, Bavarian Wheat DME,munich LME and caramunich1. Subbed in cascade for amarillo, doubled the flameout addition, and fermenting with S-189 @ 12 degrees.

If time is really an issue, try a "10-min APA". Whack in all your hops for 10 minutes, works great with extract as unlike allgrain you dont have to boil for 60+ minutes to drive off DMS precursors, so you can crank it out in no time. Aim for 1050 OG and 40 IBU. I did a longer writeup on my method for it here: http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...st&p=909740

If you dont have enough hops to hit 40 IBU, try doing a 20 and 10 , or 30 and 10 minute addition.

I like the sound of your 10-min APA, put it Ian's spreadsheet the EBC comes out pretty low how does the colouring look on the finished product?

Might try it with 1kg Light dry malt & 1.5kg liqiud amber malt.