First Extract Going Down Tonight Hopefully!

[user 11560]

Hey guys

Been brewing kits on and off for 12 months or so, decided I wanted to branch out a bit and go extract. Thought I'd give the extract version of Dr Smurto's Golden Ale a go.

Recently purchased a 30L urn, one of the ones going for cheap on ebay, which came through earlier this week. Also ordered 1.7kg Light LME, 1.7kg Wheat LME, 200g carapils, and Amarillo, which came through today. Have had a yeast starter going for a few days now (coopers bottle yeast), and it's looking eager to get going, so I figured I should get this brew going asap (as if I didn't have enough reasons already ).

Now my question is, since I haven't yet forked out for wort-chilling equipment, or cubes, I intend on no-chilling in the urn overnight, ready for transfer to fermenter in the morning. Any experience here? A possible problem is, the urn didn't come with a lid, so will there be any issues with simply covering the top with glad-wrap?

Also I've been reading a bit about no-chill causing extra hop isomerisation and hence bitterness, so what would you recommend for a hop schedule (currently: 20g 60mins, 15g 15mins, 15g 5mins, 15g dry hop). Alternatively I also have 300g or so of LDME lying around that I could add to the brew to balance the extra bitterness, perhaps?

Thanks in advance

 

[Renegade]

So youre only using 200grams of grain and the rest is LME ? you dont need to boil a full batch, you can just make a smaller batch in a stovetop pot, and add ice/cold water up to 20 litres (or however much your batch is going to be).

Which means you don't need to 'no chill'.

 

[user 11560]

So youre only using 200grams of grain and the rest is LME ? you dont need to boil a full batch, you can just make a smaller batch in a stovetop pot, and add ice/cold water up to 20 litres (or however much your batch is going to be).

Which means you don't need to 'no chill'.

Was just following the recipe on the recipeDB (well, 50g less than suggested, but I just bought one of those "grain infusion packs", which happened to only be 200g).

I've read that hop utilisation is "better" with a full wort boil, or is it really not that of a deal? Besides I figured I'd give a full boil a go as a skill-building exercise in case I ever go all-grain BIAB (but I'd probably buy a chiller then anyway).

 

[manticle]

No chilling is a bit more than just leaving a brew in the boiling vessel overnight.

That said I (and others) have left a brew overnight before pitching - I've done it in the fermenter. There is a risk involved so make up your own mind.

However no chill works because you take a sanitised, airtight container and fill it with near boiling wort. No oxygen and high heat combine to fight bugs. Leaving it in the urn is just.......leaving it in the urn.

I think doing full boils as practice is a great idea - I used to do that quite often with my extracts (or very close to).
Hop utiliasation does change with volume and gravity and I'm still unsure exactly how it all works. I know that higher and lower than around 1040 are both less than ideal but the volume thing screws with my head each time I try and work it out. That said - you can make nice beer without knowing every techy nerdy bit of how everything works and if it's 32 IBU or 34 IBU you may not even know. Put it down as one of those things to learn but don't let it prevent you making beer. Not every brew has to be perfect - it just should be enjoyable and hopefully with each one a little knowledge is gained.

 

[Renegade]

Was just following the recipe on the recipeDB (well, 50g less than suggested, but I just bought one of those "grain infusion packs", which happened to only be 200g).

I've read that hop utilisation is "better" with a full wort boil, or is it really not that of a deal? Besides I figured I'd give a full boil a go as a skill-building exercise in case I ever go all-grain BIAB (but I'd probably buy a chiller then anyway).

Reports suggests that hop utilisation is more effective if your boil is around the gravity that your final wort is going to be. So really you could use a five litre pot, add enough dry malt to reach 1050 (or whatever), do your hop boil with that, and throw it all into the fermentoer with your other ingredients and cold tap water. No need to chill or 'no chill' with this recipe, and you can pitch as soon as your boil's done.

 

[user 11560]

Hey thanks for the advice guys, prompt too!

If it's only the SG that matters for hops then tonight I might just go with what Renegade suggested and do a small boil, and I'll pick up a cube for next time and do a full boil. Afterall this isn't going to be my last brew ever! Now to figure out some gravities...

Will let you know how it pans out.

 

[Renegade]

With a 30 litre Urn, your next brew consideration should be to use 3kg of grain and ditch the liquid malt entirely. You could turn out a 15 litre all-grain batch with the gear you have now, plus the addition of a voile bag (for BIAB-style brewing).

Just a thought........

 

[user 11560]

Update! Things went fairly smoothly. Steeped the grain, then boiled up around 5L with 1/4 of the malt extract that I had. After the boil added the rest of the malt, then dumped the lot into the fermenter and topped up to 21L with cold water. Pitched my starter, and now less than 2 hours later already have airlock activity! Smells and tastes unlike anything I've ever come across before, but it's quite pleasant. Fresh hops are certainly interesting.

With a 30 litre Urn, your next brew consideration should be to use 3kg of grain and ditch the liquid malt entirely. You could turn out a 15 litre all-grain batch with the gear you have now, plus the addition of a voile bag (for BIAB-style brewing).

Just a thought........

Perhaps. I would definitely love to go down that path, and I bought the urn with that exact foresight, but I live in a fairly small apartment and so I want to get as much of my technique down pat as possible. Mostly to avoid excess mess :-\

 

[user 11560]

Update: fermentation speeding along nicely today. Decided to take a tiny sample to see how it was going taste/smell wise and I swear half of it was hop gunk. Seems my strainer is inadequate. Should pick up a hop bag for next time. In any case, the sample tasted rank with it all there. I'm trusting it'll settle out in time for bottling, but in the meantime will it affect the brew much?

 

[Pennywise]

Glad it all went well for you, re hops, I wouldn't bother straining them out, they'll settle to the bottom of the fermenter anyway. I'd only strain if using a large amount, like 150g plus.

 

[manticle]

Update: fermentation speeding along nicely today. Decided to take a tiny sample to see how it was going taste/smell wise and I swear half of it was hop gunk. Seems my strainer is inadequate. Should pick up a hop bag for next time. In any case, the sample tasted rank with it all there. I'm trusting it'll settle out in time for bottling, but in the meantime will it affect the brew much?

No need to worry.

 

[user 11560]

Awesome! Time to sit back and relax with a cold one, I guess..

 

[Renegade]

It will give off all sorts of weird and wonderful flavours and smells for the next week, so don't be too concerned. Ditto for the gunk in the bottom, it will settle out if you don't move the fermenter around.

Although I dont know how you will go if you bottle straight from your main fermenter without bulk priming.... maybe that can be discussed by someone else if you have a lot of crap at the bottom

Out of interest, what temperature is your wort ? Bubbling after two hours is impressive !

 

[user 11560]

It will give off all sorts of weird and wonderful flavours and smells for the next week, so don't be too concerned. Ditto for the gunk in the bottom, it will settle out if you don't move the fermenter around.

Although I dont know how you will go if you bottle straight from your main fermenter without bulk priming.... maybe that can be discussed by someone else if you have a lot of crap at the bottom

Out of interest, what temperature is your wort ? Bubbling after two hours is impressive !

lol it wasn't that pronounced, just noticed a positive pressure before heading to bed. Any number of things could have caused that I'm guessing.

Limited space means no room for fermentation fridge, so fermentation is always at ambient, today around 22C. The stick-on thermometer says 26, but it's completely useless, even with no brew it's usually around 4-6 degrees above what the wall thermometer says. It's still too warm of course, but thankfully me and my housemate don't mind bananas in our beer. Although I do try keep temps down during the day with a wet towel.