First Extract + Speciality Grain

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Echo2

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Hi All,

New to brewing. I am now planning my 3rd brew, recipe is:

Black Rock East IPA
Black Rock Unhopped Light LME
35g NZ Hallertau Aroma for 15min
15g NZ Hallertau Aroma dry hopped
1KG Pale Crystal Malt
US-05 rehydrated

This is the first time I will be steeping speciality grain. I understand the process and will steep in 5L water at 65-70 for 30 mins and then remove grain and boil plus add hops.

A few questions though:

1. How long should I boil after removing the grain?
2. Should I add any of the LME or Kit to the boil?
3. Should I be cooling this down as quickly as possible as with BIAB or is it okay to add straight into fermenter and then add rest of ingredients and then cool with cold tap water?

Cheers
 
If you have the gear to handle it, after steeping grains add kit and water to full volume + boil off, boil for 60min adding hops as stated. Just note your on the slippery slope to biab if you have the gear to do the full volume boil. Good Luck :icon_cheers:
 
1. Boil for as long as your aditions will be fine...in this case 15 mins, but an extra 15min to start wouldnt hurt.

2. You can add your malt to the boil but leave the kit and add it later, its aleady kettled and does not need a second hit.

3. Either way doesnt matter, get it to pitching temp as quick as you can.
 
1Kg of Crystal is way too much for a 23L brew. Knock it back to about 300g and should be good.

Boil the steepings for about 20 minutes or longer if you are adding hops. I just add the boilings to the fermenter with the other ingredients and then allow the lot to cool to yeast pitching temperature. Don't forget to leave the lid off when you are boiling to allow the volatile nasties in grain to escape.
 
When I punch the 1kg Crystal into Ian's spreadsheet it works out OK. Could you explain why it is too much and what would happen If I did add the full KG?
 
Hopefully someone with more knowledge will be able to answer better than me but basically that much Crystal will give a dominant flavour and overpower your other malts Pale Crystal Malt

You would end up with an unbalanced beer.

The usual recommendation for Crystals is no more than 5% of your total malts.
 
When I punch the 1kg Crystal into Ian's spreadsheet it works out OK. Could you explain why it is too much and what would happen If I did add the full KG?

With that much crystal, the beer would be very cloyingly sweet.During the kilning process of the crystal malts some of the sugars become unfermentable, and those flavours and that sweetness will end up in your beer. I usually only use around 200-300g and up to 500g of crystal in a batch because of this, different colored crystal malts will add different flavors to the final product.


EDIT: Is "cloyingly" even a word? :p
 
The usual recommendation for Crystals is no more than 5% of your total malts.
10% is closer to the usual referenced top-end for spec grains - not sure I agree with it for every beer but you get that sometimes. 5% seems really low as a theorectical maximum to me.

He's right though, Echo2, 1kg will really make your beer overly sweet. Probably even undrinkable for my money. With your recipe I'd cut it back to 250g absolute tops.
 
Alright cool I'll cut it down to 250g. The thing is I have already bought the grain and they milled it at the brew store for me. What is the best way to keep the rest until I use in subsequent brews?

What about substituting the LME for the Crystal? At least that way I can keep the can and use another time to ensure the malt stay fresh.
 
What is the best way to keep the rest until I use in subsequent brews?

What about substituting the LME for the Crystal? At least that way I can keep the can and use another time to ensure the malt stay fresh.
Seal the remaining grain up as best you can and keep it in a cool, dark place. Not the fridge though as this could promote condensation in the bag and you want to keep the grain dry. Storing cracked grain isn't ideal but you can certainly keep it for some time.

Not sure what the second question means exactly but more LME will bring the body and sweetness up. I think some crystal is a more interesting way to achieve a similar goal though.
 
depending on what style of beer your chasing i'd up the hops or ake an earlier addition to bolster the IBU (bitterness). like 10g at 60min or 30g at 30min if ur after an IPA
 

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