First Go At An Extract Brew.

[JakeSm]

Hi all,
Just after some thoughts on my first crack at an extract brew. I came up with the recipe myself and want to know what anyone thinks i should do differently next time.

Cascarillo American Amber Ale.

*250g caramunich
*200g medium crystal
*300g my own roasted pearl Barley
*1.5kg morgans amber caramalt
*1.5kg morgans extra pale beer enhancer LME
*250g light dried malt
*500g dextrose to boost alcohol content
*500g maltodextrin
*safale US-05

12g amarillo at 60 min to end
12g cascade at 30 min
6g amarillo at 10min
6g cascade at 5 min
6g amarillo at 0 min
6g cascade at 0 min

Dry hopped 2g of each.

Any feedback would be muchly appreciated.

Cheers Jake.

 

[williewtb]

Seems like a bit low on the hops quantity? Was it what you wanted, low IBU? Anyway i just did an extract brew today with the same cascade and amarillo hops, total of 20g cascade & 75g amarillo.

 

[going down a hill]

Have a look through this thread, there is a great spreadsheet which you can design your own extract and kit beers on. After 5mins of playing around with it you'll start to get the hang of it. Look at the ibu (bitterness) section and see how it changes when you add or give the hops more time in the boil.

 

[kalbarluke]

I agree with both comments already posted. I think you will need a fair bit more in the way of late hops, more like 20-30 grams of each. Ianh's spreadsheet ( as mentioned above) is great and is a massive help for extract brewers.

 

[kalbarluke]

I just saw 300g roasted barley. I know it's your own so i don't know how strong it is but if it's anything like the stuff from the shops, go easy. 300 g is okay in a stout but in an American brown I'd reconsider. It will turn it black and be overly bitter/roast coffee flavoured.
If you're hell bent on putting some in, start with less (say 50 - 100 g) and increase next time.

 

[DU99]

should be about 6.1% alchol.i ran it thru "the spreadsheet"

 

[JakeSm]

Hey thanks for the replies, i thought the hops were a tad low but after the 60 min addition it was quite bitter. And when it was finished and the cold water was added it was bittered enough still.

The barley i roast is more like just toasted and isnt black at all its pretty golden still so this is why i use alot of it.

Cheers jake.

 

[going down a hill]

http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...showtopic=29655
This was the thread i was talking about!

Phone edit.

 

[jyo]

Hey, Jake.
I love American Reds. My keg of AA actually blew last night, so I'm a bit fragile today.
I would be keeping the 3 kg of extract as is and drop the maltodextrin and keep the 250 light malt and dex if you want the extra alcohol.

Pair this with the following steeping grains should get your colour and flavour pretty spot on, though I like mine at the higher end of the colour range:

320 gm crystal 120
250 gm caraamber
70 gm chocolate malt

Judging by the colour, treat your own roasted malt as 'biscuit' and chuck it in there too.

Give a decent bittering addition at 60 and then smash the late hops at 15, 10, 5, and a big flameout addition. Dry hop at 1-2 gms per litre, more if you're adventurous. Use the aforementioned spreadsheet to get you IBUs up around 50-55 to balance the malt. Williamette as a bittering addition works really well in red ales.

Cheers.

 

[JakeSm]

Ok thanks i will add more hops next time thouth i am pretty happy with this amount. What are the qualities of the above said "biscuit" and in what styles is it used in. This sounds more like my barley as the store bought stuff is quite black but mine is lightly toasted and is a very pale golden colour.

Awesome i was aiming for around 6% so that cool, i also read about using munich grain in amber ales so thats why i added that.

I have always played around with grains and hops ever since i started with kits about 2 years ago so im no stranger to using a few hundred grams of specialty grains.

Cheers jake.

 

[jyo]

Biscuit gives a toasty, almost nut like flavour and bready aroma for me. Beautiful stuff. 'Victory malt' sounds similar to biscuit, though I haven't brewed with it. Biscuit works great in ESBs, stouts, APA's, ambers, browns. A touch in a blonde ale gives it a great grainy lift.

 

[manticle]

Biscuit gives a toasty, almost nut like flavour and bready aroma for me. Beautiful stuff. 'Victory malt' sounds similar to biscuit, though I haven't brewed with it. Biscuit works great in ESBs, stouts, APA's, ambers, browns. A touch in a blonde ale gives it a great grainy lift.

Biscuit and Victory are fairly interchangeable. I favour dingemans biscuit but have used briess victory when that isn't available and been happy with the results.

May not matter in small amounts but both need mashing as opposed to steeping (but a steep in 60-70 degree water would do the same thing). However only victory has the ability to self convert - biscuit may need base malt with surplus enzymes.

 

[dammag]

I am drinking my first extract brew at the moment:

3 Kg LME
0.2 Kg Carapils
0.2 Kg Light Crystal

23 L

POR 18g @ 60
Citra 12g @ 60
Citra 5g @ 20
Cascade 10g @ 20

(Hops boiled in the steeping liquid, about 3.5 L)

S-05 at 18 deg

Plenty bitter enough but not enough flavour or aroma.

I think you can read read read but brewing and tasting is invaluable.

 

[jyo]

Cheers for the clearing up with the mashing of the biscuit, manticle. I forgetted that.

 

[JakeSm]

Ok thanks guys, so all in all if it has been bittered enough, do you think this recipe is going to produce a nice beer??

Cheers jake.

 

[pcmfisher]

I would leave out the maltodextrin.
3kg liquid malt and that much spec grain you should have plenty of body.

 

[syl]

I am drinking my first extract brew at the moment:

3 Kg LME
0.2 Kg Carapils
0.2 Kg Light Crystal

23 L

POR 18g @ 60
Citra 12g @ 60
Citra 5g @ 20
Cascade 10g @ 20

(Hops boiled in the steeping liquid, about 3.5 L)

S-05 at 18 deg

Plenty bitter enough but not enough flavour or aroma.

I think you can read read read but brewing and tasting is invaluable.

Make sure you have a gravity of 1040 in your boil to ensure proper hop utilisation. (Use Ianh's spreadsheet to find out the amount of DME to use)

Those additions should be later and higher! 15g of each at 10 and 5 or 5 and 0.

For my stock standard APA (Cascarillo) I do

20g Cascade 15m
15g Amarillo 10m
10g Amarillo 0m

Or even just 20g of each at 5m!

 

[JakeSm]

Make sure you have a gravity of 1040 in your boil to ensure proper hop utilisation. (Use Ianh's spreadsheet to find out the amount of DME to use)

Those additions should be later and higher! 15g of each at 10 and 5 or 5 and 0.

For my stock standard APA (Cascarillo) I do

20g Cascade 15m
15g Amarillo 10m
10g Amarillo 0m

Or even just 20g of each at 5m!

So what do you use to bitter it, surely a 15 min boil of cascade wouldnt bitter it enough in a full extract recipe?