First extract recipe

Discussion on brewing beer from malt extract, hops, and yeast.
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brewt

First extract recipe

Post by brewt » Tue Jan 26, 2016 2:46 pm

I will be brewing 10 litres of standard bitter for the first time and want some feedback on this proposed recipe:

1.5kg Light DME
220g Crystal 40L
30g Target pellets for bittering
7g Goldings last 5 minutes
15g Goldings dry hop

Does it look like it will work?

As this is a 10L extract recipe, what size pot would suffice ?

Also, I have received conflicting advice about how long the boil should be for extract brews, some say 20 minutes while others say the full 60 minutes. I'm confused -help!

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Peatbogbrewer
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Re: First extract recipe

Post by Peatbogbrewer » Tue Jan 26, 2016 5:21 pm

Hello Brewt, welcome to the forum, a great way to share ideas and learn from some very erudite brewers!

If your doing a 10l recipe i reckon your ABV will be about 5.3% and bittering units at about 81 IBU. A nice tawny strong english bitter, more bitter than the style (usually about 50 IBU) but to hell with styles eh? When i started with extract and steeped grains i used a 3 gallon stock pot (i know use 7 gallon and do all grain), that way i could make the smaller volumes but also use more DME/grains to make 5 gallon brews by adding cold water after the boil.

Hops need about an hour (some recipes boil for longer) of boiling to create the bittering that beers require, Late editions of hops (your 5 min golding for instance) will release flavour and aromas only. I tend to bitter with a hop intended for bittering only (target, magnum etc.) and then use aroma hops in the less 20 mins and dry hopping, this way you won't waste valuable flavour hops for bittering.

Have a look at brewers friend on the net, its a simple (and free) way of building recipes, faffing with amounts and understanding IBU, colour units etc and buy a good book too! My 1st was Randy Moshers Radical Brewing. best to brew what you like and experiment with new flavour, mixing styles etc.

let me know how it turns out eh?

brewt

Re: First extract recipe

Post by brewt » Wed Jan 27, 2016 1:26 pm

Cheers for that very helpful advice Peatbogbrewer.
I didn't realise that my recipe would have so high a IBU value, so the Target hops may need reducing a tad (maybe 25g ?).
I'm assuming hop pellets are equivalent to whole hops in terms of amount required?
I have my eye on a 12L stock pot which looks ideal (I will not be going AG)
Brewers Friend looks good, but am still figuring out the ins and outs of adding and modifying recipes.
I ordered Greg Hughes book last weekend, so can't wait to dive into it when it arrives.
Will post the results of this first extract recipe, probably in a few weeks.

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Peatbogbrewer
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Re: First extract recipe

Post by Peatbogbrewer » Wed Jan 27, 2016 8:21 pm

Yep 25g should do it and the 12l pot sounds good to go. Never say never to AG my friend seems daunting but its fantastic! although partial mash creates great beers too! Have mess about with brewers friend you will soon get to grips with it recipes etc.

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