first extract

[fizzypop boy]

Well tomorrow going to do my first ever extract brew not quite the Ag brew i was hoping to be up to speed on but i suppose it's all part of the learning curve,running before walking etc.Any way heres the simple recipe for a best bitter.
malt extract(scotmalt light) 4000g
crystal malt 200g
fuggles 45g (90min)
goldings 45g(90min)
goldings 10g(15min)
i swapped fuggles for challenger as lhb didn't have challenger.
og1050 fg 1012 gives 5.1 abv
i know nobody so far as heard of scotmalt although iv'e seen it listed in h/brew shops but how does the recipe look?all remarks gratefully recieved

[fizzypop boy]

wrong way round Daab should have been challenger but i'm using fuggles but i get what you mean thanks for the advice,i feel a bit daunted already

[fizzypop boy]

So should i steep the crystal malt and add the wort to the boil ?as opposed to putting them in at the start of the boil.as the recipe i'm following doesn't mention this and if so what ratio of water to malt? oh i'm getting befuddled now it looked so simple when i read about it!!!

[fizzypop boy]

Going to put off brew day till monday reason is yeast has been slow to get going and i want to make sure that i have a good amount of yeast cells before pitching so iv'e made do with making homemade marmalade instead. ps also might wonder down to local so mightn't have full attention to give to brew.

[Frothy]

Good idea steeping the crystal malt - i found it makes a real difference to the colour and flavour of the beer. One extract beer I did with just malt extract came out very dry and the crystal malt couteracts this. There are the details of my last two extract brews on my brewblog: http://mattwillmott.blogspot.com/


When steeping the grain take into account the temp change as so->

To steep the 250g of crystal malt I used 1L of water at 77 oC for 1/2 an hour, with the malt contained in a cotton bag (otherwise used for hops.) Assuming the grain is at room temp ~ 20 oC then to achieve the right temperature 1L of water needs to be 84.3 oC. In practice this worked out well and the mixture took up most of a 2L jug and evened out at 79 oC, insulated with a few towels.

good luck
Matt

[fizzypop boy]

Well due to lack of funds didnt go the local instead decided to do the brew.
with boiler at the ready which had been tested i went down to my garage and started the water off great no problems there.following Gw's instructions i then added the crystal malt and the extract when temp of water got to 50c(thanks for advice Daab but didnt want to stray with first brew)click!! i was plunged into darkness leccy had tripped out(yes i'm sure you experienced brewers know the problem but i as yet had to work it out)back upstairs flick trip back in ,back downstairs unplug everything except boiler swich on click!!same again mmm? i know just use one element so back upstairs flick the trip back downstairs switch on boiler yeah youve guessed it CLICK upstairs downstairs (this is knackering)try using other element.........all together now CLICK bloody CLICK grrrrrrrr oh bu%%er.carry boiler up stairs tried upstairs in house yea yeah yeah click click click(please remove cat from kicking zone).gave up with boiler put as much of the brew into pans..just about half mrs not happy trying to cook the roast and iv'e now got three pans on the go!!not one to be beaten emptied the rest of boiler contents into other bin put water in the boiler tried it eh voila it bloody worked....mmmm????? emptied out water put some of the brew back in grr(dont even go there!!!)....ding light bulb moment the elements are black mmmm cleaned elements introduced small amount of brew switch on boiler..........be patient ......fizzle fizzle the boilers going slowly introduced more of the liqiud gold emptied all pansback into boiler fizzle fizzle it's still going and so it kept going for 90 marvellous minutes the rest of the procedure went as planned phew (cats safe to come back now)started at 12.30 finished at 7.30 long day no sunday roast but well worth the effort so far....... the story continues........
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some photos of the day and the one at the bottom..it's a sight to behold after all the hassle

ps.yes i now know what happened ,because the water wasn't boiling or/and i put the extract in too quick it didnt have time to disperse so sank around the elements got burnt onto them and upped the resistance on the element.thats what i think anyway.took a bit of finding out but in the end it was ELEMENTARY my dear watson

[PieOPah]

For future reference re: steeping.

Some people have different methods.

Personally what I used to do was put 50 of my total volume of water into the boiler. This was basically 2.5 Gallons every time (never really make smaller/bigger batches). I would then bring this up to 70C and then slap on the grain bag and pour in whatever I was going to steep. Since my boiler has a thermostat, I set it to 7 or 8 (can't remember which it was) and let my grain steep for 30 mins.

Most people would sparge the grains at this point and I would highley recommend it. Persoanlly, I never did.

Once the grain has been removed, I then brought everything up to the boil and added my extact. I only ever used DME but if using LME then as always advised, turn the heat source off.

The other method of steeping that a lot of people employ is great if you are pushed for time. Basically they would add the grain to the cold water and bring to the boil. Once boiling they would then remove the grain.

I have never tried this method so can't comment. I do think it is a good idea to try it this way though.

[PieOPah]

ps.yes i now know what happened ,because the water wasn't boiling or/and i put the extract in too quick it didnt have time to disperse so sank around the elements got burnt onto them and upped the resistance on the element.thats what i think anyway.took a bit of finding out but in the end it was ELEMENTARY my dear watson

My last brew involved the fuse going on my extension cable.

At first I had no idea what was going on. I had JUST reached a nice rolling boil and dumped in my first hop additions. Suddenly the boil stopped. At first I didn't understand and thought maybe the hops had reduced the temp. I waited thinking it would perk up failry quickly - nothing. At the time it didn't even occur to me that the Tumble Dryer had also stopped (plugged into same extension cable).

After about 10 minutes I found (stole from another appliance) a spare (we don't use the lamp) and was up and running again fairly quickly.

I've got a new extension now (longer and with trip out feature) so shouldn't be too much of an issue next time)

[steve_flack]

At the time it didn't even occur to me that the Tumble Dryer had also stopped (plugged into same extension cable).

That'll be why. You're boiling with a 10A kettle element and a tumble dryer is a great big hot thing with a big electric motor in it that also uses about 10Amps. The fuse in the extension lead is rated at 13A. The fuse did it's job.

[PieOPah]

And I will never allow the wife to dry clothes while I am brewing Or she can find a seperate socket!!!

[fizzypop boy]

Yesterday barrelled up my extract brew target fg was 1011 i managed 1013 so iam quite pleased with the result.Had a quick taste it seemed quite bitter but im sure that will ease with maturing??