Recipe Question

[Uncle Joshua]

I'm about to do extract brew and could use a lttle help, I have read Graham Wheeler's book and chosen to do Big Lamp Bitter as my fist brew. do the instructions below sound right?

Place 18ltr water into boiler, heat to 40c, turn off heat and stir in 3900g pale malt. Top up water allowing space for foam add 205g crystal malt. Bring brew to the boil add 45g golding hops boil for 90mins, allow wort to cool to 80c then add 9g of fuggles hops.

Run wort into an fv and allow to cool to 30c before pitching yeast (S05)? allow to ferment for 5/7 days or until you have sg readings of 1010 for 3 consecutive days.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Not quite

Before you start add 1/2 a crushed Campden tablet to your water to remove any Chlorine or Chloramines.

I assume you are planning the 23 Litre Brew Length

You do not use Pale Malt if you are doing an Extract Brew, you only use that if you are doing an All Grain brew where you would use a Mash Tun.

You need to heat the water in the boiler to about 66C, then steep the Crystal Malt at 66C for about an hour in a grain bag, then lift out the Cyrstal Malt in its bag.

Now you need to add the Malt Extract, the amount you add is in the figures towards the bottom of the page, it differs depending if you are using Dried Malt Extract (2520g) or Liquid Malt Extract (2930g).

Once thats added stir it in well, top up the boiler to about 26 Litres, if you have room, you will lose about 3 litres over the course of the boil, (you can top up later).

Bring brew to the boil add 45g golding hops boil for 90mins, allow wort to cool to 80c then add 9g of fuggles hops.

Run wort into an fv and allow to cool to 20c before pitching yeast (S05)? allow to ferment for 7/10 days or until you have sg readings of 1010 for 3 consecutive days.

[Uncle Joshua]

Cheers Steve.

Yes I am doing a 23 Litre Brew. no idea why I said Pale Malt instead of Malt Extract. would S05 yeast be ok for this brew? the book doesn't tell you what to use.

[Uncle Joshua]

I have just reread this and had another look at Wheeer's book and that doesn't mention steeping the Crystal Malt for an hour..it tells you to heat the water to around 40c then to add any grain and the malt extract. it then says to top up the water as much as you can manage allowing for foam..bring to boil and add the first lot of hops and any sugars or syrups. (mine doesn't have any sugars or syrups) then to boil it for 90 mins. then add second batch of hops and Irish moss 10 minutes before the end. ( mine doesn't have a second batch of hops or Irish moss just post boil hops.)


I know I'm a pest but I'd sooner get everything right.

[Fuggled Mind]

I've tried both methods. Can't say I could tell the difference to be honest but many people say don't boil the grains because the husks can give off flavours (tannins and so on). Supposedly, these mellow over time but I don't really know for sure.

My method is to put the grains in a pasta pan, fill it almost to the top with cold water and leave it on the hob on medium high heat till it comes close to boiling (the surface cracks and foam emerges). I then sieve it into the brew pan. Takes about an hour using this method and I usually have the extract at a rolling boil by the time I add the steeped water. It's not the most efficient way to do things but it works for me.

Cheers

Jason

[Uncle Joshua]

I p itched my yeast at around 1pm and not much id happeming, should I be worried?

[Fuggled Mind]

If it's only 8 hours since you pitched your yeast, I wouldn't worry if you can't see any signs of activity.

How active yeast is can depend on a lot of factors e.g. how well you stirred your wort before pitching the yeast, the age of the yeast, room temperature etc. The longest I ever had to wait for my beer to get going was three days. I was on the verge of adding another packet of yeast but patience paid off. However, the norm is around 24 hours before you see tell-tale signs of fermentation (often earlier if you are using an airlock). Did you use your US-05? This is generally a reliable yeast and you should be fine.

I would sit and wait, not worry too much and let the yeast do it's work. I've often though patience is the one thing most home brewers lack (myself included).

Let us know how you get on. I've got GW's book but I've never tried his Big Lamp recipe before.

Cheers

Jason

[Uncle Joshua]

It was bubbling away like mad this morning.

I have to learn not to worry so much.