First Extract Brew - Sarah Hughes Dark Ruby

[KevP]

Loose or bagged its really negligible, if you're worried then add another 2/3 g of hops to compensate.
Liken it to making a cup of tea, do people worry about tea bags being restrictive and producing a lesser quality tea? And by that bagged nature being so inferior its a no-no? Its about convenience, same with tea

There is a huge quantity of Tea leaves in a teabag compared with the actual amount you need to make a cup of tea, but thats the lazy nature of people wanting an instant cup of tea

Whats instant about letting it steep for 5 minutes?
And are hops so expensive that a few extra g's will break the bank? Like I say its convenience, and it works.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

And are hops so expensive that a few extra g's will break the bank? Like I say its convenience, and it works.

What's inconvenient about using using a hop filter? What are the advantages of allowing large amounts of trub through into the FV instead of having most of it filtered out by the hop lay? Please enlighten us all.

[Jymbo]

I wouldn't let it bother you. It is no big deal, and I am not at all bothered about it.

Cheers, Graham.

[DeadlyGoldfish]

Well the brewing has finally started...

So far, 1 boil over, 1 thumb slightly burnt through the steam, found the correct setting for the rolling boil on the thermostat, everything else going ok, 30 mins in to the boil, boiler working fine. Smells like a brewery!

Fingers crossed there is something edible at the end of this...

[DeadlyGoldfish]

Well all appears well! Ended up with only about 16 litres, but I didn't start with the right amount of liquid as the boiler was boiling over too much. When done it ended with a SG of 1052ish which is close enough to the 1058 which I was aiming for.

The cooling gizmo worked a treat after I found ways to connect the stupid small pipes I had!

So now a weeks wait and see if the fermentation takes hold as needed. Looks a lovely colour and smells great already!

[DeadlyGoldfish]

A stupid question, what's the easiest way to get images in to this forum so I can share some brewing process and results!?

[Jim]

A stupid question, what's the easiest way to get images in to this forum so I can share some brewing process and results!?

Link.

[DeadlyGoldfish]

Link to an external web site you mean, so I have to upload my photos to another web site first and link it in here?

[Jim]

Link to an external web site you mean, so I have to upload my photos to another web site first and link it in here?

Click the link in my post, it leads to the FAQ on posting pictures. But yes, you do have to upload your pics somewhere else.

[DeadlyGoldfish]

So here are some pics from the brew, I have yet to get one of the beer itself, but may do that later!

The start...

Light Malt

Crystal Malt

Fuggles & Goldings


The boil



The end




If you want to see larger pictures for some reason!
Go here...

[KevP]

Nice pics, I would leave the lid off when boiling, it traps alot of nasties that would otherwise be boiled off and can affect the taste of the beer.

[DeadlyGoldfish]

Excellent, thanks for the advice, as this was my first brew this way I wasn't quite sure, so went for the "it will keep at warmer"! approach. Fingers crossed, it doesn't taste too bad at present, still waiting for it to clear.

[Manx Guy]

Hi!

I did a 9 litre batch of this yesterday... the smell was fantastic!

I dont have a dedicated boiler but used a 15l stock pot for the boil.... the only issue I found with this was I boiled the hops without the use of a bag... meaning that when I transfered the wort out of the boiling pot I had to use another sanitised container... to pour the wort into using a large seive to catch the hops...

The idea being that I would transfer the wort to the FV via the hop 'bed' in my strainer....

I hope this will result in a good beer, the sample from the OG measurement tasted good, sweet with a hoppy bitterness and coffee like taste

I used nottingham yeast as I had a starter to hand

I dont think I'll make another extract brew using this method if this batch turns out as a failure... I will wait until I have a boiler with a hopback.... With my wife expecting our first child in April, this might be some time off...

I will keep you posted!

Slainte!

Guy

[DeadlyGoldfish]

And here she blows, the end product. Tastes lovely.

[soupdragon]

Hi!

I did a 9 litre batch of this yesterday... the smell was fantastic!

I dont have a dedicated boiler but used a 15l stock pot for the boil.... the only issue I found with this was I boiled the hops without the use of a bag... meaning that when I transfered the wort out of the boiling pot I had to use another sanitised container... to pour the wort into using a large seive to catch the hops...

The idea being that I would transfer the wort to the FV via the hop 'bed' in my strainer....

I hope this will result in a good beer, the sample from the OG measurement tasted good, sweet with a hoppy bitterness and coffee like taste

I used nottingham yeast as I had a starter to hand

I dont think I'll make another extract brew using this method if this batch turns out as a failure... I will wait until I have a boiler with a hopback.... With my wife expecting our first child in April, this might be some time off...

I will keep you posted!

Slainte!

Guy

Hi
I've not long been given a 15 litre stockpot as a birthday present and am chomping at the bit to use it. How easy was it to handle when you were tipping the boil through the sieve? Can't wait to get cracking
Tom