Wish me luck

[soupdragon]

Well that's my 1st extract brew in the fermenter. Did a partial boil ( OldSpeckledBadger's method ), was surprised how little foam was produced when the boil finally got going. I only used 1kg of dried malt in 10 litres with the hops, so if I've worked it out correctly ( and brewed it right ) I should have 27% ish hop extraction giving an EBU of 76. Then when I've added the rest of my extract and topped up to 5 galls I should end up with an O.G. of 1.038 and an EBU of 33
Well I managed to get the O.G. just about right but I'll have to wait till the beers's ready to see if the hops have worked out ok.
Smelt asolutely gorgeous in the F.V. I was tempted to have a sample but thought better of it. Can't wait to get this in the barrel and see how it turns out
Today has been a good day Tom

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Well done on your first extract brew. Time to start planning your second

[soupdragon]

Well done on your first extract brew. Time to start planning your second

As soon as one the Colne valley is down to about 10 pints I'll get some of that dried extract from work and do the same recipe to see if it's ok for brewing use.
I hope it's ok, spray malt isn't the cheapest of ingredients So if it's ok I'll save a packet
After that I'm planning your Black Country Mild
Cheers Tom

[soupdragon]

Just got back from a few days in London and checked the S.G. Down to 1.009 ( as per Grahams recipe ) in 6 days, will check it again tomorrow. If there's no change I'll finish off the last few pints of Coopers bitter to free up a barrel and get it in there I wish I could fast forward a week or so just to have a sneaky pint but NO, be patient young ( ? ) man
Fingers crossed Tom

[soupdragon]

I know I should leave it longer but I just couldn't resist......and I'm well happy
Had a small sample this evening. I must say it tastes very clean, without any of that " special taste " that I've had with the kits. Not as dark as I was expecting but that might have been because there was only about 2 inches in the bottom of the glass, no big deal tho as it's easily adjusted. Not quite as much body/mouth feel as I was hoping for but the main thing for me was the taste. There is a nice fresh bitterness to it. It actually tastes like " real " beer, if you know what I mean? If I can replicate the quality and flavour with the dried extract from work then I can't see me ever doing another kit.
I've already started reading up on partial mashing, seems a lot less effort than full mashing. I remember the old days when I used to brew all grain and was plagued with an odd flavour in all my brews ( gave up because of it ). I used to hate having to heat up all the extra water and sparge manually but very slowly with a plastic watering can. Oh those were the days........... 1st things 1st tho, I'll leave this to condition for another few weeks and as soon as my other barrel is around a quarter full I'll get my 2nd one on.
For future reference, does anybody know if there is an extract of any grain that I can add to boost the body of the beer?
Cheers Tom

[rick_huggins]

Yep, well done, grab some photos next time

[soupdragon]

Yep, well done, grab some photos next time

Steady now, it took all my concentration to get this one right ( i think ) I was surprised how clear it was after only 2 weeks in barrel
I'll give this another couple of weeks and pour a full pint off and see if I can post a pic just to see how it's done. If I manage that ok I'll try to get the missus to take a few during my next brew up
Cheers Tom