first extract brewing problems

[clivel]

having overcome the disastrous start to my brewing carreer thanks to good advice on this forum, i thought i'd move on to brewing with extract ...
my probem is this: the og of my first extract brew is showing 1.024, before fermentation gets under way. if i've understood some of the stuff ive read on line, this is going to lead to this being a particularly weak beer. (for info its a bitter recipe which suggests a final abv of around 4%)

advice would be welcome as to how i can inject a bit of oomph to this brew to bring it up to the 4% mark. i would also like your views and advice on what must have gone wrong in the initial stages to lead to this sorry state of affairs..

thanks for reading this and your valued advice!
clive

[GrowlingDogBeer]

A few questions

1. What temperature was the wort / liquid when you tested the gravity
2. Have you checked your hydrometer is accurate.
3. Give us more info about the recipe and procedure and we may be able to help more.

Seriously if you have followed the recipe correctly on an extract brew and got an OG of 1024 it is not correct.

4. What ingredients did you use amount / type
5. How long did you boil for
6. What type / make Extract did you use
How many litres of beer have you made.

[clivel]

the recipe was taken from 'Home Brewing' by john parkes.
3kg of premium grade pale malt extract (i used coopers) )
250g crushed malt added after the pale malt extract had dissolved
50g fuggles hops
25g goldings hops both added once the wort began to boil
rolling boil for 1 hour,
35g bobek hops left in for 40 minutes

i then strained this into the fermenting bin - and topped up to 25 litres as instructed, then left it to cool down to c20 (i didn't add the yeast until about 3 hours later )


im fairly certain the hydrometer reading was taken when the wort in the hydrometer jar was around 20 deg - certainly the room temp was that.

the recipe only called for 3 litres of water at the start -
also is it possible that i didn't strain the stuff well enough and therefore didn't extract everything i could have?

again many thanks for taking the time to read this and i look forward to reading your advice... even if it is 'put it down to experience and start again!!'

clive

[potatoes]

Hi Clive,

I am new to extract home brew so dont take my words a gospel. When I started extract brewing I noticed that my OG was lower, about 1035 rather than 1043 with kit brews. My beer came out weaker but still tasted nice! But I wondered if I was doing something wrong also.

One thing in your process which appears different to mine is adding the crushed malt after the pale malt had been dissolved. I tend to steep my crushed malt (Crystal malt normally) for 30 mins at 65c, remove it, then bring it boil and then dissolve my malt extract. But I cant see this influencing OG>

The other difference is I make 21 litre batches rather than 25 litre. The extra water would bring down you OG but how much, I dont know. Hope that helps.

[clivel]

thanks for that - it seems to make sense - is there anything i can do now to heighten the potential abv? ive got some light spray malt - would adding that now help?

[potatoes]

Have you already pitched the yeast?

[clivel]

yes!

[danbrew]

Did you use liquid malt extract or dried? They are not the same thing.
Was the malt you added crystal malt? I am assuming it is?

Either way, that stuff isn't going to be too strong. Personally I would add a couple of 500g bags of dried spraymalt to the FV by stirring and pouring the DME in really really slowly to get it to dissolve without clumping... Just be mindfull of the chance of infection (but I have to say it isn't something I'd be worried about)

Try downloading beerengine or something similar and it will help you with the calculations in future.

[clivel]

i used liquid malt and crushed crystal malt.

many thanks for that - its a learning curve this brewing malarchy and ive got time on my hands at the moment!!

[danbrew]

If the recipe says use dry malt extract and you use liquid then you'll be short of sugars.

1 Kilo of wet is the same as (about) 700g dried. So for 3kg dried you would need 4.3kg of liquid.

You've only added the equivilent of 2.1kg of dried so adding another 1kg dried will get nearer the mark. THough I am scpetical about you 25l brewlength becuase this is unusual... 5 gallon is more standard...

[clivel]

the recipe stated
"3kg premium-grade pale malt extract". Therefore i used 2 1.5kg cans of coopers pale malt extract. should i have used 3kg of dried?
also, from the blurb at the top of the recipe
"this recipe makes 25 litres (5.5 gallons) with an ABV of around 4%"

i have just added 920g of light spray malt as suggested in this thread. will that push the abv up towards 3.6%?? at least then i could say its a 'session' beer!!

for info the book i used - is "home brewing" by john parkes.

once again - thanks for all the advice - its nice to know im not alone!

[Brotherton Lad]

I know you've already pitched the yeast, but assuming that was today, what is the hydrometer showing now (at 20 C)?

I'm sure the book will tell you whether the recipes are for liquid or dry extract.

That recipe should give you an OG of around 1040. Now if the wort was still hot, say 50 C, then that would account for another 10 degrees or so of gravity.

I only did a few extract brews before going AG, but I reckon I'd have:

steeped the crystal malt at 65 C in 3 litres of water first,
added more water (as much as possible) to the boiler and dissolved the extract,
brought to the boil and gone through the hop schedule,
strained and cooled into the FV,
pitched the yeast around 25 C.

[potatoes]

Hi there, I would put in the malt only if you have recently (1day) pitched the yeast. Otherwise, leave it as is and just call it a low alcohol experiement.

BTW, I tend to use Dried malt extract (DME) rather than Liquid (LME).

[clivel]

many thanks for all the useful advice given here.
to answer a couple of questions - the sg today was 1.016 / 1.014 - at a room temp of 21 deg c and wort temp was around 23.

i suppose its worth sticking with to see if i end up at least with a clear pint. im not sure i can be arsed bottling it though so will have to get hold of a cheap pressure barrell. any tips on that?

clivel

[danbrew]

No tips on the barrel but if your a bit pi55ed off with the whole experience then bottle in 2l pet bottles which you can get from any supermarket. I.e. large bottles of cheap fizzy water. Keep the bottles in dark place though with them being clear.

You can put the malt extract in at any time. Even if the batch has fully fermented out you could add more DME and the yeast will pick it up and run with it. I think you'll be fine. No reason why you shouldn't have an OK session bitter.