Extract brewing on a shoestring budget

[redskinweasel]

I've been doing kits and Tc's now for the last year or so and I am satisfied with the results. However I have heard that extract brewing gives you much more control over the final flavour and also that the results can be very good indeed.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that money is really tight at the moment and i'm restricted to boiling on the hob, (hence the stock pot questions).

Basically i'd like to have a go at extract brewing but all I currently have is the usual basic kit equipment, so b4 I splash out on a stockpot and a wort chiller I have a couple of questions:

What is the smallest stockpot I can get away with?
Does it need to be aluminium or stainless steel?
Where is the best place to buy one from?
Do I actually need a wort chiller or can I use ice?
Do I need a collander or any other special equipment?
Are there any extract brewing books you could recommend?

Thanks in advance for your help.


Cheers



Mark

[fatboylard]

Hello Mark and welcome to the world of extract brewing!

I have a good few brews under my belt and likewise money is an issue (which is why i haven't bought all the kit to go AG just yet). Let me try to answer a few of your questions...

What is the smallest stockpot I can get away with?

I use a 9 Litre stockpot which will take 8 litres on a rolling boil. You could get away with a 5 litre but you'd really have to bump up your hop ratio as hop utilisation suffers with high gravity worts. What I tend to do is use around half the malt in the boil and chuck the other half into the FV, that way you don't need to bump up the hopping ratio as much which saves resources and money!

Does it need to be aluminium or stainless steel?

Aluminium is cheaper and lighter, Stainless is generally better made and lasts longer, the best advice is to go for the biggest and best one you can afford.

Where is the best place to buy one from?

E-bay is usually the place to look, you can also try searching for 'discount catering supplies'

Do I actually need a wort chiller or can I use ice?

When the boil is done, i usually bung a lid on and leave it for half an hour for late hop additions to add aroma (bitterness is only extracted through boiling), then put the pot in the sink (with the lid sill on) and fill the sink up to the level of the wort, stirring now and then to help it cool down quicker.

Do I need a collander or any other special equipment?

Basic equipment - large stockpot, spoon (you can use a plastic brewing spoon but beware it will start to bend out of shape if you keep it in boiling wort), strainer bag/muslin (for steeping grains and hops), thermometer, and the rest of your kit brewing equipment. Irish moss is useful for clearer beers but you don't really need it.

Are there any extract brewing books you could recommend?

Not purely on extract brewing but Graham Wheeler's 'Brew Your Own British Real Ale' (BYOBRA) has a wealth of information and tons of recipes to boot, some of which have extract versions. If you want to convert any other all grain recipe to extract from other sources you can generally divide the quantity of base malt by 4 then divide by 3 (because most mashings convert about 75% of available grain sugars)

Thanks in advance for your help.

Your welcome

Hope this is of some help, the best advice is to read up on the subject, try a small brew (Holland and Barrett Malt extract comes in 454g/1lb jars) and by all means enjoy yourself!

Regards,

Sam

[redskinweasel]

Hi Sam,

Thanks for your speedy response.

The information you've provided is just what I had hoped to hear so I'll be going on to ebay l8r to acquire a stock pot and that graham wheeler book.

I'll let you know how I get on with my first brew anyway.



Thanks again!



Mark

[fatboylard]

No probs mate, we all learn from each other.

Extract is a great way of brewing something a bit more specialist (i.e. clone brews, more obscure styles) without the bother of mashing grain. It is more expensive in the long run (a really cheap 5 gallon brew costs about the same as a premium beer kit) but it's the ability to experiment and create something that's your own that really does it for me. I'll try to get some pics of my last extract brewday posted so you can get an idea as to the process.

Iechyd da!

Sam

[danbrew]

If you look out for buckingham stock pots and try get a big one cheap. They are a bit cheap and tin like (my nickname for my set for a while was the biscuit tin brewery) but they were really perfectly serviceable and I see no reason why they wouldn't last a good while. A few on here use them too.

Keep an eye on prices though as they vary a lot on ebay/ amazon. I got an 11l, 8l and 5l in a set for £25 delivered. I think you can get them seperately and larger too.

Beware though, the cost of a good solid stock pot could easily cover the cost of a 5 gallon home-made boiler with a kettle element in... Or you could pick one up second hand...

[Spud395]

I'm with beerkiss,if it's really shoestring brewing you want AG is the only way.
I built my entire brewery for under 50 euro (cool box mash tun, 33l bucket boiler/HLT, immersion chiller)
I buy a sack of grain at a time with a few specialty grains and there are some super cheap deals to be had on hops from guys on here.
Anyway 11 AG brews in and everything is still flying, I reckon that works out30- 40c a pint including the brewery build, which will get cheaper each brew.
Thats the decision I made when I was in your position, worth thinking about!

[Rich_B]

Hiya, I bought some of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-PCE-BUCKINGHAM- ... 35ad9d97e0

I bought from this seller and they came quickly and seem to be of decebt quality (quite thin yes but absolutely fine). 3 different sizes - I have brewed up the wort in the big one and done a hop-tea in the small one which worked out wuite well.

[redskinweasel]

I'm with beerkiss,if it's really shoestring brewing you want AG is the only way.
I built my entire brewery for under 50 euro (cool box mash tun, 33l bucket boiler/HLT, immersion chiller)
I buy a sack of grain at a time with a few specialty grains and there are some super cheap deals to be had on hops from guys on here.
Anyway 11 AG brews in and everything is still flying, I reckon that works out30- 40c a pint including the brewery build, which will get cheaper each brew.
Thats the decision I made when I was in your position, worth thinking about!

I totally follow ur logic but from what I've read about AG so far, I don't think I have the stones for it just yet m8.
Clearly I'd be telling porkies if I said I didn't want to go AG eventually but at the mo it's a pipedream due to a lack of space and skill.

I figure I need to cut my teeth on extract 1st.


Cheers tho spud

[redskinweasel]

Hiya, I bought some of these:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-PCE-BUCKINGHAM- ... 35ad9d97e0

I bought from this seller and they came quickly and seem to be of decebt quality (quite thin yes but absolutely fine). 3 different sizes - I have brewed up the wort in the big one and done a hop-tea in the small one which worked out wuite well.

Cheers for the tip Rich, I've ordered a 15ltr stockpot from the bay.
Let the fun and games begin.

[oz11]

Once you have a pot for extract brewing, it's only a short step to getting a bag and giving AG a try using the BIAB method...see the sub-forum. Saves the expense of buying/converting a mash tun.

Good luck!!

[redskinweasel]

Cheers Oz,

I just noticed that forum b4 and it caught my interest due to needing less kit and taking less time.

Can you make them in smaller batches though as I've only bought a 15ltr pot?


Cheers



Mark

[brewcot]

Hi redskinweasel,

I have just made my first attempt at extract brewing - like you, I had no budget to play with, and only a small stockpot to stick on the hob, but I gave it a go anyway!

I was only able to boil 6 litres, which I made up to 9 litres and split between 2 empty 5L water bottles with airlocks drilled into the lids. Here's my recipe:-

130 grams crystal malt steeped in 6L water @ 65'C in the stockpot
Stir in 1kg light malt extract (spraymalt) and bring to the boil
15 grams Goldings hops boiled 60 mins
10 grams Goldings hops boiled 30 mins
5 grams Goldings hops boiled 5 mins

Thats all I had in the cupboard! I cooled the wort in the sink, split it between the 2x water bottles and made them both up to 4.5L, then pitched some safale s-04 yeast @ 24'C.

The O.G. was 1.042, and they have just about reached 1.010 so I should be bottling into recycled 500ml PET bottles tomorrow.(A desk lamp with a 40W bulb makes a great budget heater to keep it going in cold weather).

I'm not expecting an award winning ale, drinkable would be good enough for me on the first attempt, so I'll let you know how it tastes in a couple of weeks. I have to say though, I had a great time doing it, and the smells are fantastic (even though the other half wasn't convinced!) I would strongly recommend plugging your recipe into beer engine before you start.

Enjoy your brewing mate!

[danbrew]

Can you make them in smaller batches though as I've only bought a 15ltr pot?

Yes you can. Have a look at some of the brew in a bag brewdays and just scale down as appropriate. The only downside is the size of your pot reflects the maximum size brew you'll get. 15l pot would give about 10l beer with BIAB. Whereas with extract you'd have no problem making 23l/ 5 gallon beer.

Bear in mind that AG brewing is a bit cheaper on ingredients than extract.

If you are bottling, have a look around at recovering yeast from (your own) bottles which can save you money on yeast for future brews too...

[kane]

Mark,
I started the way you are with a 15L stockpot (the exact same one i think), i did 2 extract brews and then decided to go all grain, although it did cost me a fair bit....a whopping ....£3
I bought 2m of this stuff http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWNX:IT, and used my bottling bucket as a mash tun.

Yes i only get around 10L at the end of it, but that suits me better, and you can always make a full 23L brew by making a concentrated wort, much like you do with extract and then water it down in the FV.

Hope this gives you some ideas

Cheers
Kane

[soupdragon]

Hi redskinweasel

I've got a 15ltr stockpot myself and do 5 gallon brews with it. If you do as fatboylard suggests and boil with half of your extract and all your hops you'll get the propper level of bittering. Then simply add the ballance of your extract in your fermenter and top up to 5 galls. One thing I would say is to use that voile/curtain material as a filter as you tip into the fermenter. I used to suffer from an odd flavour in my brews and finally tracked it down to the excessive amount of hot break I was allowing through to the fermenter. I now do BIAB with grain providing the fermentables for the boil but still use extract to top up in my F/V. BIAB really is so simple and the results are worth the small amount of extra effort involved ( and the £2 for the sheet of voile ). I would reccomend that you get used to extract brewing 1st tho just to get used to handling a stockpot full of boiling wort. Extract or BIAB I still say to use the voile as a filter......... Best of luck

Cheers Tom