MME and Fuggles, My Second Full Extract Brew

[oneilldave]

Hi All,

Well, after the success of my first extract brew (viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39575) I've decided to try another one. This is based on MME and I'm using Fuggles Hops. Here's the recipe, any comments would be gratefully received.

Ingredients - To Make 15L of Beer

1.8Kg Medium Malt Extract (Muntons)
40g Fuggles
15g Fuggles
500g Plain White Sugar
1 pkt of Muntons Gold Yeast

Method

1. Boil the MME in a 10L stock pot. Top up with water but leave a couple of inches gap at the top to prevent boil over.
2. When the extract is boiling add the 40g of Fuggles and boil for 80 minutes, stirring occasionally so that it doesn't burn, and to ensure the hops are well dispersed throughout the boil. This will extract the bitterness from the hops.
3. After 80 minutes add the remaining 15g of Fuggles and boil for a further 10 minutes. This will extract flavour from the hops, along with aroma.
4. At flame out add the 500g of sugar and stir well. Leave for 15 minutes so the new hops get a chance to really aromatise the brew.
5. Then sieve into your fermentation vessel and top up to 15L with cold water.
6. Let it cool to the right temperature for the yeast but don't add it just yet. Take a hydrometer reading first so that you now know the SG.
7. Pitch the yeast - I'm using Muntons Gold.
8. Wait until the gravity drops to 1.010 or below and stays there for a few day on the trot.
9. Bottle with a little (0.5 tsp) priming sugar.
10 Drink when ready.

So, how does that sound, then? I like to keep things simple as I'm starting out and want to master the basics before I get too complicated. I'll report back when it's all done.

Regards to you all,

Dave.

[oneilldave]

Just a quick correction to the above:

Beer engine states that it will be about 5.7% when brewed but now that it is cooled the OG is 1.040 so I imagine I will get something closer to 4%. Does that seem right? And I've filled to 16L in the FV, which may have a slight impact.

D.

[oneilldave]

Here we go, probably the last one on this:

It finally dropped to 1.010 so I bottled it today, Sunday 27th of March. That makes it two weeks in the FV. Of course, I had a sneaky sup and, blimey, what a lovely drop of beer it is, if you don't mind me being proud. It is, after all, only the 2nd full extract brew I've ever made, and I feel I have moved up a notch from being a kit brewer. In fact, I don't think I will ever buy a kit again, truth be told. And to those in the know: yes, I know, all grain brewing is even better! I'm getting there, slowly but surely.

Description so far: A slightly dark ruby in colour, but with a soft bitterness at first taste that dissolves into a mellow sweetness; a wonder combination of the bitter and sweet working together at just about the right levels. The fuggles hops leave a fruity taste in the mouth that after a while takes on a slight, and wonderful, banana flavour that I never expected to find. I then had to have a second glass to check ...

I will now leave it for a couple of weeks to see how it ages and if it has improved more that expected I will report back, though I''ll probably just drink it and plan my next extract brew. I have some apollo hops and some citra hops, and some bags of pale malt extract. Hmmm ... any ideas?

Dave.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Nice work.

For the next brew I would be tempted to use as much Citra as you can, I put 100g in a 25 Litre brew recently and it's wonderful.

I'll have a few bits of kit for sale soon which may be of interest to you, as I am currently upgrading my Brewery from being 2 x 30 litre plastic buckets with Immersion elements and a picnic cooler Mash Tun to a nice 70 Litre Stainless jobby.

[oneilldave]

Thanks, Runwell-Steve,

Sounds like a plan to me. I've heard that Citra hops have a huge citrus element when used right at the very end of the brew boil. I will do a 25L brew this weekend coming using a liquid PME, so how much do you think I should use to obtain a light bittering, but with plenty of flavour and aroma? Being new to the extract game I would guess the amounts and timings but any advice would be greatfull received.

But I can't believe how good the beer tastes just by doing what I'm doing, and that's just an extract with hops! So I look forward to more extract brews in the future. I have been offered a complete, full cycle, AG kit from a mate of mine who works in Basra and doesn't need it now, so I've said yes!! This way I get the whole thing in one go and get shown how to use it otherwise I don't think I'd have the gumption to have a go just yet.

Good luck with going shiney! I hope it works out. Another mate of mine, local this time, has just gone shiney and he's even got a temperature controlled environment so he can lager ... and, by all that's holy, the end result is flipping lovely!!

Dave.

[GrowlingDogBeer]

Hi

Temperature controlled fermenting is the way to go. I have an undercounter fridge which I have temperature controlled for fermenting and conditioning. You can get the fridges on Freecycle, they often come up, or just post a wanted message. There is a freecycle groups in Benfleet and Basildon, both are good groups.

As for a Citra Ale

I brewed 25 Litre using

4.275 Kg Maris Otter Pale Malt, so this would equate to roughly 3Kg of Liquid PME

I used solely Citra for the following boil times. the AA on mine was 13.8%, if yours is much different you will need to adjust this a bit to get the Bitterness correct. I went for 39 IBU.

10g @ 60 mins
15g @ 15 mins
15g @ 10 mins
15g @ 5 mins
15g @ 2 mins
15g @ 1 mins
15g Post Boil

This has turned out very well indeed.

[oneilldave]

Hi

Temperature controlled fermenting is the way to go. I have an undercounter fridge which I have temperature controlled for fermenting and conditioning. You can get the fridges on Freecycle, they often come up, or just post a wanted message. There is a freecycle groups in Benfleet and Basildon, both are good groups.

As for a Citra Ale

I brewed 25 Litre using

4.275 Kg Maris Otter Pale Malt, so this would equate to roughly 3Kg of Liquid PME

I used solely Citra for the following boil times. the AA on mine was 13.8%, if yours is much different you will need to adjust this a bit to get the Bitterness correct. I went for 39 IBU.

10g @ 60 mins
15g @ 15 mins
15g @ 10 mins
15g @ 5 mins
15g @ 2 mins
15g @ 1 mins
15g Post Boil

This has turned out very well indeed.

Sounds great. I have 3Kg of PM extract so that's spot on for me. I'll give it a go this weekend and see how it goes.

Dave.

[oneilldave]

Okay, I've started a single hop citra brew as suggested by Runwell_Steve, using a PME.

I'll post more details in another thread later.

@R_Steve: Those hops smell wonderful! I just know that this is going to be so good when it's done. Thanks for the idea.

Dave.