Help an extract beginner with a recipie.

[davew]

I have placed an order for the following ingredients today as they all seem to be quite commonly used.

Can anybody help with a recipe which would be easy for a first time extract brew. I have done plenty of kits etc in the past and I have a copy of both brewing beers like those you buy and GW's book. I want to get a few extract brews under my belt before moving onto AG.

I want to brew to 19l to fill a cornie and maybe a lightish amber ale.

Spraymalt 3kg
1000g Crystal Malt
100g Fresh Vacuum Packed Hops - Fuggles (UK) Alpha 4.2% - 2009 Crop
100g Fresh Vacuum Packed Hops - East Kent Goldings (UK) Alpha 5.68% % - 2009 Crop

Thanks

[far9410]

I'm sure you can do a nice brew with the spraymalt, about 250g crystal (steeped), 50g fuggles 90 min plus additions of ekg as preferred, work it out, its better if yiou do it yourself, then evaluate results and change just one thing at a time to create the perfect brew ( aint got there yet but having fun trying)

cheers

[davew]

Ok I have been having a play with Beerengine and I think I am going to try the following to brew 23l so I can bottle a few pints.

3kg pale malt extract
250g Crystal Malt
27g Goldings hops
32g Fuggles hops
OG 1.048 EBU 35
Do you think I need to add some late hops to this or shall I see how it turns out?

[oneilldave]

Ok I have been having a play with Beerengine and I think I am going to try the following to brew 23l so I can bottle a few pints.

3kg pale malt extract
250g Crystal Malt
27g Goldings hops
32g Fuggles hops
OG 1.048 EBU 35
Do you think I need to add some late hops to this or shall I see how it turns out?

Hi DaveW,

It would be worth knowing which hops you intend to use first, and in what quantity. What I have done in the past, and it has worked really well, is to use the three properties of the hop to give me what I want, that is: bitterness, flavour and aoma.

Bitterness: Most hops, when boild for a long time, loose all their aroma and flaour properties and leave only their residual bitterness. If I want bitterness I tend to use a hop with a high alpha acid rating. That way I can use a slightly smaller mount of hops over a long boil to get the desired level of bitterness into my beer. At the moment I am doing a Citra single hop brew where the Citra is about 15% AA, which will make it quite bitter if i use too much for too long. I went for about 10g for 60 minutes. I know I'll loose all the flavour but I will get a wonderful bitter bite. So, with either of your two hops I would suggest using the EKG for your bitterness as you won't need too much. Whatever's left you can use for flavour or aroma.
Flavour: Well, this is a hard one as each hop is slightly different. Bassically, if you don't boill he hops for too long you'll get flavour out of them, but not bitterness. Okay, pretty much any amount of boiling over 10 or more minutes looses the aroma, though I'm sure many will argue either side of that timing. How long can you boil for without bringing too much bitter into your brew? Well, I would say 20 minutes max, but again I am sure many will argue either side of that figure. I would suggest that you experiment and see how you get on. I do, all the time, and by golly, the results leave me staggering (no, I actually mean staggering, swaying a lot, and oft with a bad slur!). What you can do is add some of the hops at 20 minutes from the end of the boil, some more at 10 minutes from the end of the boil, and maybe a last amount at 5 minutes from the end of the boil. That way you'll get loads of flavour out of your hops. Again, pretty much any boiling over a few minutes will rob you of the aroma.
Aroma: I think, by now, you'll have a pretty good idea on this. The later you leave the addition, or the less boiling you do in other words, the more aroma will be retained. Some people recommend turning the boil off, letting the wort cool to about 80 degrees, and then adding the aroma hops. Some people recommend dry hopping, adding the hops into the brewing wort either during or after fermentation hads ocurred. I prefer a good handful when the wort has cooled to 80 degrees and leaving them in for a while. Again, many will have ideas on this and I'm sure if you hunt through this site you will have a few good reads. I would recommend the recipies section as they are often pretty on the button when it comes to what to add and when. I know they look pretty complicated but ignore all the grain bits and just look at the hops, the quantity used and when added. I would suggest the fuggles as a late addition for flavour and as an aroma hop at the end. It's your call, or more importantly, it's your experiment.

Good luck and enjoy the results, I do and I am still learning so much as well.

Dave.

[oneilldave]

While I think of it, here are a couple of links that have some recipes you may find useful:

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=40234
This one has the guidance I used to make my all Citra brew, and I can not describe how good it smelled during the brewing process.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=39575
The one with the ginger was really excellent, if you will forgive my lack of humility. I will make this again ... soon!

Do these help?

Dave.

[DaveyT]

Dave
How about sticking to one hop for now? Then try with the other hop next. Why not use EKG across the piece?
What kind of beer do you like? If you like bitters with little hop taste or aroma then put less hops in at the end. If you like lots of hop flavours, whack a load in at the end. 30g in the last 10 min of your boil sounds cool. It'll create a beer that'll have a good amount of hop flavour.
This gives me the impression that you like ya hops. Why not add 15g after flame out? Stick them in once your brew hits 80 degrees.
You can then taste the three different hops additions and see what you think. I haven't tried one yet, but lots of people on this website like their EKG-only brews. And plenty like their fuggle-only brews, too.
One last thing, if you use as much crystal malt as 250g then that will balance the bitterness hops that go in at the beginning. Going for 35 IBU is not unrealistic at all. Sounds nice.

DaveyT

[oneilldave]

Dave
... And plenty like their fuggle-only brews, too.DaveyT

That's bang on the nose DaveyT! I did a fuggles only brew and it was a delight to drink. So much so, in fact, I will do it again at some point.

[davew]

Have to say I went a bit mad today and made up 2 extract brews, one all Golding one All fuggles brewed to 20l with 40g of bittering hops and 10g for the last 10 mins with a teaspoon of Irish moss. Hopefully I will be able to notice the taste difference between the two brews.

I used my new 30l Ace boiler/urn that I got off ebay and it worked really well. Just need to wait for the ferment now.

[Mr.Everready]

Is that the one at £70 ?

[davew]

Is that the one at £70 ?

Yes