First Extract underway - Critique welcomed

[NeedsMoreHops]

Hi all. As a newbie to homebrew, and this forum, just though I would say hello and share details of my first extract brew, started today. I have done 2 kits previously; the first was an a number of years ago with limited success and the second was bottled last weekend and currently has all the signs of having that homebrew 'twang'). I have decided to try extracts, with experimentation in 4.5 litre demijohn brews for a while, initially aiming for a light hoppy ale (arrived at by tweaking values in the qbrew application).

Details are below and any improvement suggestions would be well received.

500g spraymalt, pale
25g caramalt (possibly too much as darker than I would like, maybe 12g next time)
Cascade hops (6.8%) 3x 5g (weighed using a hastily constructed lego and coctail stick contraption, estimated to be accurate to at least 250mg!)
Muntons ale yeast (1/3 packet)

1) Steeped caramalt in 1L water, 71 degrees for 30 mins
2) Rehydrated yeast in 200ml water (25 deg)
3) strained water from 1), added 2L water, increase temp to 75 deg. add 5g hops and steeped for 30 mins (I understand this is first wort hopping which will lead to retention of aroma)
4) Added DME, 5g more hops and boiled for 60 mins
5) Cooled in cold water bath and added an additional 2L cold water
6) Poured into demijohn (aerating), pitched yeast when around 21 degrees, topping up to 4.5 litres (OG 1.040). Fermentation underway 6 hours later @ 19 degrees.

Smells fantastic so far and initial taste is promising (although a little malty and yeasty ). 1.040 seems a little low, should this have been higher (more DME?).

Will move into secondary fermentor in 2 weeks, dry hopping with a further 5g cascade.

[gnutz2]

Hi NMH, well done on your first extract, i myself couldn't get rid of the homebrew trang until i went to AG.

Points i would raise are...

Recipe overall looks good, should be a easy drinking light ale.
Caramalt ammount is fine, you could easily double it though. I go up to 10% of my grist in crystal (caramalt is a light crystal malt) on some recipes, you're at about 2.5% there.
It wasn't the crystal that made the beer darker than expected, my guess is you will struggle to get a pale beer with DME.
1.040 OG sounds about right for 500g of DME.
Why not steep the crystal in the full ammount of wort and do a full boil? Basically put your DME in the pan with the water and heat to steep temps, steep the crystal then continue with the full 1 hour boil and your hop schedule.

HTH

[NeedsMoreHops]

Thanks for the response. Nice to know the caramalt amount was not excessive, although it is a slight concern with the colour the DME provides, maybe I'll try extra pale while experimenting. Good point about a full boil, that would save some faffing. I have ordered supplies for several more gallon batches of extract (all will have some steeping) but if none of these get away from the homebrew taste then I will give all grain a go. It is unlikely that I will do full 5 gallon batches so the processing shouldn't be too difficult. Although it is probably a question for the all grain section, any suggestions as to the easiest way to filter the water at sparging stage? Would it be sufficient to just pour off the wort, batch sparge and then pour this off without having to resort to cool box mash tuns, copper manifold pipes etc.?

[Jocky]

Using extra light extract and adding as much as possible late in the boil (10 minutes from the end) will help keep the colour lighter. However I do small batches and doing a full boil saves a lot of faff, and seems to help avoid extract twang, while I've never heard of someone complain that my ale is too dark.

With regards to the all grain method - yes you can do what you are proposing, although using a bag to hold the grains (brew in a bag) will save you pouring stuff off - you just have to lift the bag. Cool boxes are just used to keep the mash at a set temperature, but you can do the same if you just put the lid on the pot you are mashing in and then wrap it up in a blanket or similar insulation (no need to leave it on the stove, it'll stay at temperature and you don't want to set your blanket on fire!).

[NeedsMoreHops]

Bottled this first extract last night and it appears promising so far. Colour is actually quite good and I think I was worrying unecessarily about it being too dark, it could indeed probably take more caramalt. Smell was phenominal, up there with my favourite beers; I hope this remains during bottle conditioning. I felt it was a little bitter for my taste but I am hoping that time in the bottle might mellow this somewhat. Delighted to report that the homebrew taste was almost non-existent and when the yeast drops out I'm sure this will have gone completely (unfortunately I have changed so may variables since the kit beer that it is hard to know exactly what the cause(s) of this taste is exactly).
Brewing in gallons is certanly paying off for me, I have two more extract brews fermenting at the moment and attempted my first all grain today (BIAB, thanks Jocky), which I will post details of in the relevant section.
I can't believe I didn't start brewing years ago, after all, what could be better than actually being able to make your own beer!!!

[DaveyT]

I can't believe I didn't start brewing years ago, after all, what could be better than actually being able to make your own beer!!!

I keep kicking myself for not starting this when I was a student and didn't have work and family to fit around my brewing!
Let us know how it conditions. I'm looking into late hopping and wondering whether I'll lose aromas with eight weeks of bottle conditioning.

David