Extract Brewday, 18th May 08 - (NOW WITH PICS!!!)

[DaveH]

Have decided to do an extract brew today, to give me some experience of steeping and boiling before i go AG........

Decided to do the "standard" DL ESB recipe...with one slight twist however....couldnt get any JB extract; so am using Coopers Light instead! I chose cooper's as having just done their IPA kit and liked it, i thought i'd keep a 'baseline' if you will.

I've just started the steep, pictures to follow!



Dave H.

[Parp]

BEER!!!

Beer, Beer Everywhere but not a drop to drink!

Nothing ready in my house, boo hoo

Good choice the ESB. Hope it goes well.

[DaveH]

Boil Finished, IC now cooling wort...................................

Man it smells gorgeous!!! LOL!

[Redbloke]

Man it smells gorgeous!!!

... there's not many smells that can fill the heart with gladness, but freshly boiled wort can ... unfortunately SWMBO doesn't agree!

Hope you had a great day

Looking forward to the pics.

[prolix]

nearly tomorrow and no brew porn.... you some kind of sadist?

[DaveH]

nearly tomorrow and no brew porn.... you some kind of sadist?

Sadist, no - family man who knows which side his bread is buttered, YES!

Anyway, got piccies done now, so here they are in all their glory - DAVEH'S FIRST EXTRACT BREWDAY!!!

The ingredients weighed out and ready to rock and roll


"Virgin" boiler ready to go......


12L of liquor in the boiler



Up to temperature, and time to start the steep......



Time for some liquid refreshment - Coopers IPA kit; little bit over carbonated(hadn't bunged it in the cooler to chill a bit before serving)



Cheers!!!!



Steep going well



Steep finished, up to the boil: TIME FOR THE HOPS!!!



Nice Boil.



IC in and ready to rock and roll....



All cooled down, time to run off to the FV



Spent Hops in the boiler (Thank you very much!!!)



Lastly, up to the brew cupboard, yeasties pitched and wort aeriated




Phew, what a day!!!!! It's given me a bit of a confidence boost to kick on now and to move completely AG. One other thing, i think i'll definately be investing in a dual-element boiler. Should cut the 'lag' time down to a manageable level, which is crucial when i may be needed to entertain the kids inbetween times LOL!

Thanks to all for the inspiration, the guidance and most importantly, the method!!


Dave H.

[ashbyp]

sounds great - looking forward to checking the pictures later. Does anyone else have the problem of photobucket being blocked at work

[roger the dog]

Great pictures Dave, looks like a successful day . A 2nd element should save you quite a bit of time.

I'd follow Daab's advice re the hop filter too.

[ashbyp]

Agreed, what a cheek, that's why the country's in the mess it is

[brewsters millionths]

sounds great - looking forward to checking the pictures later. Does anyone else have the problem of photobucket being blocked at work

same here. and with a network that's so slow even pages with no pictures timeout before being displayed.

congrats on the extract brew dave. you'll never turn back now

[Aleman]

I just bypass the corporate proxy and go via the Libraries one instead . . . . Oops no I don't

[DaveH]

Just gone in to my brew room to check on the state of the beer. The krausen is subsiding now, with just a thin skin on the top. I've skimmed it off and checked the S.G.; it's down to 1.014 from an OG of 1.048 - so not bad (am using Safale 04 btw).

Will check to see where we are tomorrow.

Quick question though - can i dry hop this even though i plan to bottle the beer? ?If so, could i put 10g of Goldings in tonight and let it sit for a week or so? Or would you not bother dry hopping? Or do i transfer the beer into a secondary for a week to finish off and dry hop then before bottling??


Cheers



Dave H.