1st extract brew, help....

[S.R.S]

Hi All,
Have attempted my 1st extract brew using DME and a recipe from brewers friend called citra smash.
I wanted to try this as a 4 litre batch so followed the recipe below.
500g light dme boil for 60 mins
3g citra 20 mins
8 g citra 10 mins
8 g citra flameout.
The recipe called for 10.18 l to finish with 4 18 litres.
OG should be 1.042.
Looks like it's gone a bit ti.. s up!
Had about 6 litres of wort left over in kettle and the og is a measly 1.031!
What have I done wrong?

 

[jMac]

I think you’re saying you started with 10L of wort and expected to end up with 4L in the fermenter? If so, either the recipe was wrong, or whoever wrote it had some excessive boil off! Your boil off/kettle losses were only 4L over the hour.

As to how to fix this... Firstly, look at this as a learning experience - you now know your system losses and will be able to start off with only 8L of wort next time. Secondly, you could make up your extra gravity points by adding extra DME to your finished brew now before starting fermentation.

 

[jMac]

About 250g DME in 6L should give you the extra 11 gravity points.

 

[Sandimas]

I never rely on those boil-off calculators, it's better to have to top-up than have too much leftover and a lower OG.

I've never brewed anything that small volume before but Extract brewers usually boil at a smaller volume than the target brew size and top up with cold water in the fermenter e.g. for 23L brews I used to boil 12L, then once it's it the fermenter top it up to 23L with cold water.

 

[S.R.S]

About 250g DME in 6L should give you the extra 11 gravity points.

thanks very much. I've already pitched the yeast.
rather than open a 1kg bag of dme, could I add beer enhancer, if so, how much and how much water to mix it in? not much room left in the small fermentet

 

[jMac]

could I add beer enhancer, if so, how much and how much water to mix it in?

Never used it. It’s a mix of DME and dextrose though, so yes. Though it may thin your beer a little more than DME alone. Use the same amount - about 250g. And I’d just add it to the fermenter dry and give it a swirl. Fermentation will mix it up

 

[Jim Brewster]

I do 4 litre batches and theres maybe between approx. 1.5-2 litres of boil off in the hour. A 1 hour boil would turn the DME pretty dark too, should it not be added nearer the end for a pale? I did a 1 hour boil with DME once and I ended up with something similar to a Belgian dubbel.

6 litres leftover seems a lot to throw away, could you get another fermenter and yeast from somewhere like wilko and do two batches? Add some extra fermentables to the second batch and end up with one session pale ale and another stronger one?

 

[S.R.S]

Never used it. It’s a mix of DME and dextrose though, so yes. Though it may thin your beer a little more than DME alone. Use the same amount - about 250g. And I’d just add it to the fermenter dry and give it a swirl. Fermentation will mix it up

thank you

 

[S.R.S]

I do 4 litre batches and theres maybe between approx. 1.5-2 litres of boil off in the hour. A 1 hour boil would turn the DME pretty dark too, should it not be added nearer the end for a pale? I did a 1 hour boil with DME once and I ended up with something similar to a Belgian dubbel.

6 litres leftover seems a lot to throw away, could you get another fermenter and yeast from somewhere like wilko and do two batches? Add some extra fermentables to the second batch and end up with one session pale ale and another stronger one?

yes, I wondered about it turning out darker than planned due to the 1 hour boil but I understand hop utilisation wouldnt work without the dme already in. with such a small batch I wasn't sure if half the dme at the beginning with the rest at the end would work?
just to clarify, there were 2 litres left in the kettle that I didn't use.
I worked backwards and reckon I got near 5 litres in the fermenter so 10-5- the 2 litres left in the kettle would mean a more accurate boil off of 2-3 litres in an hour if my workings are correct, not a loss of 4 litres which seemed quite high