Brewing with Malt extract (and grain)

[irelandg]

HI,

Fairly new to brewing beer and only started a few months ago. Overall had success on my first 2 brews although my first batch was not properly capped so ended up super flat but still tasty! I've only been doing grain brews so far but interested in combining a grain brew with some malt extract. The main reason for this is I'm trying to get a bit higher on my O.G as seem to be not get that high of a gravity from just the grain (1040 - 1045) and also I think the combination might be interesting in terms of flavour. My question is in regards to when to use the Malt extract? As its sugar, there's would be no need to have it in with the mash but do people tend to boil it along with the wort? I've read of people just adding it at the very end , straight into the fermenter, so If that was the case would I just take the gravity reading from the fermenter with both wort and extract topped up to brewing volume?

Thanks

Graeme

 

[jof]

It might depend on what you are making.

I make a partial mash as its convenient for me to make in the kitchen.
I use 1Kg - 1.5Kg grains & 2Kg DME for my 40 pint batches.

If I make my normal ale, I add the DME as I'm starting the boil.

If I am looking for a light coloured beer, I add Light DME at the end of the boil. (When I tried adding at the start of the boil like my usual method, I got some caramelization & the beer wasn't as pale as I wanted)

 

[terrym]

I and others on the Forum do partial mashes. I am limited by the size of my 11 litre pot, but I can do 9 litre boils in it, as well as the mash. I just keep topping up the boil with water as the boil progresses. Using 1.5kg base malt plus other grains <300g and DME of 1 kg I can brew bees of about 19-20litres. I add DME direct to the FV as for a kit. I use the BF calculator to adjust hop utilisation to achieve the IBUs I require due to the reduced boil volume.

 

[irelandg]

Hi both,

Thanks for the replies. Both methods sound good to me. I guess I could try adding to the end of boil so everything cools together and homogenised before adding to the FV for a gravity reading. Also my LME states that 1 pound per gallon equals 1.036 gravity so by calculating what I need to achieve my desired gravity, on top of what my wort has produced, I can just add what I need to the FV separate. That going to be my next batch in the coming weeks.

Cheers

 

[dad_of_jon]

I often do a partial mash or grain steep. I use DME/DWE as the main ingredient with the grains adding extra flavour and some gravity points. So that means I'm less hung up on hitting my grain figueres as the DME/DWE give a consistant figure.

 

[samale]

You could also do all grain and add sugar to bump up the abv. This works well in beers were you want a high abv without adding to much body to the beer. Belgian style beers is a good example.
I have started to play about with adding sugar the last 10 mins of the boil.

 

[thesteve]

Done a good few all grain brews but a bit fed up with the time it takes of late so the last couple have been DME plus hops and still awaiting the results. Does it make much difference to the final product by doing a small grain steep in addition to an extract brew?

 

[jof]

If you do partial mash & want a pale beer, add the DME to the fermenting vessel at the end.
If you add the DME to the boil, your 'light spray malt' won't be quite as pale as you expected it to be.

If your making golden ale or bitter, it doesn't make much difference.

 

[MrRook]

Done a good few all grain brews but a bit fed up with the time it takes of late so the last couple have been DME plus hops and still awaiting the results. Does it make much difference to the final product by doing a small grain steep in addition to an extract brew?

Depends on the extract. If you use light extract steeping some grains will make much more of a difference than if you use extra dark extract.

 

[The Furnace Green Brewer]

I have brewed very nice ales at 4.5-5.5% using LME, hops and yeast.

Drink beer and stay safe