Dry/spray malt extract, when to add?

[simonp]

I'm planning on doing my 2nd brew (first extract one) this weekend. I am going to use dry/spray malt.
The information I have seen using liquid extract is to boil it with the bittering hops from the start but I have seen in several places the dry extract being added after about 45 minutes of the boil, with just the bittering hops boiled with the water at first.
Any comments on this?

My plan is to brew a smaller batch (20 pints) for my first extract attempt just in case I mess it up!

My recipe (for a pilsner style lager) for the wort will be:
3l of bottled water
1.2Kg of extra light spray malt
20g of Norethrn Brewer Hops at the start of the boil
around 7-8g of Saaz hops for the last 5 minutes of the boil
Maybe add some more Saaz after the heat is removed?

Made up to 2.5 gallons with bottled water when cooled, then add 1 sachet of Saflager S-23 yeast when the temp is at 20C.
Ferment at 12-15C in a fridge, rack and the secondary ferment at 10C until ready to bottle and lager in the fridge.

 

[prolix]

the OG effects the bittering, so I would just add the malt at the beginning then I don't have to do high faluting calculations. the amount of hops you save by boiling in just water is not really worth the hassle of adding spray malt part way through.

 

[Aleman]

One thaing that should be noted is that the isomerisation of alpha acids is more effective in wort rather than plain water. . . . I know people suggest making a hop tea by boiling steeping in water . . . but it is much more effective if you add a couple of tablespoons of extract.

Now to the OP's post why would you add the extract half way through the boil . . . In many cases it is to ensure that an effective use of the hops occurs (isomerisation is higher in weaker worts), and then the gravity of the wort is increased, by adding the extract . . . I've not seen it recommended to do this with extract though its more usually reserved for sugars . . . and and I would always add all of the extract at the start of the boil as I want to ensure a good hot break.

Give the highly concentrated wort you are going to have, you will get poor utilisation anyway so should consider increasing your bittering hops accordingly.

 

[simonp]

Give the highly concentrated wort you are going to have, you will get poor utilisation anyway so should consider increasing your bittering hops accordingly.

I have just halved all the ingredients of a recipe for 40 pints, so presumably the hop values will be OK still, as the wort concentration will be the same as the bigger recipe, just half the volume, presuming that is that the evaporation scales down the same?

The recipe I have used as a base (just changed to dry malt extract and added Saaz hops in place of the original ones at the end) is this one: http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/index.php ... lden-lager

Sounds like best to go with the original recipe with boiling the extrcat and hops together then.

 

[Aleman]

If you have a restricted boil volume then the method as posted will work . . . . but you are boiling the hops in a very high gravity wort so will not get the full bitterness from the hops . . . which is probably why they use so much of what is quite a high alpha hop (It also means that you loose less wort to the hops and trub).

The 'best' results occur when you boil all the hops with the full volume of the wort.

 

[simonp]

OK, that makes sense then as a lot of lager recipes I have seen used only low alpha hops like Saaz even for bittering, whereas this one, as you say, uses a high alpha one.

I just don't have the equipment to boil 2.5 gallons or 5 gallons for a "standard" sized batch of wort. A lot of the extract brew info does uses a more concentrated wort boil, so presumably the results are reasonably acceptable, I'll find out I guess. At the end of the day it has got to be much better than a kit :

I'd love to go all grain, it appeals to me to go from scratch (welll as near as you can) which is why I roast my own coffee, but I just don't have the space for all the kit required. One day when I have a house with a cellar...