Extract #1 Walworth Ale

[Pjam]

Really really enjoyed that. My first one Here's some points that may help other beginners. (my mistakes)


It's takes most of the day. Where the time went I don't know .... it flew by :shock:

Make your plans sober and stick to them

Double check the size of your boiling pan, I was sold a 22 litre one that turned out to be 18L :x

Cut your squares of muslin (hop/grain bags) big, aim for table cloth size.

Your hop bag weights need to be the kinda thing you'd use to drown a mafia rival in the river :|

You'll need a small iceberg to get the temp down. Been in the FV for 1hr and won't go below 46.5c :hmm:

Don't tell your wife it'll only take 5 mins to clear up :nah:

 

[fbsf]

Haha, I know your pain!

Just wait until you go AG - the first one normally takes a good 7-8hours including clear-up until you get the hang of multitasking!

A little tip from me, if you are using a steel pot on a hob, just bung the whole thing in the sink with cold water around it, and change the sink water every 5-10 mins. Cools it a lot faster than leaving it in the FV...

 

[Pjam]

Thanks for the tip FB. I've still lots to learn.

Tell me, what do you use for weights? I could believe how buoyant those hops were!

 

[Pjam]

Click image to play video. Going like the clappers :)

 

[Pjam]

OMG :shock:

Just did the dry hop and first trial jar. It's down from OG 1052 to 1020, that's over 4% already and still going :)

Nobody warned me it might taste this good at 4 days in! Really, I'm a bit suprised. It's not even finished it's ferment and already tastes better than the kits I've done. :shock:

 

[Brett]

What was your recipe? gathering ingredients for my first extract and want to compare as many as poss.

 

[Pjam]

What was your recipe? gathering ingredients

Oh Brett it's worth it. get a big pan, about 20L and go for it.

Here's mine and if you like the sound of it, try the same :)


Start boiling about 14L of water (takes 30mins or more)
250g of Crystal Malt steeped at 66c for 30 mins in 1L of water. Then 10 mins with another 1L.
Remove bag, add grain water to the 14L, gas off and stir in 4kg of LME (or 3.2 of DME)
Bring back to boil and add hops.
Challenger 50g ....................... 60 mins
East Kent 30g ....................... 30 mins
Citra .......20g ..................... 05 mins
dry hop ... 20g..................... 4 days

Top up to 23L and cool to 20c

Safale S-04