First extract brew hoping to start this weekend

[Msdean]

Hi all,
I have done about 5 beer kits had some really good results and about 8 different TCs and 2 wine kits so have been thinking of progressing to extract brewing for a while.
I managed to get a 12.5 litre stock pot looks good quality from T K Max for £22 so thought this was my ideal opportunity to take the plunge.
I have ordered a full extract American pale ale kit from the homebrew company.
I have a colander and sieve is there anything else I need which I wouldn't have from normal kits?
Has anyone done this kit and has any top tips?

 

[pittsy]

Hi you should enjoy the brewing as it feels more like making than mixing a brew , and usually better results (by far) . Have you thought about a hop bag and possibly a grain bag if steeping grain, most hb shops will stock em. good luck :

 

[Msdean]

The kit says it comes with a muslin bag, really looking forward to actually brewing and not just mixing kits together

 

[morethanworts]

Just on the stock pot front... in case you've got the receipt and wanted slightly more space... Wilkos do this one for £15 which I've got. It says 18L though it's more like 15/16, I think, but decent quality. If the TK Maxx one has got an encapsulated base though, then you might consider that to be better.

 

[Sandimas]

Good luck, it'll be worth it and you won't regret it. Haven't done that particular kit but have done a similar brew and it'll be good.

Only tip I'd give is get some help to transfer the wort from the pot to the FV aftre the boil, as it's quite a volume to lift and tilt, unless you have a bottom tap/tube on the boil pot. Even with some help, I normally end up with some spillage. :shock:

Oh, and if your family doesn't like the smell of beer, you might want plenty of ventilation and/or the extractor fan running on full.

 

[PD]

I bought one exactly like the Wilko's one yesterday...from Morrisons.
They have been on sale for £14 for a few weeks and I kept looking at them...yesterday they were reduced to £10 so I succumbed.... :grin:

 

[PuggledPrune]

Good luck with the first extract.

Please excuse the minor thread hijack... Does a stockpot that size affect the ability to do a 23l brew?

 

[Msdean]

The T K Maxx one does have an encapsulated base that was one of the reasons going for it i was slightly worried at only being 12.5 litres ( think it may be a little more but the graduations stop at 12.5 Litres) it did say on the home brew company website that 10 litre pot would be big enough... slightly worried but sure it will be fine. What size pots do others use and what did people start with?

 

[morethanworts]

I managed to get a couple of good results with a (guessing) 6 or 7 litre pot a few years back EDIT - for a 5 gallon brew. It means less of the wort has been boiled of course, and probably affects hop utilisation and maybe other aspects of the chemistry beyond my comprehension, but it wasn't impossible.

I've read on here some advice that it may be a good thing to hold back 50% or more of the extract until the last few minutes of the boil in any case (something about hop utilisation?), which would presumably help with boilovers in small pots too, if the hops have already died down a lot by the time a big portion of the extract went in.

 

[PuggledPrune]

^^ this was what i was trying to remember. I've got a 10l pot but all that stuff about hop utilisation means nothing to me haha

 

[cwiseman77]

Only tip I'd give is get some help to transfer the wort from the pot to the FV aftre the boil, as it's quite a volume to lift and tilt, unless you have a bottom tap/tube on the boil pot. Even with some help, I normally end up with some spillage. :shock:

I had a lot of issues with transferring and straining at first. I now use muslin bags for hops and grain(and coffee beans today!) and just siphon from pot to FV.

Good luck with the first extract.

Please excuse the minor thread hijack... Does a stockpot that size affect the ability to do a 23l brew?

In a word, no, you can still do a 23l brew. A pot about 10l is fine. You make the wort, do the boil, add to FV then top up with clean water. There are drawbacks but it is simple, effective and affordable :thumb:

I've read on here some advice that it may be a good thing to hold back 50% or more of the extract until the last few minutes of the boil in any case (something about hop utilisation?)

Myself and other member ScottM had a lengthy thread about this and both tried it out. I now add half the extract at the start and half at the end. Because the boil is concentrated to 6-10l or whatever, it has a much higher gravity. Apparently half the extract at the end can help prevent problems associated with a high gravity boil such as wort darkening(handy if you're brewing a pale beer or lager), certain off flavours and poorer hop utilization.

 

[Msdean]

Well I managed to start the brew on Monday
I had the full intention to take photos of everything I did so that I could be given hints and tips of ways to improve the process but I only managed to take a few at certain stages.

Everything laid out before starting

I initially steeped the grains around 76C for 30mins in a muslin bag. I just used a smaller pan with 2litres of water and kept turning the hob on very low when the temperature dropped to keep the temperature as constant as possible.
I then put the muslin bag in a collider and poured another 2 litres of water over the grain.

I then added the LME to the hot water in the larger pan with the heat on stirring it all in, then I topped up to 11 litres of water in the pan.

Once boiling I added the hops in 3 stages 60mins 15mins and 0mins

I then placed the pan in cold water in the sink as I don't have a wort chiller, and replaced the cold water twice to try to chill the wort.

I then poured the wort through a collider into my FV and the topped up to just under 23liters with cold water. I then took my OG it was 1.034 however the temperature was around 34C

Once everything had cooled down to about 25C I pitched the yeast.

By the evening the airlock was bubbling away slowly yesterday evening and was bubbling when I left for work this morning.

I think I have done most things right. I had sterilised everything before I started and kept things as clean as possible throughout.

As I have said this is my first extract brew so hope it turns out well I enjoyed the process much more than kits, but please let me know if I have done anything wrong so others can learn

 

[morethanworts]

Well done! I'm looking forward to getting back in to extract brews very soon, having been out of the game. It's a great smell, isn't it?

Things that I notice are that I would have turned the heat off momentarily while stirring in the LME, to avoid any caramelisation at the bottom of the pan before it's really well mixed.

Did you not sparge the hops?

76C sounds higher than what I used to mash grains at, but maybe you're right there, for your recipe - I'm sure someone will be along to say otherwise if not.

PS - hope you rehydrated your yeast if it was a dry yeast, always good practice.

 

[pittsy]

yeah you should of aimed for 68c not 76c , that is the temp to stop any enzyme activity . Often people with say 5kg of grain will mash in with water at around 76c then the temp would be approx 66C once the grain absorbed some of the heat etc , don't worry though as steeping is only for colour and a bit of taste so it should be ok.

 

[Msdean]

The smell was great during the brew and being a beautiful day having all the windows open it didn't upset the other half.
Actually I did steep the grain at 67C not 76C and yes I did rehydrate the yeast.
Showing the complete novice in me I don't know what you mean by sparging the hops. I just added them to the boil at the time intervals on the packets....

 

[cwiseman77]

You're process looks pretty good to me! Only advice for next time would be to let your wort cool bit more before pitching, 18-20 maybe. Looking good though, think you'll be pleased with the results :thumb:

 

[Pearlfisher]

I've made this kit and it's been in the PB about 4 weeks now .
I also made it in a 10L pot to the same method as yourself.
You may notice clumping ( small dumplings ) floating on the surface after most of the fermentation has finished ,it's nothing to worry about it's just the Protofloc clearing up.

 

[Will12283]

How long do the kits last? Do you need to use them by specific dat(use by/ best before)
Seen that the forum sponsor ( the homebrew company) have a sale on but I'm not able to do extract yet. ( need to get swmbo onside first)

 

[Pearlfisher]

The LME I bought from them have an expiry date of 11/2014 , the hops and grain are vacuum packed but you would need to email Shane to check how long they keep.

 

[cwiseman77]

DME keeps a lot better than LME. Hops should be fine in the freezer for a good while. Fresher the better though for all.