First use of the mash tun!

[mak]

Doing my 3rd extract brew today (it's the stout from HBC) and I've yet again managed to mess things up! :)

I've ended up with too much liquor - is it ok to keep boiling until a load more has evaporated off, and if so, should I do an hour boil first before hops and then an hour with hops? Or will it not harm it to have 2 hours with hops in?

First use of mash tun (I plan to go AG this weekend... gulp) and loads of bits from the grains came out of the tap into the collecting bin.... I ended up running it all back through a grain bag to try and get rid of the bits... what do the experts do? The tun does have a false bottom.

Cheers!

 

[Kevin Wood]

No problem with doing a longer boil IMHO. If the bittering hops are in there for longer then you will get slightly more bitterness, but you can add them later in the boil so they are in for the recipe duration. Just make sure the aroma hops go in for the same time, i.e. if 10 minutes before flame-out, then it needs to be 10 minutes before the end regardless of length of boil.

But.. it might be worth checking the gravity of what you have, and adjusting it for temperature. It could be that you have had a good extraction and it's at the right gravity, in which case you just get more beer. No problem there! Continuing to boil will give you a stronger wort than you wanted.

On the mash tun, you will probably get a few bits out as you start collecting. Just pour them back into the mash tun gently and start again. The wort will soon start to run clear. If it doesn't you have a problem with the strainer in the tun, so filtering it through a gauze, bag, etc. as you have done, is probably the best remedy, but you might want to improve the strainer for next time.

 

[mak]

Ah thanks. There wasn't much in the mash tun and I don't think that helped, it only just covered the bottom. Should be a different story on saturday when I try the AG brew! :hmm:

The recipe for this extract stout doesn't state the OG or expected FG - just a general description of contents.... any ideas Kevin?

http://www.thehomebrewcompany.co.uk/hbc ... 805652088b

Thanks

 

[Kevin Wood]

Ahh, OK. I didn't spot that it was an extract brew. Depends how much over you are, I guess. A longer boil won't hurt, and will lose you a few litres if it's a good rolling boil.

Otherwise, the options are:

Brew it as it is, and accept that it'll be weaker and with less body than expected.

Add some extract to up the gravity, but bear in mind that this will make it more "malty", as the amount of hops will have been calculated for the original volume.

Add some more extract and some more hops, but bear in mind that the other adjuncts will have less of an impact on the flavour.... etc.

It would be good to know what gravity you currently have and how much you've overshot your volume by.

Not sure what gravity to expect from that kit and I'm not familiar with extract, but the 5.2Kg of MO in the AG recipe would put it at around 1060 with decent efficiency, I'd have thought.

 

[mak]

Thanks a lot Kevin - I'm just going to accept it's likely to be a little weaker I think, rather than risk making a mess of all the flavour balances...

Next stop AG, and I can't even get an extract right - sat is going to be fun! :

EDIT: OG worked out at :1047... bit low?

 

[Kevin Wood]

Thanks a lot Kevin - I'm just going to accept it's likely to be a little weaker I think, rather than risk making a mess of all the flavour balances...

Next stop AG, and I can't even get an extract right - sat is going to be fun! :

EDIT: OG worked out at :1047... bit low?

I think you'll still have a very drinkable beer and you'll have learned a little along the way. We all learn a little with every brew. :thumb:

Definitely get on to doing AG, though. You won't look back.