Kit to extract brewing advice

[Monkey]

Afternoon all

After some advice from all you knowledgable people please. I have been brewing kits for a few years, but have tired of these and want to have a go at extract brewing. Would love to do AG but don't have the time for that at the moment with working 2 full time jobs and having a 1 year old nipper. I have done a lot of reading on the basics of extract brewing, but as with everything there is a lot of variation in what people are doing. Just want some guidance on what i plan to do is ok and I'm not going to waste ingredients.

I am well versed in basic techniques in fermentation and sanitisation, have all the basic kit including a brew fridge and inkbird, and a semi decent 15l stock pot.

I want to get the hang of some basics in terms of bittering and aroma hops so i can slowly get my head around what works best for the types of beers i like. I mainly like AIPAs, lots of hop flavour with a decent amount if bitterness but nothing that screws your face up.

1st, is it worth using some brewing software to put the recipes into, or just follow some ones already available online? If its worth using then which one do people find best for extract recipes?

2nd, i have read that using DME over LME is probably better, mainly due to not knowing how fresh the LME is, but also with reducing scorching on the bottom of the pot. obviously DME is more expensive, so it it worth it?

3rd, has anyone got a general guide to what levels of IBUs i should be aiming for, e.g. xxIBU for low bittering, xxIBU for medium and xxIBU for very bitter. just so i know when plugging in any recipes or following some what I'm going to get.

4th, whats the deal with whirlfloc and protofloc? i understand that they help proteins fall out of suspension and clump together, but is there any difference between the two? is one better than the other?

5th, steeping grains..... kind of get why you use them, colour, flavour, mouth feel etc, but are they essential in an AIPA? could i get away with just using extract? i read somewhere that DME already has crystal or caramalt in it in some respect. Not really sure where to start with this and maybe something i need to experiment with, but any guidance would be appreciated.

and finally, after having a good look around i thought i would try a brew with the following just to get my head round things on the first go-

3kg DME - 1kg into about 8-10ltrs of water to start with the rest about 15 mins before the end

bittering hops (columbus) - unsure of amount at 60 mins, but would either use an existing recipe or some brewing software - i know this relates to my previous question about IBUs

amora hops (mosaic) prob about 50g split at 10 mins and 0 mins, with another 50 for dry hopping.

topped up to 23 litres in FV

any advice and a decent yeast for AIPAs? or will walks gervin do?

i know its more complicated than i have put with working out SG and all that, but i will this kind of work?

any help greatly appreciated.

cheers

 

[suffolk]

I do extract and my method is

I use brewersfriend software others available

I use both LME and DME, I start by steeping some grain started off with flaked barley and then experimented with other grains, Oats, black malt, carapils. caragold. (You do get sucked into trying others )
I use gervin yeast but also try other yeasts, the more you brew the more you will experiment.

Trying different grains/yeast will change the beer flavours but if your cleanliness is good, then the beer will still be good


The hops are added at 60 min for bittering and then whatever time before flame out that you choose.

Extract brewing gives yo so much scope (not as much as AG)

 

[dad_of_jon]

With DME & dwe I only do a 15 Min reduced boil say 6 or 7 litres of water plus 3kg of extract but I whack more hops in about 100g. A 100g dry hop 5 days before packaging your beer works well I've found. Yeast - mj's west coast. Quite simple really. An extract wheat is even easier :-)

 

[Monkey]

Thanks for the tips, I guess it's all about experimenting really.
I did read that the more extract you add at the start impacts on hop utilisation, and as they are expensive am going to try to get the most out of them.
Will check out brewersfriend

 

[terrym]

Some of my experiences with extract brews ...
- you can experiment with smaller volumes since you are not driven by the kit volume
- it can take me about 3 hours or so from start to finish
- you don't need to boil all the extract, and that means you can use smaller pots; I do 17 litres or so brews with 5 and 3.5 litre pots, the 'unboiled' extract goes straight into the FV just like a kit and the small pot is used for the late hop boils
- you may want to boost your extract brew with a mini mash of grains
- don't buy cheap LME if my experience is anything to go by, although I have used H&B malt and its fine
- try this for hops to try Suitable hops for English and American ales - The HomeBrew Forum
- Graham Wheelers 'Brew Your Own British Ales' has several extract equivalent recipes, see if your local library has a copy, mine does
- as others have said the Brewers Friend tool is very useful in sorting out your recipes
- Crossmyloof Brewery yeasts seem to get the thumbs up on here, I've not tried them but intend to when my yeast store is used up
I suggest you have a go with a simple small volume brew (say 12 litres) and a stock pot of about 5 litres if you have one in the kitchen and see how it turns out

 

[Druncan]

- you don't need to boil all the extract,

Oh YES!!!!! Ok, so sorry to break a myth,,,, LME/HLME has been boiled and reduced in the process it is sterile and done hot/cold break.
PLEASE DO NOT RE-BOIL!! (Muntons advice to me) You only will get darker beer with more caramalisation.
Sanitise container before opening, warm and pour in. Re-hydrate with boiled water to gently heat to 72*C for 2 mins. Gently pour in F/V without splashing/aerating add cold water to <27*C match with yeast starter temp.
(For LME, I make hop tea in a pressure cooker with 20mins boil in 1 litre water. Add to LME)
Otherwise , Pitch yeast.
Aerate violently in sealed FV for 60 secs (queen or good rock track works)
Keep warm 10 days. Hit planned F/G and keg! Do not add anything except CO2. Cold crash 2 days. Perfect!

 

[Pawlo7671]

Oh YES!!!!! Ok, so sorry to break a myth,,,, LME/HLME has been boiled and reduced in the process it is sterile and done hot/cold break.
PLEASE DO NOT RE-BOIL!! (Muntons advice to me) You only will get darker beer with more caramalisation.
Sanitise container before opening, warm and pour in. Re-hydrate with boiled water to gently heat to 72*C for 2 mins. Gently pour in F/V without splashing/aerating add cold water to <27*C match with yeast starter temp.
(For LME, I make hop tea in a pressure cooker with 20mins boil in 1 litre water. Add to LME)
Otherwise , Pitch yeast.
Aerate violently in sealed FV for 60 secs (queen or good rock track works)
Keep warm 10 days. Hit planned F/G and keg! Do not add anything except CO2. Cold crash 2 days. Perfect!

This makes sense as when I used to do the odd extract brew, even using extra light DME the beer was always a dark amber color.

Pressure cooking hops.... :sick: I bet that smells wonderful !

 

[suffolk]

Oh YES!!!!! Ok, so sorry to break a myth,,,, LME/HLME has been boiled and reduced in the process it is sterile and done hot/cold break.
PLEASE DO NOT RE-BOIL!! (Muntons advice to me) You only will get darker beer with more caramalisation.
Sanitise container before opening, warm and pour in. Re-hydrate with boiled water to gently heat to 72*C for 2 mins. Gently pour in F/V without splashing/aerating add cold water to <27*C match with yeast starter temp.
(For LME, I make hop tea in a pressure cooker with 20mins boil in 1 litre water. Add to LME)
Otherwise , Pitch yeast.
Aerate violently in sealed FV for 60 secs (queen or good rock track works)
Keep warm 10 days. Hit planned F/G and keg! Do not add anything except CO2. Cold crash 2 days. Perfect!

So do you do bittering and aroma hopping

 

[dad_of_jon]

Agreed with regards to boiling extract. The two main reasons I would boil is :

I only have light DME and I want darker.

Some suppliers buy in large packs of it and repackage it thus it can no longer be sterile. The Minton's 500g packs would be though.

A certain supplier lets you order 3kg of DME but they've always sent it a 6 X 500g muntons packs and it works out a bit cheaper. Where DME looks repackaged I've always boiled it.

P.s. a can of golden syrup gives a nice boost to your beer for around £1

 

[pms67]

Mintons 😉
I can picture loads of minions packaging hops and spray-malt 😂

 

[Brewed_Force]

Here is my (easy) method for a 10L brew.
I use 'brewgr', an online brewing calculator, to work out my quantities. It allows you to compare your recipe against a standard beer style, so you can tweak it if necessary.
I steep crystal malt for 30 minutes in about 5 litres of water at 66C.
After discarding the spent grains I then bring this to the boil and add my bittering hops(60 minutes)
I boil my flavour hops for 15 minutes.
Then I pour the lot into my FV, stir in the light DME and cool it in a sink full of cold water.
Then I take a reading of the OG, add my yeast (from Crossmyloof) and wait 2 weeks. I don't dry hop because I don't like hoppy beers.
There you go, I said it was easy......

 

[chub1]

I went from kits to extract quite quickly,then onto biab's and partial mashes as i wasn't really satisfied with the results from kits and i wanted to experiment more.
You can make some damn good beers from extract alone and you can make it really silly simple or start building recipies through brewers friend or similar recipie builders or simply look online at existing recipies,plenty out there.
Most of my brews(regardless of type) are 5/10 litre batches. If you wanted any recipies to try out,drop me a pm,happy to help.:thumb:

 

[Poochops]

Having an extract black IPA just now which I made by steeping the speciality malts in a few litres of hot water in a bag, rinsing with hot water, then adding half of the recipe LME and then topping up a 9l pot. I added the bittering hops and boiled for an hour topping up to the 9l with boiling water along the way.
The aroma and flavour hops were added at 15 and 5 minutes then after 0 mins I strained the lot through the bag into my FV, dissolved the rest of the DME into it and topped up to the planned volume with cold water. Once cooled next morning I pitched the yeast and fermented. Bottled after 2 weeks, conditioned 2 weeks and stuck it in the garage about 3 weeks ago.
Now let me tell you, it tastes amazing! I've done some tasty kits especially ipa's and thought they were really rather good, but this is in a different class even if I do say so. I thought I'd made some clean tasting kits but by comparison they did actually taste a bit like homebrew! Not this nor my other extract brews, so let me encourage you to give it a go I don't think you'll look back :thumb:

 

[Monkey]

God i love this forum! that for all the advice, it has really encouraged me to crack on and give it a go, and doesn't sound much more involved than kits to be honest.
Thanks for the offer of some recipes Chub, i will drop you a pm when back at home.
Anyone suggest a good steeping grain for a mosaic IPA?

One thing that hasn't been mentioned though, Whirfloc and Protofloc.... whats the deal with these? i have seen a lot of people using whirfloc. is one better than the other? i think you use less of the protofloc, but apart from than I'm guessing they do the same job.

ta

 

[Sandimas]

One thing that hasn't been mentioned though, Whirfloc and Protofloc.... whats the deal with these?

You don't need them for Extract brewing, only AG to help clear the brew.

Regarding grains, you can use different crystal malts to give you darker colour and a bit more body and mouthfeel. Crystal 60 is the "standard", I've recently started using Caragold because it doesn't darken the beer so much, but it's all personal taste. Around 200g steeped for 30mins will do.

There's a good-looking Extract Mosaic IPA recipe here which has steeped Caramalt, I fancy doing this at some point
https://recipes.brewuk.co.uk/view-recipe/112

And you're right, it's not much more effort than kits but the results are so much better. Give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

 

[Poochops]

God i love this forum! that for all the advice, it has really encouraged me to crack on and give it a go, and doesn't sound much more involved than kits to be honest.
Thanks for the offer of some recipes Chub, i will drop you a pm when back at home.
Anyone suggest a good steeping grain for a mosaic IPA?

One thing that hasn't been mentioned though, Whirfloc and Protofloc.... whats the deal with these? i have seen a lot of people using whirfloc. is one better than the other? i think you use less of the protofloc, but apart from than I'm guessing they do the same job.

ta

https://beerandbrewing.com/citra-ipa-recipe/

You could try this but with mosaic. The alpha acid level is similar in mosaic and citra. I'd leave out the 30 min addition and move it to 5min, and if using DME reduce it to 3kg for the same abv.