Light's Out Extract Beer Kit (Aka how not to steep)

[Eight Ace]

It's been a while since I brewed. With Christmas coming up and an extract kit left in the loft I felt it was time to get one going.

Thing is, timing is a little tight as I' relying on the little un going down for a nap whilst I crack on. Mistake 1.

Anyway, part one of plan was a success and whilst she was doing her thing in her room I had 300g carafa III steeping in 6l of Tesco's finest. Off I go put her to sleep, another succees, down to check on grains and hob was left on Mistake 2.

Decide to crack on. To be honest they're pretty ground and 9 months old so I weren't overly hopeful regardless. In it went to the nexvy acquired Burco (£25 nearly new, Yes please!) And successfully get a fair whack over my hand and kitchen, dropping it at the end. Pro Tip, 80 degree water hurts.

Ah well, the rest should be plain sailing right? Oh I've no idea how much ilI' end up with now and my hydrometer is AWOL

 

[Bigcol49]

Hi!
You're doing the work of two men.



Laurel and Hardy

 

[Eight Ace]

I like that one . Sounds about right too.

Well the good news is that the boil went well. It was my first time using leaf hops in a brew..........

Things went horribly south upon transferring to the fv. Suffice to say the hops went all Gandalf on the wort and shalt not pass! After a do not try this at home sieving of the hops I decided to put the remainder through the sieve and into the FV (did I tell you it was a narrow neck FV?) Finally succeed in getting the wort in......

......and realise I'd left the tap on. (Whistles Laurel & Hardy theme)

I finally admitted defeat at this stage and cut my losses. It was a waste of a kit but lessons learn't.

1) Preparation is vital. Make sure you have the right kit for the job. My burco will be getting modded with a new tap and hop filter before my next brew.

2) Leaf hops, I'll need to read up on how to use them properly. Point 1 will be a huge help no doubt.

3) Most importantly, plan ahead and give yourself time. Rushing it is not an enjoyable experience.

 

[Saxon]

For leaf hops, I was recommended by BeerCat to try nut milk bags as effectively hop tea-bags for the boil. I managed to get 10 off of ebay for £2.75 or something silly, so would definitely recommend giving them a go (I have yet to try mine, but scheduled for the brew next week).

As for leaving the tap on, I've done that a few times at different stages so far :tinhat: absolute nightmare, though fortunately I caught it early each time.

 

[Eight Ace]

Might have a look into those bags! Have 30g worth of citra saved now from the kit ready to use as and when.

In the meantime I grabbed a Young's AIPA kit to tide me over. Done and in the FV within 30 minutes. And no tap disasters