Malt extract brewing

[jaquiss2005]

Looking for some help please

Fairly new to the homebrew game and got a copy of Charles Papazians "Complete Joy of Homebrewing" to try and help and want to have a go at a couple of the recipes

Haven't yet got a big enough boiler / stockpot to make the 5 gallon recipes - if I half the ingredients, presume I would need to keep the boil time the same as for 5 gallons??

Would this have any effect on the quality of the beer?

 

[richc]

Looking for some help please

Fairly new to the homebrew game and got a copy of Charles Papazians "Complete Joy of Homebrewing" to try and help and want to have a go at a couple of the recipes

Haven't yet got a big enough boiler / stockpot to make the 5 gallon recipes - if I half the ingredients, presume I would need to keep the boil time the same as for 5 gallons??

Would this have any effect on the quality of the beer?

To answer your question, yes, the boil time would be the same..... but.......
You don' t actually need to boil 5 gallons to make a respectable 5 gallon extract brew. You can boil half or even less and then top up with water in the fermenter. You do need to be aware that hop utilisation will be lower due to the higher gravity in a partial boil but you can work out what the difference will be quite easily and add more hops to re balance the recipe.

I'd probably suggest getting hold of a more modern book than Papazian's classic. I personally like the American homebrewing books (eg. J Palmer 'How to Brew') though there are differences between UK and US brewing styles. Others prefer books such as Graham Wheelers Home Brewing which has a more UK centered view on the world of brewing.
There is also a wealth of information on the internet varying from forums such as this to videos and podcasts.

Anyway, good luck and welcome to the forum, please let us know how you get on and feel free to ask questions...

 

[pablo_75]

Looking for some help please

Fairly new to the homebrew game and got a copy of Charles Papazians "Complete Joy of Homebrewing" to try and help and want to have a go at a couple of the recipes

Haven't yet got a big enough boiler / stockpot to make the 5 gallon recipes - if I half the ingredients, presume I would need to keep the boil time the same as for 5 gallons??

Would this have any effect on the quality of the beer?

I'm in the same boat - also starting out with smaller extract brews so I'd be interested to know how you get on and any problems you have.

Richc is write about topping up your brew, for me I live in a fairly small flat so finding room to store the gear for 10l brews is a lot easier than bigger 20l containers.

 

[jaquiss2005]

Had a go at my first lager partial mash brew today having got hold of a 45 litre boiler and not used lager yeast before.

All the book say this is a bottom fermenting yeast - with ale yeast I could visibly see the fermentation on the top. Is this the same with lager yeast??

 

[Aleman]

All the book say this is a bottom fermenting yeast - with ale yeast I could visibly see the fermentation on the top. Is this the same with lager yeast??

This is a lager fermentation at 12C

they do produce yeast caps but unless you pitch sufficient yeast you may not get the same as this