Well guys - here is the result of my first extract brew. If you look down the posts I was struggling a little with the recipe - I was using Anchor Steam as a loose touchstone, but used a different yeast to what they use.
It was a little bitter at first, but after one week warm conditioning and another cold, it tastes pretty good. I'm gonna give it another week cold and then see what's happened since then. It's quite smooth and bright, and has a nice, fruity toffee/caramel taste. i used a whirlfloc tablet and finings to clear further in the FV.
Feeling that I havent quite nailed this one yet, I'm gonna make it again, and try and iron out the problems I had.
Here's the recipe -
2x1.5kg tins of Brupaks Pale Malt extract
8 oz Crystal Malt
2oz Northern Brewer Hops
1 pack US-O5 American Ale Yeast
Brewed very much the normal way, into a boiler, steeped the grains then added the malt. About 1.5oz of the hops went in at boil for 45 mins, then the rest was split half and put in at about 42 mins and the final addition at the end. In the spirit of adventure, I added about 100g of Maple Syrup directly into the boiler. Not sure if i can taste it, but hey, seemed to work. Tastes good.
The yeast worked really well. But my OG was really low - 1031. With a FG of 1012, I think this gave me a beer that's *just* 3.0ABV.
So - I'm thinking I need more Pale Malt Extract - but not much more. The American recipes call for 8lbs? I've got just under. But then I'll be using two and a bit tins? Seems a waste?
I'm wanting to end up with a final abv of about 4 - 4.5%.
Taste-wise, I was happy with the end result, but the ABV is lacking. JP's mentioned temps when measuring OG - so when' the best time - bearing in mind i had to leave to cool overnight?
Any suggestions?