Is this recipe worth making for my first extract brew

[xpers]

I have made a few beer kits and I am tempted to have a go at something a bit more involved. I only have the equiptment required for kit brewing, but my wife has a big stew pot that I estimate holds around 10 litres.

I have found this simple extract recipe that doesn't require any additional equiptment, so I just wanted to get the thoughts of you experienced lot before I jump in. The recipe is below:

http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/recipes-summer-ale

Any thoughts on this recipe or any alternative simple recipes for a first timer with a stew pot...

[OldSpeckledBadger]

The recipe looks OK although it will produce a rather weak brew. I assume they're talking about using spraymalt. I'd increase the total to 2.25KG and add up to 200g of brewers sugar. That should give you a beer of around 4% ABV.

I'd slightly change the method too. I wouldn't put all the malt extract in the boil as that would seriously lower the hop utilisation. What I'd do (in fact what I do do) is use spraymalt throughout with 500g going into the boil and the rest being mixed in afterwards as you would when making up a kit.

TIP: if after the boil you cool the stockpot in the sink to around 65C then once you've made the brew up to 5 gallons the temperature will be low enough to pitch the yeast straight away.

[PureGuiness]

I was looking at the recipes on that site and was considering doing this one as well but with similar adjustments malt and addition of some sugar. I was also going to give the suggestion of adding some crushed corriander to the boil - sounds interesting!

I recently did an extract brew in a smallish stock pot and found that if I added in the DME after 1hr of the boil with the hops, it turned out ok. I guess that the idea is that the high utilisation at the beginning is balanced by the fact that there will be lower towards the end. Also I think the small volume could effect the utilisation but don't quote me on it

Give it a go and let us know how it turns out

[xpers]

The recipe looks OK although it will produce a rather weak brew. I assume they're talking about using spraymalt. I'd increase the total to 2.25KG and add up to 200g of brewers sugar. That should give you a beer of around 4% ABV.

I'd slightly change the method too. I wouldn't put all the malt extract in the boil as that would seriously lower the hop utilisation. What I'd do (in fact what I do do) is use spraymalt throughout with 500g going into the boil and the rest being mixed in afterwards as you would when making up a kit.

TIP: if after the boil you cool the stockpot in the sink to around 65C then once you've made the brew up to 5 gallons the temperature will be low enough to pitch the yeast straight away.

Thanks for the advice. I will definitely go with your advice on this.

Just out of interest where do you buy your malt and hops etc. I just did some quick maths and doing and extract brew like this isn't as cheap as I though it might be.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Just out of interest where do you buy your malt and hops etc. I just did some quick maths and doing and extract brew like this isn't as cheap as I though it might be.

I use BrewGenie. They're fairly local and spraymalt there is £2.95 per 500g. I'd say the cost works out to about 40p per pint which is comparable with kits but you can produce much better quality beer.