First Extract brew - questions

[Tom_D]

Hi all,

Firstly I'd like to say that I've been lurking here for a while and want to thank you all for the great tips that I've picked up. This is my first post and I have a few
questions regarding my first extract brew which I shall be starting on Saturday.

I'm aiming for a light hoppy Summer ale at around 4% ABV. Does this look ok for a 23L batch......

3kg muntons light lme
250g crystal malt

30g Challenger at 60 mins
30g EKG at 20 mins
20g Fuggles at 8 mins
10g EKG at 5 mins
15g Fuggles and 10g EKG at flameout

I'm using a 17L stockpot on the stove, apparently it's more like 20L with a good 17L capacity. Would you recommend steeping grains in 17L?
I've read in a few places that adding half of the extract towards the end of the boil can improve flavour etc. Would anyone here recommend doing this?
Would there need to be second hot-break?

Apologies if these are dim-witted questions!

Many thanks,

Tom.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

That looks like an unnecessarily complicated hop schedule. I'd go for Challenger @ 60 mins then EKG+Fuggles @ 10 mins (I suggest 10g of each).

The volume of water used for steeping the grains isn't critical. 17L will be as good as 2L.

It's OK to add the rest of the LME towards the end of the boil.

[Tom_D]

I did wonder if I was going a bit far with the hop additions, I'll scale it down a bit. Cheers OSB.

[Tom_D]

I got off to a flying start with the brew last Saturday, the hops smelled amazing and it was a real joy. The Nottingham seemed to be working a treat for about 5 days but I've done two gravity readings over the last couple of days and it doesn't seem to be budging from 1.014. Is this stuck? It has been kept at a constant 20 degrees and ideally I want to get it down to 1.011 or I'm going to end up with a pretty weak beer. If it is stuck, is there much danger of exploding bottles if I prime them?

Cheers,

T.

[Brotherton Lad]

There's loads of info on sticking Munton's here
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14480
Personally I'd give it a few more days, maybe gently rouse the yeast.
What was your OG?

[Tom_D]

Cheers BL. I didn't realise that there was such an issue with Munton's extract, could you recommend a more reliable LME?
The OG was 1.042 which was very close to the target - 1.043. The aim was to make it sessionable but 3.6% is not my ideal. I'll go and
give it a gentle rouse.
Thanks again.

[Brotherton Lad]

Muntons supply a great deal of the LME used in this country. Personally, I've never had a problem with them, though I find that Woodeford's kits are fairly high finishers, about the 1010-1012 mark, giving about 4% abv.
Sometimes it's the dried yeast. If you buy from a shop with low turnover, the yeast may have been sat on a warm shelf for several months. Always check the best before date and think that the shopkeeper probably rotates his shelves with the newer stock at the back and the older stuff at the front.