My 1st Extract/Spraymalt brew

[Normski]

I've been doing kits for a while now and I’m happy with the ones I currently brew. Coopers Stout and Wherry.
But I decided I’d like to try an extract brew. I read some posts and a few recipes and decided to give DaaB's Dave lines ESB a go.
There were two things that were holding me back. I was concerned about the Hot Break and the Cold Break.
I dont have a boiler. So a thought I'd try using a stock pot or two to keep the wort quantity as close to the recipe as possible at 12l for an 18l brew. I used a 10l & a 6l pot filled to 8l & 4l. Which made it easy to divide the ingredients.
I also dont have a cooler, I thought about freezing 2l Pet bottles full of liquor to cool the wort. The recipe uses Liquid malt Extract; I wanted to use Spray malt.
I used the following although not exactly as the recipe I thought it would be close enough to give me an Idea of Extract brewing.
800g Dark Spraymalt
800g Enhancer 50/50 Malt/Glucose
120g Crushed Crystal Malt
800g Demerara
60g Goldings
10g Goldings late hops
1tspn Irish moss
Coopers yeast
It went well using two pots and the cooler was excellent. I ended up with 10l of wort. I needed 3 frozen 2l pet bottles filled with liquor to get the drop in temperature. It came down from boiling to 23c in about 10 mins. I cut the bottles in half and dropped the iceberg in to the FV and then topped up to 18l.
This is a great way to cool the wort. I’ll be using this method again instead of making a cooler. The brew went well and smelt great. Now 5 hrs later it has started to bubble. I was well pleased with the OG at 1048.

[trucker5774]

Normski, you have stepped onto the slippery slope You will have a boiler and chiller very soon and will go all grain before you notice it has happened!

Don't resist you know you want it

[Normski]

Hi Trucker
Im sure it'll come down to the taste. If its good beer, I'll have to get more kit. And will no doubt eventually be all grain. But for now my little experiment is bubbling away nicely. Cheers

[WishboneBrewery]

Good going, Extract brews are loads better than Kits.

[Normski]

Hi pdtnc
I hope so. On day 3 and it smells great and is really bubbling now. I did have a sip from the test jar on day 1. It was really sweet, made me wonder if there’s too many fermentables in it. We'll have to wait an see. I’m now looking forward to this brew about the same as when I started on my 1st kit. If I can make better beer than I’m already making, I’ll do what ever it takes. Even buy/make a boiler, but my Icebergs worked so well I think I might keep doing that instead of a cooler. Cheers

[Normski]

I bottled some and kegged the rest yesyerday. 7 days and It had fermented down to 1003. Wow from 1048 to 1003 in 7 days.
Do all extracts do this? I make it 6.5%. Thats a bit too strong for a session beer.
I think now that I should have used less fermentables. It is clearing quickly too. is this normal.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

The low FG is a result of too little spraymalt/malt extract and too much sugar. My extract brews tend to finish at about 1.009. Most of my fermentables come from spraymalt. I only use up to 200g sugar for a 5 gallon brew.

[badgerdan]

Normski, how did the beer turn out?

My first extract is in the FV now, only one week to go before bottling Has gone from 1,044 to 1.010 in that time.

[KevP]

Can't beat tinkering with your first extract brew, the 'will it wont it' feeling, never knowing how it'll turn out and trying to sniff it everyday for a hint!
Good times

[Normski]

Sorry for the delay in my reply, just moved house and only got broadband swithed on about 30 mins ago.
An update on my 1st extract brew. An ESB made with spraymalt. It tastes thin and if i do it again I wont be adding any sugar. just spaymalt or liquid extract. I have also made a Porter useing all spraymalt that has turned out Ok but a little too much chocolate. Still drinkable tho.
So far my attempts at extract brews useing spraymalt have been only a parcial success. I seem to have to use a lot of sraymalt. I'll try my next few brews useing liquid malt extract to see how that turns out. I quite fancy a go at that Hobgoblin clone. Dan did you make it yet. Any tips, Anyone.
Kev your right, A little tweak here a little there. Cheers

[badgerdan]

Hi. Yeah it has been sitting in the FV since Sunday and had been very active until today I'll leave it in there for the full 2 weeks though to help clear it up then bottle it.

Haven't tasted my first ever extract brew yet but think tonight's the night. I really need a beer and it's the only one in the house

[Normski]

Hi dan

I'd love to see the ingredients list for the Hob Goblin Clone brew. Let us know how your 1st extract brew tasted. Cheers

[badgerdan]

My first one actually tasted really good Am so happy with the result, the fresh hop taste is so worth the extra work. It's only been in the bottle for about 4 weeks but it's good, still that homebrew taste to it that you get with kits but the quality is so much better.

Here's the link for the Hob Goblin recipe. I changed it a bit for mine. Used Goldings instead of the Styrians, made 21 liters, used 2.5kg of spraymalt and added about 150g of sugar. It's about 5% too.

I only had 5 kg's of spraymalt and wanted to use it over two brews, didn't want to add too much sugar and was looking for it to be about 5%. I'll see how it turns out soon
viewtopic.php?f=5&t=26532

[Normski]

Hi Dan

Thanks for the link. I'll give that a go. Think i'm going to try it with liquid extract, as I've not been completely satisfied with the spraymalt brews that I've done. Like Kev says Can't beat tinkering with your first extract brew. My tinkering is starting to make me think that AG isn’t so far off for me. But I'll try the liquid extract a few times and see how that turns out, compared to the spraymalt brews I've done. Cheers

[badgerdan]

Let us know how it turns out. The same required amount in lme costs the same to order here so I can change to that if it's better but I bought dme as I've heard many others saying it's far nicer than lme.

My Hob Goblin clone is going to spend an extra week in the FV then I'll bottle it but at the moment I'm trying to find out from the company who sells the thermometer I bought which liquid is actually in it as the damn thing broke inside the boil pot (obviously learnt these aren't to be boiled even though they go up to 120c and it broke at 107c) So many people say Mercury but that's always silver and isn't alloud in normal thermometers, and seeing as it's a red sort of see through liquid it has to be alcohol but which type I'm not sure. Just hope I don't have to throw it away.