Started my first extract brew :)

[badgerdan]

Yeah shall do. I learnt from the kits that they do indeed get better with age and a bottle opened to early can be dissapointing so as this is my first 'proper' beer I'll give it a fair chance

I'll order some chocolate malt and carapils on Monday then I can do the Hob Goblin clone recipe I found; I'll look forward to that.
But can I just use Goldings instead of Styrian Goldings in the recipe?

[OldSpeckledBadger]

But can I just use Goldings instead of Styrian Goldings in the recipe?

At a push yes but it won't taste quite the same as Styrians have a much sharper, almost lemony taste. I actually prefer English Goldings to Styrians though.

[badgerdan]

ok, i'll just go with english goldings, then I can say it's not a clone but my own recipe

[OldSpeckledBadger]

ok, i'll just go with english goldings, then I can say it's not a clone but my own recipe

[badgerdan]

WOW! (no not world of warcraft) My first ever extract brew was actually nice I could taste the fresh hops, really is such a huge difference from kits.
The one thing I noticed was the after burn which I've always had with kits; well it doesn't burn in anyway, really not unpleaseant and no problem at all but it's an extremely mild mild mild version of the feelings you get when a nice whiskey goes down. Is that just kit/extract type thing? This time it was fermented at a constant 20c so no silly high temps like I found when I did thew kits
Also (I know it's only conditioned for 3 weeks) it doesn't seem to be as crisp and sharp tasting as pro beer (I think some people have said chewable which could be what I'm tasting), never got that with the kits either after they'd been in the bottles for 3 months.

Oh and one last thing, it's cloudy too, will this go down after it's conditioned for a while?

Extract brewing has already impressed me after only one bottle of my first This rocks, just need to calm down so I don't go all grain too quick and end up loosing my family from spending all the savings

[badgerdan]

It's only been about 5 days since I opened my first extract brew but now that fresh hop taste that really made it good has pretty much vanished, is this just the conditioning process? I've heard other people saying their beer was harsh at first then rounded out. Was mine probably too low on hops so when it rounded out after 4-5 weeks in the bottle it's lost that hop taste?

Also, it's very 'murky' I'm guessing this is the chill haze but it hasn't got any better evr since it went into cold storage (at about 10c)

[OldSpeckledBadger]

You can easily check if it's chill haze. Just bring a bottle indoors for a day or two so that it gets up to room temperature. The chill haze should disappear.

[badgerdan]

It's a chill haze alright Started to see it clear as soon as it was inside.

I used Irish Moss in the recipe but it didn't chill very quick after the boil (had to leave it over night in the end as I had to go out all of a sudden) so could that be the reason for it? It's only me drinking it atm but would still like to get it to look great too

[OldSpeckledBadger]

Yes it could be down to slow cooling and a poor cold break. Time to make that IC?

[badgerdan]

Hehe, it most certainly is I love learning first hand, makes it feel so much better when I see/know the benefits of certain new bits of kit.

I had another of this beer last night and it tasted really good. It was out of a 500ml bottle so either that helps it or those extra couple of days changed the taste for the better.

To get my head around hop flavours, with or without sugar and other things I'm thinking of brewing about 10 liters and fermenting in 15l plastic water cans. That way I get the same amount of beer but can try out different variations. Then once found great ones can then brew 20 - 30 liters of the stuff knowing it'll be great

[JayBee]

"To get my head around hop flavours, with or without sugar and other things I'm thinking of brewing about 10 liters and fermenting in 15l plastic water cans. That way I get the same amount of beer but can try out different variations. Then once found great ones can then brew 20 - 30 liters of the stuff knowing it'll be great "
Thats exactly why I`m doing 10 litre brews to start with, I can brew more often and if its not so good I don`t have to plough my way through five gallons or so and start again with fingers crossed. Extracts a brilliant way to experiment, I`ve never done so much research on hops or read so many labels on the back of bottled beers that I like on the supermarket shelves.
Bloody hard work all this research, good job I`m dedicated.

[badgerdan]

Yeah, I read everything on the labels now too

However, I'm wishing I had the time/space to go all grain as I just can't get over that final extract/homebrew taste that follows each batch, no matter what type it is

[OldSpeckledBadger]

However, I'm wishing I had the time/space to go all grain as I just can't get over that final extract/homebrew taste that follows each batch, no matter what type it is

Unless you're using very old liquid malt extract you shouldn't get that taste. I certainly don't from my extract brews using spraymalt.

[badgerdan]

I'm using spraymalt and it's not very old at all. There is a huge difference between quality from kits to extract but there's been a lingering taste that I find in both, thought it was due to using extract.

[OldSpeckledBadger]

but there's been a lingering taste that I find in both, thought it was due to using extract.

Not IME.