Help with recipe

[beenyj]

Hi,

I'm wanting to give this recipe a go as my first extract recipe. http://beerrecipes.org/showrecipe.php?recipeid=1284

I'm in the UK and I'm not sure whether the gallons on this site are US or imperial. Hoping someone could shed some light on the matter, i would hate to bugger my first extract recipe due to wrong measurements!

cheers

 

[DocScott]

US gallons from the looks of it. Looks like a simple, easy recipe.

I'd suggest cooling the extra 2 gallons after you boil it. We call this "top off water". Maybe even freeze it. When you add it to your fermentor and then add your hot wort, the cold/frozen top off water can help to cool the wort down to pitching temps much faster than using an ice bath. The recipe says below 85, but i'd recommend getting it colder than that, 65-70*F.

 

[LovesIPA]

That recipe seems odd. They say to add 3 gallons to the fermenter (fine) but you're only boiling 2 gallons? For an hour? What's going to be left is going to be VERY hard to get out of the kettle. I would boil as much of the volume as you possibly can given the size of your kettle and then add the necessary water to top it off.

If you plan on making a 5 gallon batch you will need more than five gallons. It depends on your boil-off rate but I would keep at least 7 gallons handy. Obviously this isn't an issue if you are using tap water but if you're using spring water, it would suck to have to go to the store to get more water.

 

[beenyj]

That recipe seems odd. They say to add 3 gallons to the fermenter (fine) but you're only boiling 2 gallons? For an hour? What's going to be left is going to be VERY hard to get out of the kettle. I would boil as much of the volume as you possibly can given the size of your kettle and then add the necessary water to top it off..

Could I just add two gallons to the fermenter then boil the the extract? Would this stop it from becoming hard or would i need more water?

 

[HokieHomeBrewer]

Could I just add two gallons to the fermenter then boil the the extract? Would this stop it from becoming hard or would i need more water?

How big is your container?

If you have a 5 gallon pot then boil 3.5-4 gallons and then top up to 5 gallons after boil is finished.

If you have something bigger and can do a full boil then go with 5.75 gallons and boil down to 5 gallon.

 

[woozy]

This recipe *is* odd in that it doesn't take into account boil-off and done as directed will yield a batch some-what less than 5 gallons. My guess is this was written by beginners not much used to writing recipes. Usually it's left to the brewers discretion just how large a boil to do and how much to top off. And must brewers boil as much as they can.

But then again, you will not get the same beer they did with 5 gallons as they ended up with significantly less than 5 gallons (but probably didn't realize it).

Also I'd suggest only adding 1/4 of the extract at the start and the remaining 3/4 at the very end as a late addition.

 

[beenyj]

I think im going to need to buy a bigger pot what ever the deal.
It will be alright if i just boil 3.5-4 gallons with the extract and hops then top it off to 5 with water to get the correct pitching temperature?

 

[LovesIPA]

Yep, that's what I would do.

When you go shopping for a new kettle, get one that's double the size of the batches you will be making. An 8 gallon kettle is barely big enough to make a 5 gallon batch. Ask me how I know.

 

[beenyj]

Yep, that's what I would do.

When you go shopping for a new kettle, get one that's double the size of the batches you will be making. An 8 gallon kettle is barely big enough to make a 5 gallon batch. Ask me how I know.

I would like to know. How do you know then?

 

[LovesIPA]

Because if I want to make a 5.5 gallon batch it's a real struggle to fit enough wort in the kettle. It's full almost to the brim of the kettle and it's a challenge to prevent boil overs.

 

[freisste]

I'm guessing boil over.

I won't try to steer you in one direction or another, but keep in mind that doing a full boil (boiling more than you need down to the final point and then NOT topping off) can have drawbacks. You have to HEAT a lot of water which is no small task on a kitchen stove, maybe impossible for some stoves. You also have to COOL all that water, which an take copious amounts of ice if you don't have a chiller.

Personally, I love doing a partial boil because it is way easier to boil and cool. But I will say I have never heard someone claim they prefer the taste of a partial boil to a full boil. That is one of the few things that most on this forum can agree on.

 

[billpaustin]

I do extract brews with some grain at the start. My typical recipe uses 2.5 lbs of grain, and 4 lbs of extract. I start with:
- 3 gal of water, add grains and heat to 160.
- Let sit for 10-20 minutes, remove grain bag
- add DME, stir well
- bring to a boil, then add bittering hops
- boil about 50 minutes to an hour
- right at flame-out, I add spices, orange peel, etc

Starting with 3 gallons, I boil off 1 whole gallon. So I need to add 3 more gallons to make it 5 in the fermenter. I cool off the wort, put it in the fermenter, and then add cool water (3 gallons of tap water. My tap is pure rainwater, filtered). I won't add yeast until the final wort is down to 72 or less. Total water use is 6 gallons, where I boil 3 in a 5 gallon pot.

I would think that pitching the yeast at 85, and letting it ferment from there would be a bad idea. Fermentation can add 8 degrees to room temp, so 85 can easily become 90+, when you really want below 70.