Extract brewing methods

[Cajunbrewer87]

Hey all, I will be brewing my third batch tomorrow and want to try a couple of different methods. One being late extract additions. So I will start with 1/3 of the LME and add the rest 15 mins before the end of the boil. I will also add 20% less hops since the gravity will be lower. Also, I will be using distilled water this time and steep the grains at 160 for 30 mins. Is it bad to steep grains in distilled water? Does everything else sound good? Just looking for some last minute advice before brew day. Thanks!

 

[scottm1]

Hi in my opinion you shouldn't boil the lesser amount in hops it will change the hop flavor and bitterness. I personally like to use filtered spring water rather than distilled (I tried distilled and it left the beer with a watered down taste). The late addition of extract will be fine. Hope this helps but it is just my opinion and past experience.

 

[FloppyKnockers]

+1 on no distilled.

A late extract is fine, just remember it will want to foam up and boil over no matter when you add it. Keep the same amount of hops that the recipe calls for. I would only change the hope amount if you were to save all your extract until the end.

Are you changing it up just to get a lighter color without changing the taste?

 

[gotbags-10]

Beersmith has an option for extract late addition. It does adjust the hops as well for you. You will get a higher IBU with the late addition vs starting the boil off with it. Yeah no need for distilled water with extract. Use distilled or RO water with all grain if you are planning to build your water. Realistically you could just use tap water and trow in a cambden tablet to treat for chlorine but no harm in spring water just a little more $ to spend.

 

[helibrewer]

Hey all, I will be brewing my third batch tomorrow and want to try a couple of different methods. One being late extract additions. So I will start with 1/3 of the LME and add the rest 15 mins before the end of the boil. I will also add 20% less hops since the gravity will be lower. Also, I will be using distilled water this time and steep the grains at 160 for 30 mins. Is it bad to steep grains in distilled water? Does everything else sound good? Just looking for some last minute advice before brew day. Thanks!

No issue with distilled water, I do all my brewing with RO water with minor salt additions. In extract brewing the mash has been done already so water chemistry isn't a real issue. Leave the hops alone, the difference in utilization is nil. 160 is fine for steeping, keep the water volume low, like 1.25-1.5 qts per pound of grain. When I did steeping grains I used the oven on the lowest setting for 30 minutes...painless.

 

[Cajunbrewer87]

Thanks everyone. I wont adjust the hops now. And the reason I'm changing it up is that my first batch has a harsh after taste and I dont believe it is from the hops. After doing a lot of research I believe it is from the water. I've read a lot of positive experiences with distilled/RO water so I thought I would give it a shot.

 

[cjbalough]

No expert but I usualy steep in spring water or bottled drinking water then use distilled or a mix of distilled and spring/drinking water. Like someone else said the lme/DME already has some input from the water it was made with...why would you blindly mess with it?

 

[Ozarks Mountain Brewery]

you guys remember he's doing extract, not all grain "?" grain is already mashed distilled is fine, don't change the hops, boiling longer will darken and be richer tasting

 

[unionrdr]

I use spring water for all styles of brewing now. And leave the hop additions as listed in the recipe. Works fine for me. I also like to sparge steeping grains up to boil volume. But I'll steep in some 2 gallons & sparge with 1 1/2 gallons for 3 1/2 gallons in my 5 gallon kettle.

 

[bell0347]

I use 2 gallons of spring water to steep my grains then add 1.5 gallons heated distilled sparge water and 1/2 the extract for a 3.5 gallon boil. I boil for 60 minutes adding remainder of extract at flameout and follow given hop schedule and amounts. Yes, you'll get a little better utilization but in my experience it's negligible. I then chill to 100F and rack to my fermenter and top off to 5-5.5 gallons depending on recipe with distilled water that's been in the fridge all day. This typically leaves the wort in the 68-72 degree range. Pitch, aerate, put in the swamp cooler and wait. This makes perfectly good beer. The extract has all the minerals and yeast nutrients in it all ready. Distilled water is essentially rehydrating it to its original state prior to being dried or reduced to syrup.


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[unionrdr]

Distilled water worked OK, but I found that the yeasties like spring water a bit more. They work more vigorously in the spring water, presumably due to the trace minerals.

 

[WildTim]

Yeah no need for distilled water with extract. Use distilled or RO water with all grain if you are planning to build your water. Realistically you could just use tap water and trow in a cambden tablet to treat for chlorine but no harm in spring water just a little more $ to spend.

Just want to point out that some of us don't have city water. For me I use spring or distilled, doesn't seem to matter much with an extract recipe because my softened water leaves a funky taste in the beer, heck it even makes brewed root beer taste a bit off.

 

[eadavis80]

I use all tap water. The batches I made with bottled spring water I noticed no difference. I guess my taste buds aren't that acute, or my tap water is fine. I do full boils, so that might help. When I was topping off, I used spring water I bought at the store, but have since stopped since I got my bigger kettle and haven't noticed a regression. I have done late extact additions for lighter colored beers only. Don't see a reason to do them on my "cold weather" browns, stouts and porters, but will be doing them again this spring with IPAs and wheats.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

I'm a fan of using distilled water for extract brewing because the extract has the minerals from the mash done at the brewery. More details in my book about this include the mineral content you can expect from some more popular maltsers.

Here is an article here on HBT that shows a piece of my brewing method:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/four-tips-making-great-beer-15-minutes.html

 

[Yooper]

I'm a fan of using distilled water for extract brewing because the extract has the minerals from the mash done at the brewery. More details in my book about this include the mineral content you can expect from some more popular maltsers.

Here is an article here on HBT that shows a piece of my brewing method:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/four-tips-making-great-beer-15-minutes.html

Agreed. RO water (reverse osmosis) or distilled water is absolutely perfect for brewing, especially extract brewing. It's a good choice.

Instead of adding the extract with 15 minutes left in the boil, I'd suggest adding it at flame out. If you add it at 15 minutes, you stop the boil and it has to start up again, and that takes a while. If you add the bulk of the extract at flame out, it's still more than hot enough to pasteurize the extract and it also will help with cooling the wort. It doesn't screw up any hops additions that way, either!

No need to adjust hops, as hops utilization is actually independent of wort gravity. It's more related to boil size and not the extract in the boil.