First attempt, want to make a maple cream ale

[CaffGeek]

So, over the past few years I've made a bunch of muntons and coopers kits.

I'd like to step up a level and create beer from extracts. The girlfriend would really love a maple cream ale.

I understand it's possible to convert some all grain recipes to extract. I'm a bit unsure how...I find a MapleCream Ale recipe on beersmith (bought the mobile version). Anybody able to help me figure out the conversion and how to do this?

And what do you recommend pot and heater wise? I've got to buy something. Can I use the stove?

 

[dhutchings]

For converting grains to extract:

Multiply the grain bill by .75 to get an equivalent poundage of LME or by .6 for DME.

You'll still want some specialty grains, likely. This chart shows which grains can be steeped to get their character into the brew and which need to be mashed:

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Malts_Chart

It's much easier to find extract that is comparable to the mashed grains rather than doing a partial mash. i.e. use Wheat extract instead of mashing Wheat malt.

I usually use a 3 gallon pot on my stove to do my brews, doing a 2.5 gallon boil and topping up afterwards. As of Sunday I've started using a larger pot and doing full volume boils but my half-boil and top up worked for me for many years.

Edit: Great resource here for converting recipes:

http://beersmith.com/blog/2008/06/03/converting-all-grain-recipes-to-malt-extract/