First Brew....Extract or Mash?

[studio1]

Hi all,

Have been thinking about getting into brewing for a while - have a passion for real beers and would like to create some craft quality beer. Over the last week I've been doing lots of reading - this site, howtobrew.com, watched some you-tube vids on AG etc.

Am about to get my equipment together...and wondering...what should I try out first...extract, partial or jump straight into AG (mash or BIAB). I really want to create a bloody good drop (english bitter to start)....would an extract or partial be up to my expectations??? My only memory of an extract beer is the filth my mates created 15 years ago at school....so I guess I'm a bit tainted.

All info and advice appreciated.

[studio1]

Cool - was in Brewers co-op yesterday - looks like a good place to get supplies. But I was in Takapuna so got a start-up kit from Hauraki and grabbed:
2 x Muntons Medium ME
500g Curshed cara malt
Hop Pellets - NZ Sticklebract and East Kent Golding
3 x Safale S-04

So will read through howtobrew and get a ready recipe for a brew in the next few days. Obviously this is all a bit new to me, so any advice would be great.

Got a SS pot from a chinese kitchen supplies store in mt Albert. looks about 32-40L for $85

[Reviled]

Sweet as on the pot matey, all you need know is some material and a burner and youll be BIABing in no time!!!

[studio1]

yeah - they had a huge range of burners at the chinese shop from $29 up. Hopefully my stovetop with 2 elements can handle my first few brews.

I note on the the howtobrew website, he refers to using 2 packets of yeast for a 5gallon brew. Would this apply to the Safale as well?

[HerrSchnapps]

Nope, one packet of Safale is good for 20-25 odd litres. If you're doing a brew on the stove-top, I've found that you don't really want to go with any more than about 15 litres, though YMMV. If you get a 3-ring burner though, its fantastic and will happily boil the shit out of the average brew!

[studio1]

thanks - might try and grab a burner before brew day. Had the pot on the stove last night seasoning / cleaning it - its a beast on the stove top.

The lady at Haruaki talked me into 2 cans of Muntons medium rather than light (she claimed the medium was actually pretty light)......I'm not so sure. would I be better off with one medium and one light for a special bitter?

[jt]

I've used a mixture of light, medium and dark depending what's on the shelf when I've bought.
You'll be fine with medium, it's just got a little more colour & flavour than the light.
If you're only adding some caramalt, you can't really over do anything - though you probably won't want to add too much

Most people would use the light and add colour & flavour through the use of crystal / chocolate etc grain.
By using the grain to add flavour & colour you're also adding that x factor goodness that grains have.
The more grains you add, the better the beer (usually)

If you can handle some gravity & hop calculations, I reckon you're a starter !

[HerrSchnapps]

Two cans of medium should be fine for an ESB :)

[studio1]

In the fermentor now. Aimed for an ESB with 47 IBUs but undercalculated evapouration for 25L - ended up with 20L which I topped up to 23L with tap water (had no boiled water handy). OG 1074 (before I added the last litre of water).
I burnt the crap out of the SS kettle with the burners - they left tons of black sediment which is now throughout the house (and unfortunately i suspect a few particles ended up in the fermentator grr). Wondering if this is because the flame was yellow, not blue - perhaps an air vent issue - couldn't quite figure out how to fix this.

Have the fermentor sitting on the concrete floor which is heated, happily bubbling away.

Thanks for your advice - hope it turns out ok!

[JoKing]

Depending on your type of burner... (most people use the standard 3 ring) there is an air adjustment vent where the gas lines go in to the cast iron burner. If you open the vent up you will be able to adjust the flame to suit.

[studio1]

thanks for that - I wondered if they were the adjusters - had them tightened fully, so will try adjusting next time.

[Barry]

"Have the fermentor sitting on the concrete floor which is heated, happily bubbling away"

Hopefully not too heated!!

If you value the effort you've just put into making your beer, you'll get that thing into a fridge and keep it fermenting at around 20 degrees, no more than say 22 (constant and controlled) Let it warm up to 24ish after a good week or ten days to absorb diacetal, then cooler again 'til it drops bright. Then bottle it.

If you don't have a spare fridge, somewhere cool and dark. Heated is not so good - ferment too warm and you'll overdo the esters, produce hotter fusel alcohols (especially with that kind of gravity), and generally make your beer less easy to drink.

[studio1]

ok thanks - the underfloor heating is at around 18-20 degrees - just enough to keep the temp constant, and in a cool dark corner - you wouldn't know touching the floor that it is on.

How do you get a fridge to stay that warm?