Brewing with extract

[Mudcrab]

Gidday,

I've put on a handful of extract brews now. I've read a few books and websites about using extract. It suggests to boil the extract and add hops as you would for an all grain brew - I have been doing this. I assume that this information is slightly outdated (referring to John Palmer's book) and that extract has improved in recent years.

What do you all think? Is it still necessary to boil the extract for the hour before fermenting? A lot of extracts come hopped these days. Do those of you that use extract use additional hops?

Additionally, is the step up to mixed grain/extract and all grain brewing that big?

Any info would be helpful.

Thanks,
Mudcrab

[Smiffy]

If you are using freshly opened cans of extract there is no need to boil them, however if you are using part cans that have been opened previously, they might need a boil to sterilize them.

For the hops, I just boil 2 or 3 litres of water separately.

[Mark Weusten]

I have been told not to boil them. I got a partial mash kit from Finneys homebrew in Christchurch and the instructions were to do the partial mash without the tins, add them right at the end the only heat being some hot water to help dissolve. I would use unhopped extract and add bittering hops to the partial mash when boiling. When you are steeping the specialty grains you need a 10 litre pot and a bag thats about it.

[Mudcrab]

Yeah I figured that extracts are a lot fresher these days from the material published years ago. Thanks for the responses.

[Mudcrab]

I need a bit of advice on carbonation. Before bottling, I put 1tsp of copper tun dextrose into each 750ml bottle. After 10+ days and cooling, it is still fairly flat. Any ideas on what it could be?

[Peter Smith]

Wait another week, I tend to not try bottles for 21 days, if the first bottle tasted sugary or sweater then expected just wait some more. Upend the bottles before putting back in crate to mix things up.

[Mudcrab]

Thanks Peter. I most probably bottled too early then. Just to clarify, I only have one fermenter, am I alright leaving the brew in there for the 21 days?

[Peter Smith]

Sorry have confused you,    bottle the beer then leave it alone for 21 days in bottle

I just reckon it takes 3 weeks to carb/condition etc   

Re fermenter I normally follow 1 week ferment - 5 day dry hop - 3 day cold crash before bottle or keg.      that said I also often end up 3-4 weeks in fermenter due to not getting bottling done on time.  If I do leave a dry hop in the last period is always at 2C and I havne't had grassy tones yet.

[Mudcrab]

Awesome - thanks. It makes sense. It did taste a bit sweet and fruity. I should leave it for a while longer.

[Paul Finney]

Hello, there are a couple of points to clarify. When you say extract, are you talking unhopped or hopped? 

In our partial kits i say to only boil a small amount because generally they are the first partial kits people do and they don't have a big enough pot. Certainly you can do a full boil, but it is not necessary. The key is that you need some wort when you are boiling hops as the sugars in the malt help with the utilisation of the hops and locking the bitterness into solution. 

I have found the Black Rock Light unhopped tins are very fresh and are a high turnover item for me so should be the same in most shops. They are made in Dunedin so have not sat around very long, or had to travel from overseas. 

If you are using dry malt extract that does need to be boiled as the process it goes through may mean it is not sterilized. 

The biggest difference between extract and moving to all grain is generally equipment. The processes from partial mashing just get extrapolated as you use more grain. There are a few more things to it obviously, but generally the biggest barrier is equipment and time to do it.

Any questions, just ask

[Mudcrab]

Hi Paul,

I use hopped LME (Black Rock and Williams Warn) and unhopped DME. The last DME I used, I was told that I could boil it if I wanted to but it wasn't necessary.

I think I'll try a partial grain brew next. I'll post on here if I have any questions.

Thanks for your help.

 

 

[Mudcrab]

One quick question, when topping up my fermenter to 23L, should I wait for the foam to clear (or remove it) before adding the yeast?