Looking for input on my extract recipe

[Aidan Curran]

Hello,

I'm new to this forum so let me know if I'm posting this in the wrong place.

 

Based on my supplies at hand I've come up with this recipe for my next extract batch (b.t.w. this will be my 5th batch and 2nd extract batch):

Batch Size: 25L
Boil Size: 10L

Fermentables:
Steeped Medium Crystal - 0.25 kg
Amber Liquid Malt Extract - 3.75 kg
Dextrose - 0.25 kg

Hops:
Nelson Sauvin (12.6%) - 5g @ 60 mins
Summit (15.9%) - 5g @ 60 mins
Nelson Sauvin - 5g @ 20 mins
Summit - 5g @ 20 mins
Nelson Sauvin - 15g @ 10 mins
Summit - 15g @ 10 mins
Nelson Sauvin - 15g @ 0 mins
Summit - 15g @ 0 mins
Nelson Sauvin - 15g dryhop
Summit - 15g dryhop

Yeast: US-05

According to the recipe calculator I'm using, this should give:
IBU: 38.6
OG: 1.052
FG: 1.012
ABV: 5.5% (incl priming)

1. How do you think this recipe would work?
2. What style would you call it?
3. Any ideas to improve it? (preferably without additional ingredients)

Thanks in advance,
Aidan

[JoKing]

My only comment is to dump the Amber extract (if it's not too late) and go with the most Pale (and fresh) extract you can get your mits on. If it's too late i.e. you have already bought it... well, I'm sure it will still be fine.

 

The reason is with the Amber extract, there is already some colour additives / malt in there that you don't know what it is. These may not work as well with your hops as some of the grains you intend to steep... like that 250g of Crystal in you recipe might make up for a total of even more crystal that is already in your Amber extract... giving you some very sweet wort: then... your hops may not be bitter enough to compensate for this.

 

The remedy is use the absolute most Pale extract you can find, and beef it up with the steeped grains that you absolutely know you have added into your wort. I would recommend the DME on www.libertybrewing.co.nz (of course) as this stuff is extremely pale when diluted with water. Makes great starters too.

 

Anyhow - I would call this beer a Pale Ale if you're scratching for descriptors.

 

Cheers.

[Rhyno]

Whats the L or EBC rating of that stuff Jo, can't seem to find it anywhere

[JoKing]

It's around 3EBC from memory.

[Aidan Curran]

The amber malt I have is this one: http://www.brewshop.co.nz/malts-grains/amber-malt-extract.html, also available at Bin Inn - Brewmaster Amber malt from Hauraki Brewing Company Ltd. Its called 'Amber' but I've no idea where it ranks on the scale. On my last extract brew I used a combination of this and Blackrock Pale LME. But this time I decided to try just using the Brewmaster stuff, simply because it's cheaper. I have it already bought but if you reckon it would make a huge difference, I could go out and pick up another tin of Blackrock Pale LME, which they sell at my local Bin Inn. I have actually got the DME from Liberty brewing but I used that on my last batch, a Coopers stout.

Hauraki Brewing Company Ltd

[Tilt]

Not sure if you're close by but Brewers Coop sell pale LME from a bulk bin - and I've always found its fresh.  About $8 a kilo IIRC.

[Aidan Curran]

No, I'm in Nelson. Bin Inn is the only place here that sells brewing supplies.

[Richard Deeble]

Looks like an American Amber Ale to me. I would concur about using the liberty halcyon DME, excellent stuff for extract and partial mash brewing. Not too caramelised and sweet, much less extract twang. Better than any of the other malt extracts I've tried like muntons or black rock, although I have found the pale malt used in some of the lighter coopers kits is also pretty decent and not overly dark.

[David Winter]

I'm really a newbie too, but one thing you might want to consider is when you add the malt extract.

 

With the partial boil, your wort in the kettle is going to be ~ 1.13 which will mean you get less out of the hops and greatly increase the risk you caramelize the extract on the bottom of the kettle. But the extract only needs to be boiled for ~ 15min to pasteurise it. If you add a little LME at the start and the bulk of it w/ 15min to go you get the most out of your early hop additions and decrease the risk of caramelisation.

 

I went early edition of LME -> late LME/partial -> late DME/partial for my first three brews and definitely go better at each step.

[Andrew]

I did an extract brew a couple of weeks ago and had the brainwave to boil my hops in a pot of water for the appropriate times to extract the bitterness then just add this to the FV. You will get more beer loss in your FV because of all the hop material but its a tradeoff between beer loss vs hop utilisation.

[Aidan Curran]

Yeah, I just plan on adding one of the 1.5 kg jars of LME at start of boil, which would bring BG to around the 1.050 mark. On my last extract batch I added the remaining LME with 10 mins to go but it killed the boil (have to take it off heat for a few mins while stirring in) and it never got back to a full boil - that probably screws up the hops utillisation a bit. This time I'm thinking I'll just add it at the end. I reckon the heat of the wort should be enough to sanitise it without actually boiling it - what do you reckon?

[JR]

You could bring the additional extract to the boil in another pot then add it to main boil once its hot (or just cool it separately and add it to the fermenter.)

 

Andrew - I think boiling hops in some extract might give you a different result to boiling the hops in water alone.  The difference might be for the better or it might not be.

[Andrew]

Yeah, you would geta  lower extract I think but it would still be better than just a 15 minute boil. If you boil for 15 mins you'll get more aroma and very little bitterness from the hops.