Wednesday, January 30, 2019

How I brew with malt extract

This seems like a good place to start a blog.

It takes about 3 hours to brew with malt extract.

Start your yeast - 10 min

If you have a smack pack, smack it or pitch 1 to 2 dry yeast packs.
sometimes I will pour the cooled wort onto the yeast from a beer I just transferred
Or... collect yeast from your primary and "clean" it.
  • In a big container let the sediment settle for a day or two
  • pour off the liquid
  • pour off the top, healthy active yeast into a smaller container or beer bottles.
  • store for later use (you may need to add "pasteurized" water for storage)
When reusing "cleaned" yeast from a previous batch or brewing higher gravity beers, make a starter.
  • boil some water in the microwave
  • add some sugar
  • cool it to room temp in the fridge 
  • add the yeast and let it sit out while you brew

Beer tea - 20 min

  • Fill the pot to about 6" from the top
  • put your specialty grains into the "tea bag" 
  • make beer tea for about 20 min while the water heats up. 
  • don't let the bag rest on the bottom, it will burn
  • Heat to water to 160 - 170 F (to hot to touch but not hot enough to burn you ;) 
  • Turn off the burner
  • Sanitize the equipment (while the grains steep)

at this point your equipment should be clean but not sanitized.
  • fill a bucket with warm water and star-san or whatever you are using
  • throw in the air lock, air lock gasket, big spoon or paddle and a bowl/ plate/ Tupperware (something to set the small bits on when you're done)
  • pump the star-san water through your racking cane and tubing

Boil the wort - 90 min

  • remove the tea bag
  • With the heat off, stir in your malt extract 
  • some beers will have a mid-boil malt extract addition
  • this is to increase bitterness extraction/ hop utilization
  • waiting to add 1/2 the extract will produce a more bitter beer with the same amount of early-addition hops.
  • While stirring. bring the wort back to a boil (this could take a while)
  • Turn the burner down until you have nice a rolling boil
  • !!! This is where biol overs happen, throwing sticky sugar water everywhere
  • Don't freak, just turn the burner off as fast as you can.
  • and/ or spray with water

  • Add the first hop addition
  • Start counting backwards from 60 min.
  • Crack a beer.
  • Add additional hops and/or malt if called for (often at t-15 min, t-5min, and 0 min)
  • For IPAs a 20 min whirlpool hop addition may be called for. (during cool down/ post heat)
  • Don't do this for malt forward, traditional beers and/or with "traditional" hops
  • Best with fruity new skool hops. mmm.
  • Dry hopping the beer (after primary fermentation) can give you more aroma 
  • BUT it will clog your racking cane when you transfer it, best to use a hop bag.

Cool down the wort as fast as you can! -30 min

You will have been drinking so pay attention to this part. :)

  • Cool down the wort to room temp (70 or 80F)
  • Do not slosh it! Do not pour it out of the kettle hot! 
  • Adding oxygen to hot wort can ruin your beer. Ruin. Maybe. (hot-side aeration, is it a thing?) 
  • Fill the sink up with COLD water and put the kettle into the water.
  • You will need to change out the water 2 or 3 times
  • OR stick it into a snowbank 
  • OR use an immersion chiller, which is what I do.
  • Add air, water, yeast and more air
  • pour the cool wort into your sanitized bucket
  • add cold water until you have 5 gallons 
  • add your yeast and yeast nutrient
  • put the lid on
  • rock the bucket back and forth, sloshing the shite out of it to add more air.
  • the yeast need oxygen to grow
  • you just boiled all the dissolved O2 out
  • install the air lock 
  • this is what keeps the bad yeast and bacteria out of your beer
  • some people put vodka in the the air lock but I just use water

Fermentation (& cleanup) - 30 min

Where matters, ferment ales in a cool dark place

in the summer I put them on the basement floor
in the winter they go on a shelf in the basement or in a first floor closet
These are my options so I don't get too hung up on the temp

It's better to adjust your yeast to your conditions
Shoot for the middle of the temperature range for a healthy fermentation
if you are fermenting on the cold side of the temp range for your yeast, this may stress your yeast.
warm the beer up for the last day or two of the primary fermentation
this step will help the yeast clean up any off flavors that they may have produced
this comes from lager fermentation (more on lagering in a future post)

warmer temps = more yeast flavors
cooler temps = less yeast flavors
cold temps = no fermentation?

If you're using a glass carboy, wrap it in an old towel to keep the light out.
Also, leave enough head space for the krusen! and maybe use a blow off tube.
Also, glass breaks in horrible awful ways so be careful!

Conclusion

That's pretty much it. Extract brewing doesn't have to be boring. There's still a ton of brewing process and technique to play with form hopping to yeast selection and fermentation. And with a 3 hour turn around time, it doesn't take up all of your day. You can even do it after dinner on a school night!

So, as the wise man often says, "Relax, don't worry, and have a home brew"

- Brew North


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