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Bitter Recipe Question
Hey all. I was looking over my next brew's recipe, and I noticed something odd. The directions say to start off with only 3 quarts of water to make the wort. This seems low to me. I've never started with anything less than 1.5 gallons, but all of a sudden this recipe is telling me to start with half of that?? Here's the recipe:
7 lbs Light DME
1/2 lb crystal malt, 60 Lovibond
1 1/4 oz Cascade hops, in boil 60 mins
1/4 Cascade hops, in boil 10 mins
1 teaspoon gypsum
Wyeast #1338 European Ale yeast
3/4 cup corn sugar, for priming
So is the 3 quarts (.75 gallons) an acceptable starting amount of water for my wort? Is it a misprint? I'm inclined to think "no" on that last question, but I'm just a bit perplexed.
Thanks for all the help in advance!
That's a little odd. Perhaps it was the suggested water for steeping?? Not sure, but I'd do as large of a boil as possible. It will improve your hop utilization. I would also do a late extract addition instead of adding all your DME at the beginning if you're not already doing that.
FirePitBrew wrote:
I would also do a late extract addition instead of adding all your DME at the beginning if you're not already doing that.
I've never heard of a late extract addition before. Whats the purpose and how late?
Add some the last 15 minutes. It helps to keep the beer from getting darker than you want. I've done it a lot. Use half in beginning and the other half last 15 minutes. Beer will be lighter in color than if you use it all at the start. the 3 qt wort boil is probably a misprint or as mentioned the steeping water mount for the crystal malt. I usually boil 2 to 2 1/2 gallons for my extract recipes.
DC
Rph Brewer wrote:
FirePitBrew wrote:
I would also do a late extract addition instead of adding all your DME at the beginning if you're not already doing that.
I've never heard of a late extract addition before. Whats the purpose and how late?
Late extract additions help prevent darkening of the extract during the boil. When extract is produced it typically gets boiled for a short period of time prior to becoming extract. That darkens it somewhat. So if you boil it again it gets a little darker. By using the extract late method of addition you don't darken it quite so much and you can make a lighter beer.
Making pilsner colored beer with extracts is ver difficult because even pilsner to extralight extract is slightly darkend from the production process.
Not only will it reduce the darkening of the beer like the other guys said but it'll improve your hop utilization. Meaning you'll get slightly more bitterness from your hops than you were before when adding all your extract at the beginning.
Here's a pretty good article on the subject.
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/02/2 … additions/
I always did my extract batches with 3 gallons of water, it just seemed easier, and the wort wasn't as thick, and it allowed for a better boil on my electirc coil stove.
alot of the extract recipes are posted using various amounts of water, I thought it might be according to pot size. Maybe the guy who made the recipe only had a 2 gallon pot, or he thought he would post thinking that someone might only have a kitchen pot to work with
FirePitBrew wrote:
Not only will it reduce the darkening of the beer like the other guys said but it'll improve your hop utilization. Meaning you'll get slightly more bitterness from your hops than you were before when adding all your extract at the beginning.
Here's a pretty good article on the subject.
http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/02/2 … additions/
Great article thanks. This will definetly come in handy for my next batch (maibock).
Just some advice on another note, I would suggest switching those Cascades for East Kent Goldings to make it a little more true to style. Just sayin'.
Thanks guys for all the help and suggestions. That's interesting about adding half the DME halfway through the boil.
And about switching the hops...I may just stick with the Cascades for this brew, see how ti comes out, and use the EKG the next time. You're right...closer to original style.
I love this place.
andrew jensen wrote:
Just some advice on another note, I would suggest switching those Cascades for East Kent Goldings to make it a little more true to style. Just sayin'.
+1 on the hop substitution. I really like EKG's but Fuggles, Willamette, or Challenger would work really well too. But then again, experimenting is part of the fun in homebrewing and either way you'll still make beer that will taste good.
Just to be different I'll support the use of cascades in the beer.
Those who know me know I really like to brew up English Ordinary Bitter...and I use EKG exclusively.
But there is no reason to not try and make the same type of malt session beer with an American twist. American 2-row, american hops and american yeast. It'll be different for sure, but using the premise behind a low gravity bitter with american ingredients should make a fine everyday drinker.
One thing I wanted to add about boiling the wort and darkening it, also called caramelizing, it takes hours for that to happen. I have done several 90 minute boils, and the brewery I used to work at ALWAYS did 90 minutes, sometimes longer, even with their blonde ale, and nothing was caramelized.
When I used extract, I boiled 2 gallons of water, and boiled the extract for a full hour. I personally don't care if my beer caramelizes, the darkness doesn't bother me. But it doesn't happen lightening fast.
Remember too that a longer boil also concentrates the wort more, evaporating more water and leaving more sugar, thus a higher OG.
As FirePitBrew said, you will get more hop utilization if you boil 90+ minutes, but from experience, and also what Papazian wrote in his book, it's only about 5%.
That is odd the recipe called for 3/4 gallon for boiling.
I've always wonderered something about the late extract addition cause i've heared and read about this before. One thing i've always wondered is why half? if it helps prevent any carmalization that may take place why not add 1/4 at the beginning and 3/4 at the end... or why not all of it at the end. especialy for lighter beers, wouldn't this give you the lightest possible beer you could get using extract???
When I brewed with extracts I would use only a pound or two at the beginning (maybe 15% of my total extract) and add the rest with 15 minutes left. You do need to add some extract at the beginning because it'll help in hop isomerization.
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