13
Yes, it is OK squeeze. In fact, you want as much extract as possible from the specialty malts.
It is a common myth that squeezing the grain bag is a bad idea due to "tannins being extracted" or similar. There is no reason for this to be true --- tannins are extracted from the grain (husk) only if the temperature during steeping/mashing is too high. And then ...
9
Even if jsolarski's hunch is incorrect (that your extra DME is for priming the bottles), and it was actually meant for the boil, the beer won't be ruined at all. You just missed the original gravity target, which means:
the beer will finish drier than it otherwise would have (lower original gravity will usually lead to lower final gravity)
the balance of ...
7
Well BIAB is all grain brewing. Not to be confused with just steeping specialty grains in extract brewing.
If you have a kettle big enough to do a full mash, doing a partial mash and extract is pointless. Unless it's a high gravity beer that would normally need a much larger mash. Basically if you're mashing at all it doesn't save time doing only partial. ...
6
The sludge is mostly coagulated proteins, hop residue. A little bit is actually good for your wort, as it provides nutrients for the yeast. Too much might give the beer some slight off flavours. If you were to let the sludge into the fermenter, it wouldn't be the end of the world, but you'll make better beer if your exclude most of it.
So, to answer your ...
6
The only way to know is to look at the OG. LME has 36 ppg and DME has about 45. In the recipe you mention, the OG is 1.038 for 5 gal. and it calls for 6 lb. of extract. Assuming LME, 36*6=216. Divide by 5 for 5 gal. and you get 43ish. That's darn close to the OG listed and DME would make the OG even higher, so that particular recipe must be for LME. ...
6
Usually the quality is not greatly different but the quantity is usually too low in my experience. Over here in the UK a 25l or 5Gal kit tends to come with 6g of yeast, where as I would often pitch 11-22g depending on the gravity.
It is probably the fact that pitching another yeast is pitching at far higher cell counts, leading to far cleaner fermentation.
...
5
IMHO there is too much "all grain brewing tehcnique" being used in an extract brew process.
There is no particular need to steep the grains at 70C. They are providing some flavours and body to the final beer, The grains are not malted so have no diastatic power to convert starch to sugars - as standard barley malt might do. Flaked wheat might help in head ...
4
BIAB IS all grain brewing. But it's not traditional multi-vessel brewing. Some batch sparge with a cooler, others fly sparge with a sprinkler, some use a bag for the whole water amount (BIAB). All-grain brewing, each of them.
As for sparging, do note that some BIAB brewers add a sparge step, where they may pour a gallon or so of hot water over the grain ...
3
I say that it's unnecessary - the malt extract does not need to go into the fridge, since it's sterile from the producer. Also nothing can grow in the malt extract due to the high sugar content, so I'd say the chilling and reheating is just creating extra work.
Simply leave the malt extract at room temperature and pour into the pot. If you want to decrease ...
3
There is no particular reason I am aware of that normal fermentations for extract vs. all-grain brews should be different. Perhaps some examples that you've noticed might help?
Fermentation time is mostly a function of yeast health, wort oxygenation levels, yeast pitch rate, the gravity of the beer, and temperature. While extract might generally have less ...
3
I don't think you can calculate this number. They report a max extract using a standardized lab test obviously. But then the rest is subject to too many variables for there actually be something to calculate.
Its system and brewer dependent on what the ppg will be.
I think your calcs are spot on as far as getting in the ball park. Maybe assume a 5-8% ...
3
It does not need to be 5.00000 gallons, don't worry about the small differences.
You can aerate after pitching the yeast, so long as it's immediately after; the yeast need oxygen during the lag phase, but once alcohol starts being produced, you don't want to introduce oxygen at that point.
3
Stored cool, dry and out of sunlight, DME is good for 2+ years. The main issue is with it picking up moisture, when it then becomes clumpy. But once boiled it's still good and you can use it up to 5 years in small quantities (say 1-2lb/0.5-1kg in a 5 gallon batch.)
3
It could possibly be OK, but is it worth your time to make a beer just to find out whether you've saved $9? Chuck it.
3
If you have missed adding it to the boil rather than as bottling primer, then there is a fourth option.
You could boil up the DME in about a pint of water, and then add it to the fermenter. The yeast won't care that it wasn't there initially and will happily convert it into alcohol.
The beer should be drinkable regardless, just may be slightly unbalanced,...
3
All brewing extracts were boiled wort and achieved a hot break at some point and have been reduced to the extract by a couple methods. Generally like you would thicken a sauce by simmering.
That being said at packaging they should be sanitary. However there was a recall of extracts a couple months ago, that were infected and packages started to swell.
DMS ...
3
0.004 difference is also 1 Blg difference, to say it in units I know. That's pretty big here. At the same time, it's also pretty possible your fermentation has finished.
If in doubt, I would try fast fermentation test. Take generous amount of baker's yeast, fresh. Like, 1/5 cup. Fill the rest of cup with your beer, stir, put in dry warm place and wait a day ...
3
Without knowing the AA of the hops, it's pretty much impossible to tell you how much to use. You can get by without the specialty malts, but steeping maybe 1/2 lb. of C60 will add a bit of depth and freshness to the beer.
EDIT: OK, I ran it through my brewing software. That's gonna make VERY bitter beer....you're at 1.042 OG and about 80 IBU! You either ...
3
In my experience, those yeast that come with kits are about the same quality as other dry yeasts, I did not notice any difference in attenuation or lag time etc. I think most of the kit suppliers use the same yeast for all their kits, so usually a very neutral one-fits-all yeast.
3
Sounds like you want to use oats for fermentables. So I'll focus on the how's for that.
Quick answer: adding oats and enzymes as a steep in a full boil for the above purpose won't work well. Mainly because the enzymes would be too diluted.
Solution is to mini mash the grains in a smaller volume of wort or water with brewers enzymes. The enzymes are usually ...
2
So it looks like your source just took an all-grain recipe and converted by just taking the base grain and subbing in light DME, and then using ALL the flavor grains in a steep. Typically, one would choose some darker malt extract to compensate for some of the steeping grains, such as Jordan suggested. However, yes, this is one way to do what you want. 7....
2
When I brew with an extract I boil 4 cups of water, then take it off of the heat, and add my Hopped Malt Extract to the hot water and stir. Once the extract has dissolved into the hot water it gets added to a gallon of chilled water in my fermentor, and then another 4 cups are added to that. Basically, the instructions for my Mr Beer 2 gallon brewing kit.
2
I saw a new answer on here- what the hell- I'll post.
In my experience- what you're describing is typically a byproduct of old (oxidized) liquid malt extract. It gets a really cloying flavor due to oxidation, and typically won't ferment out to 1.010 clean. It becomes sweet, cloying, and has that twang.
Since the posting of this question and now (what, 12 ...
2
From the first item in the search results for "briess dme shelf life": Briess "Product Information & Typical Analysis" sheet for a similar DME [PDF Warning]
STORAGE AND SHELF LIFE
Store in a cool, dry location.
Unopened bags best if used within 24 months from date of manufacture.
2
Those old Brew Your Own recipes are a little vague on ingredients, and hard to figure out. You have an added handicap of being in the Eurozone, it seems.
Likely the 3.3 bs. of amber light extract is LME (because in the U.S. they sell it in 3.3 lb. cans and plastic milk jugs), and you can substitute a 1.5 kg can of Coopers Light Malt Extract or the Premium ...
2
If you're using a Northern Brewer extract kit like this one, you should get pretty close to the OG if you fill your fermenter to 5 gallons.
A good kit should account for some of the water evaporating away during the boil. It should also assume that some hop residue (trub) will be left behind in the boil kettle.
The wort that you pour from the kettle into ...
2
There is no fault with warming the extract. Some of the companies recommend it as it makes pouring the liquid easier.
Good Idea: Placing the can in a basin of hot water
Bad Idea: Heating the can on a stovetop or suchlike may cause the can to burst.
What I do is warm the can in hot water in the basin while I wait for my brewing water to come to a boil. I ...
2
No, there are no consequences to this.
2
I always put the grain bag in a strainer and pour 2-4 quarts of 155-160f water slowly through the bag to remove anything additional from grains. This is the extract brewer's sparge equivalent. I've never read anywhere that squeezing was a good thing, but I have read from several reliable sources that it's a bad thing.
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