Beginner with a silly question.

Brewing processes and methods. How to brew using extract, partial or all-grain. Tips and tricks.

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porkdog324
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Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:05 am

Beginner with a silly question.

Post by porkdog324 »

Hi All
I am new to this beer making stuff. I've got some cans of Coopers Real Ale and Morgans Amber Ale. Also 2 yeats, 1 oz of hops pellets and a 1litre tub of brewers Hi-malt syrup.

I was considering putting the two kits in one 23litre batch with the syrup. Will this work?

Also what would be the procedure if I wanted to cook it?

Brent
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Mesa Maltworks
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Silly?.... Hardly!...

Post by Mesa Maltworks »

Of course this will work! You have two options for "cooking":

1. Follow the directions on the Coopers can except use no sugar and combine all the malts and add the hops in equal amounts at the beginning of the boil, half way through and at the end.

2. The best way is to use a 90 minute boil in a pot with 10% greater capacity than the targeted batch volume so you can boil all the water and malts rather than topping up the fermenter with cold water (not the best practice) and follow the above hopping schedule.


Eric

Now, as far as fermenting it, you did not specify what equipment you have. Please respond back listing your fermentation equipment and I'll continue.

In the meanwhile, I would advise that you pick up a basic brewing book such as Charlie Papazian's Complete Joy of Homebrewing. The time spent reading about the ins and outs of brewing will go a long way to ensure positive results.
porkdog324
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Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2004 11:05 am

Wow...this will work!

Post by porkdog324 »

Thansk for your response Eric.

I have two 23litre glass carboys and a large plastic primary. As well as all of the siphoning tubes etc (wine kit stuff)

I will have to go with option 1 as I only have a 2 gallon cooking pot.

Any other suggestions would be greatly apreciated.

Brent
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Mesa Maltworks
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Option 1 Cont...

Post by Mesa Maltworks »

Ok... since you are going to attempt to boil the wort in a 2 ga. pot using all of the malt you have, you are going to end up with a really high gravity boil! You will need to be watch this pot closely due to the high viscosity (thickness) of the wort... it will tend to boil over very easily. The other thing you need to be careful of is over-caramelization or worse, scorching. I would suggest that you place a wire "standoff" under your pot so that it is not be in direct contact with the pot's bottom. This will keep from scorching the wort, but you will still need to monitor for boil overs. Definitely do not use a lid on the kettle!

Since the gravity of the inital wort will be so high, your hop acid utilization will be reduced. Rather that what I first suggested, (3 even hop additions), I now recommend that you put 50% of the hops in for 90 minutes, 40% for 30 minutes and 10% for the last 10 minutes. This way you will maximize the impact of the bittering, flavoring and aromatic additions given the amount of hops you have. Not knowing what styles please your palate, this is about the best recommedation I can make.

As far as your fermenters, use the carboys rather than the bucket. They are easier to clean and sanitize and their being clear lets you monitor what is taking place better. BUT... you cannot siphon the hot wort into them as they will crack due to heat stress. Instead, boil the top off water for 30 minutes, chill it to ~60-65 deg. F. and siphon it into a sanitized carboy (spashing it around for aeration)and seal it with an airlock. Then brew the beer, chill it to around 80 deg. F. and siphon it (splashingly) into the carboy with the water. The resulting mixture will be within a safe (but not optimal) temperature for pitching the yeast. Pitch both packets and seal with an airlock.

Once you see very vigorous activity, siphon the beer off the trub into the second sanitized carboy (no splashing!). Let the beer ferment out in this vessel. When the gravity of the beer is the same for 2 days in a row, siphon it again into a sanitized carboy and allow it to clear.

After the beer is sufficiently bright, siphon it into a bottling bucket with your priming sugar (dextrose) and bottle.

Now for the most important part... send me 12 bottles! I'll let you know how it turned out!;)

Eric
fitz
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Another option is to

Post by fitz »

Another option is to boil it in two "Batches" and blend them in the plastic fermentor. siphon them into the carboys, and then top off. You may get better hop utilization, and less chance of a boil over. There will be a little lag time, but if the wort hasn't reached fermentable temps, you shouldn't have to worry about nasties starting to grow.
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