First non-kit homebrew

[blitzkrieg.hop]

Hello guys.

I'm really enjoying these posts and finding all of the threads extremely helpful. I thought I would put what I am planning to do out there and see what feedback I get from seasoned pro's like yourself as I am a massive rookie. so here goes.

I've made a couple of kits and wanted to replicate the format of these into a bit of an experiment to try and start drilling down and establishing my own recipe that I would like to work on and perfect over time.

I'm going for (on paper) an orange and grapefruit IPA:

• 33g of citra dual purpose hops
• 10g (1 sachet) of M44 US west coast yeast
• Mangrove Jacks Pale liquid malt extract (not sure whether to do 1 pack and 1kg of dextrose sugar or 2 packs and add) https://www.home-brew-hopshop.co.uk...ck-s-reinheitsgebot-liquid-malt-enhancer.html
• 50g purpose bought orange peel
• 50ml apricut booster

Plan is (I don't have a recipe to follow):

Make a 3 litre solution with the malt extract/malt+sugar and boiling water. I'm going to then top it up to 23 litres with cold water. Allow to cool to around 24°C and add the yeast (not sure whether to add the peel at this stage or during the initial stage with the extract etc.

I'd be keen to know what peoples advice would be at this point. The Kit formats have said to add the hops at 7 days but other advice is to add it at the start? Bear in mind it's a no boil extract brew.

I plan to ferment over 2 weeks in total at which point I will siphon from the fermenting barrel into the pressurised barrel for storage/serving. Once transferred I intend to add the apricot booster, allow to settle for a couple of days and then pump with CO2.

Thoughts/advice welcome. I'm a total newbie and keen to learn! I'm having trouble translating this recipe and method into the recipe calculator as not entirely sure what to populate the fields with.

Thanks,

 

[Nosybear]

You're having trouble because the recipe calculator is not set up to handle this kind of process. Let me see if I understand what you're trying to do: You are going to make 3 liters (forgive the American spelling) of highly concentrated wort, then dilute it down by adding 23 liters of water. You don't specify how much extract you're using so I can only guess at the original gravity. So let me ask a few questions:
1. Why no-boil? The extract has already been boiled so boiling it after reconstituting the wort will not change the extract in any way and you'll sterilize both it and the water.
2. Again, I'm not too sure what you're making so why the sugar? I'm guessing 1 pack of the extract is a kilogram? If so you are making a very thin beer with all the sugar you propose. And a very small one: Working in pounds, 1 pound of extract (about half a KG) in a gallon of water (about 4 liters) makes a 1.042 wort, about a 4.5% abv beer. So for a 6-gallon batch, assuming a packet is a kilogram, about 2 pounds, you'd need 3 packets to make a medium-strength beer. Sugar will reduce body, add alcohol and no flavor.
3. How are you adding the hops? One charge at the beginning? Ditto the spices and flavorings. How you use them will have a considerable impact on the outcome.
4. I looked up the malt enhancer - I'd never heard of it so I can't make a statement on its use or contribution. It seems to be a malt extract of some kind so it will contribute gravity to your beer as well.
Bottom line, I'm not quite sure what you're doing so it's hard to advise. More information?

 

[blitzkrieg.hop]

Thanks for the message. All valid questions and points.

I guess I'm trying to follow the format of past kits but pick my own ingredients along the way to make something to my own taste - the desired product being a citrus IPA. This format has been to make the initial concentrate out of a pre-measured serving of malt extract, dextrose sugar - usually 3 litres and then adding in cold water to make a TOTAL wort solution of 23 litres.

1 - Again, just following previous kit methods. If you think it would be worth boiling that initial part I'm happy to give it a go. Previously I have just added boiling water to the malt and sugar to make the initial solution.
2 - I don't know if the sugar is required or not, that was one of the main questions. The extract comes as a 1.2kg pack so I probably need two, but didn't know if 1 pack and 1kg of sugar would be an alternative option as it is in the kits.
3 - I was going to add the hops at the 7 day stage, simply by adding to the top of the wort. Again, that was one of the questions. Should I add here or include in the initial solution?
- no worries, thanks for looking

If I sound like I don't know what I'm talking about, you would be right, haha! Hence why i'm on here looking for help form more experienced people like yourself.

Thanks again!!

 

[Nosybear]

Suggestion: Go to "Howtobrew.com" and read the section on brewing with malt extract. I hate to give that kind of an answer, it reeks of "read a book, lepton" but I think John does a better job of explaining than I do. Most of us have been where you are at some point, a little knowledge will help ask better questions. I was asking the questions to get a bit more information because at this point, I don't know enough about your beer to provide sound advice. When you can tell us more about what you're trying to achieve, we can help you get there.

 

[blitzkrieg.hop]

Much appreciated, I’ll give it the proper attention. I’m also booked into my local hop shop to go through my ideas and get advice/guidance on what ingredients to buy and how to use them for the desired effect. I’ll become more coherent with experience hopefully. Thanks.

 

[Craigerrr]

After a year and a half of brewing, I have learned enough to know that I don't know enough... While I have fiddled with recipes (sometimes on purpose, and sometimes by mistake), I have yet to design my own recipe. The best thing you can do as a beginner (I still consider myself a relative beginner), find proven recipes in a style of beer that you like, follow the instructions and make beer. You will learn as you go, and you won't be so likely get discouraged if things don't turn out the greatest.

 

[blitzkrieg.hop]

Thanks a lot for the advice. I guess I thought I could replicate the kit methods with just simply switching out the main ingredients for direct replacements in my own design. The guys at the hop shop will hopefully direct me to the right solution, even if that’s recommending another kit to try... Thanks so much.

 

[blitzkrieg.hop]

@Craigerrr @Nosybear

This is the kind of thing I was going for. Found this just now on another sites thread.

 

[GFHomebrew]

That above recipe sound tasty to me. I'd give that one a crack. Enjoy the process. Just keep that fermentor and anything that goes in there pretty clean and sanitized and in the end I'm sure you'll have some hoppy beer to drink.

 

[blitzkrieg.hop]

That above recipe sound tasty to me. I'd give that one a crack. Enjoy the process. Just keep that fermentor and anything that goes in there pretty clean and sanitized and in the end I'm sure you'll have some hoppy beer to drink.

Thanks a lot, I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.