question about hme

[cheech226]

my very first brew was with a mr beer kit, churchill nut brown ale. it turned out to be tasty for an "easy bake oven" brew. i bought another can w/yeast for real cheap and i'm going to make it. i'd like to personalize it by adding some steeping grain and some aroma hops.
after steeping my grain Must i boil for an hour? i want to add my fuggle hops at what would be 15 minutes. can i just bring my steeped grain solution to a boil, add the fuggles and boil for 15 min. then remove from the heat and add the mr beer hme?
tia

 

[J A]

As long as your steeping grains are all Crystal malts like C-20, C-40 Carapils, etc or roasted malts, you can just do the steep, bring to a boil, add hops and boil for the desired time. Don't forget that the HME will add considerable bitterness, depending on what it is so you have to use hops accordingly. It's tough to calculate a recipe based on using HME and it's usually best to rely on recipes already developed for that particular HME. The Mr. Beer site will have specific recipes based on the HME.
A caution if you're using something that's old or expired...it really won't taste as good as a fresh can. Any extract, but HME in particular, will develop a "twang-y" flavor that's not exactly terrible but not great.

 

[cheech226]

As long as your steeping grains are all Crystal malts like C-20, C-40 Carapils, etc or roasted malts, you can just do the steep, bring to a boil, add hops and boil for the desired time. Don't forget that the HME will add considerable bitterness, depending on what it is so you have to use hops accordingly. It's tough to calculate a recipe based on using HME and it's usually best to rely on recipes already developed for that particular HME. The Mr. Beer site will have specific recipes based on the HME.
A caution if you're using something that's old or expired...it really won't taste as good as a fresh can. Any extract, but HME in particular, will develop a "twang-y" flavor that's not exactly terrible but not great.

thanks! i bought it at mr beer. if it's expired it'll go back. i thought the first batch i made could use more hoppage. i plan to go with maybe 3 oz of chocolate malt and about 10 grams of the fuggles for 15 min. just to make it mine. my first batch really was good after 6 weeks in the bottle, and i kept my temps just right thru the whole process

 

[Hogarthe]

Is Mr beer 2 gallons? If so 3 oz of chocolate malt may be a bit much. Those really dark malts usually pack a lot of flavor.

 

[cheech226]

Is Mr beer 2 gallons? If so 3 oz of chocolate malt may be a bit much. Those really dark malts usually pack a lot of flavor.

yeah, i had second thoughts on that plan. the ale was good as it was when i made the first batch. i brewed (if you can call it that) it yesterday just as it was with no additions. i plan to dry hop it tho. how does 1/2 oz of styrian hops sound after 2 weeks out of my planned 3 in the fermenter? i want to personalize it some. it is a 2 gal. kit.

 

[Hogarthe]

1/2 oz of styrian hops sounds good for a dry hop. Should work well with a brown ale.

 

[cheech226]

today i bottled my churchill ale. i did dry hop it with 1/2 oz of styrian hops for a week. i tasted a little and it was good, those hops came through but weren't overpowering. now i wait. last time i made this it took 6 weeks in the bottle - i'll let y'all know. i was hoping to use my homegrown cascade hops but they are taking their time getting ripe. looks like i'll get two harvests because there are a lot of new flowers forming..