Looking for a first extract recipe

Lars

Just made up my second kit tonight-coopers heritage lager, and I want to do an extract recipe next. I'd like some advice on a recipe. I think I'd like to brew a wheat beer. Not like a hefe weissen or something, but I like that cuirim from the Carlow brewing company. I'm not keen on the sweetness or heaviness that i associate with hefe weissens. I do want a lager-like beer.
Any advice welcome!

Thanks

L

Mashtun

Here's a wheat and rye beer recipe forum. Plenty of extract recipes here

Lars

Mashtun wrote: »

Here's a wheat and rye beer recipe forum. Plenty of extract recipes here

I think u forgot the link:D

Mashtun

Woops

http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f70/

Sorry boot that

guildofevil

Cuirim is fairly unusual for a wheat beer in that it doesn't actually have many of the characteristics I associate with a wheat beer. Any recipe you get for a wheat is likely to be shooting for something more like a Hefe Weissbier.

If you want something more like a lager, you should do a blonde ale. As it happens, this is an excellent choice for a first extract brew anyway. Here is a basic recipe:

Blond Ale

Batch Size 23l
Expected OG: 1.050

Malt
3Kg Light Dry Malt Extract

Hops
60 Minutes: Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3 %AA) 45g
15 Minutes: Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3 %AA) 30g
5 Minutes: Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3 %AA) 25g

Yeast: SafAle US-05 or Danstar Nottingham

This will make a strong (about 5.2% Vol) beer with a slightly fruity profile from the ale yeast and a German lager character from the hops.

If you want something closer to 4.3% Vol, reduce the DME to 2.5Kg

If you would rather a Czech Hop character, use Saaz hops instead of Hallertauer Hersbrucker.

Note: The above recipe is formulated to use 100g of hops to achieve approximately 30 IBU (International Bittering Units) which is about half way between Heineken (20 IBU) and Budvar (40 IBU). If your hops have a different percentage alpha acid number, it will change the bittering calculations.

Useful Links:

Hop Bittering calculations

Illustrated Guide to Extract Brewing

Lars

Thanks guys think I'll go with the blonde ale recipe then. Look simple enough

Lars

Hi Guildovevil, what 2 beers should i buy to compare a German to a Czech hop character and decide which I prefer?

guildofevil

Easy to get your hands on examples:

Czech: Budvar or Staropramen.
German: Krombacher or Warsteiner.

Lars

guildofevil wrote: »

Cuirim is fairly unusual for a wheat beer in that it doesn't actually have many of the characteristics I associate with a wheat beer. Any recipe you get for a wheat is likely to be shooting for something more like a Hefe Weissbier.

If you want something more like a lager, you should do a blonde ale. As it happens, this is an excellent choice for a first extract brew anyway. Here is a basic recipe:

Blond Ale

Batch Size 23l
Expected OG: 1.050

Malt
3Kg Light Dry Malt Extract

Hops
60 Minutes: Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3 %AA) 45g
15 Minutes: Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3 %AA) 30g
5 Minutes: Hallertauer Hersbrucker (4.3 %AA) 25g

Yeast: SafAle US-05 or Danstar Nottingham

This will make a strong (about 5.2% Vol) beer with a slightly fruity profile from the ale yeast and a German lager character from the hops.

If you want something closer to 4.3% Vol, reduce the DME to 2.5Kg

If you would rather a Czech Hop character, use Saaz hops instead of Hallertauer Hersbrucker.

Note: The above recipe is formulated to use 100g of hops to achieve approximately 30 IBU (International Bittering Units) which is about half way between Heineken (20 IBU) and Budvar (40 IBU). If your hops have a different percentage alpha acid number, it will change the bittering calculations.

Useful Links:

Hop Bittering calculations

Illustrated Guide to Extract Brewing

Thanks Guildofevil, I've more questions for you as this is completely new to me, and thanks for your time:
The extract brewing instructions I'm seeing on youtbe, beoir etc.. all mention adding 'speciality' grains. This recipe doesn't appear to have any? Whys that?
How many litres of wort should I end up with, target for?
Do I simply bring x litres to the boil and throw in the DME while warming up and then add the other hops with the timings specified, not using any muslin bags?
Do I then sieve this into the fermenter when cooled down enough to pitch yeast, or do the hops sink to the bottom anyway and I can leave them behind when siphoning to bottling container?
What temp should I pitch yeast at?
Does this require secondary fermentation(although I'm not quite sure what thats about) or do I simply leave in primary fermenter until bottling day?

Thanks
L

guildofevil

Lars wrote: »

The extract brewing instructions I'm seeing on youtbe, beoir etc.. all mention adding 'speciality' grains. This recipe doesn't appear to have any? Whys that?

You can add speciality grains if you want. A little crystal malt maybe, but if you are looking for something as close to a pale lager as possible then just using DME will get you there.

Lars wrote: »

How many litres of wort should I end up with, target for?

The recipe I provided is for 23 litres, that's 40 pints. A bit more or less is fine, but if the volume changes significantly the recipe would have to be reformulated.

Lars wrote: »

Do I simply bring x litres to the boil and throw in the DME while warming up

If you have a boiler/pot large enough to boil the whole amount, you should heat 26 litres of water. It will boil down to 23. If your pot is smaller, just boil whatever amount you can. You can top up with cold water in the fermentor. You will need to heat the water in order to get the DME to dislove. It should be nearly boiling when you add it. Be careful though, it can foam up when you add the DME.

Adding the DME will cool the water a bit, so make sure the wort is brought back to the boil before you add the first hops.

Lars wrote: »

and then add the other hops with the timings specified, not using any muslin bags?

Yes, the bittering (60 minute) hops go in first, 45 minutes later you ad the flavour hops, 10 minutes after that, the aroma hops.

Lars wrote: »

Do I then sieve this into the fermenter when cooled down enough to pitch yeast, or do the hops sink to the bottom anyway and I can leave them behind when siphoning to bottling container?

You can put the hops into muslin bags in the boiler if you like, or strain them out of the cold wort at the end, it's up to you, but do try to keep them out of the fermentor. If a few bits get in, not to worry though.

Lars wrote: »

What temp should I pitch yeast at?

About 20C. Anywhere from 16C to about 22C is OK though. A cooler fermentation temperature will result in longer fermentation times but a more lager like beer.

Lars wrote: »

Does this require secondary fermentation(although I'm not quite sure what thats about) or do I simply leave in primary fermenter until bottling day?

Secondary fermentation is where people syphon the beer from the primary fermentor to another vessel, leaving the sediment behind. In my opinion there are few, if any benefits to doing this and they are outweighed by the additional infection and oxidation dangers introduced. The only time I do this is if I am making a beer which is to be aged in bulk.

My advice would be to leave the beer in the primary fermentor until you are ready to bottle it.

Lars

Thanks very much. Clear as a bell now. Cant wait to get stuck into this. Just have to get the pot/boiler...

L

Lars

One more question, I can only find those hallertau hersbrucker hops as 3%. Is it critical to find the right AA % or does adjusting the weight achieve the same effect? I've been looking at http://www.beermath.com/pages/ibu_basic_metric.html The 3% gives more like 20IBU

pelliven

http://http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/hop_calculations.htm
this might help

pelliven

http://www.jimsbeerkit.co.uk/hop_calculations.htm

guildofevil

3% Alpha Acid is very low. You would have to use a lot more hops for bittering, which would mean getting more than one pack of hops. Where are you buying your hops? There are other German Varieties which would do nicely too and might be available at higher %AA.

Hallertauer Mittelfrüh is a very good option, as is Perle or Tettnang.

Mashtun

Recently in the same situation myself with some hersbrucker in a lager recipe. Was told by an experienced brewer to up the quantities to match the Alpha Acid volumes i.e. if i was using 30g of 3% for a 4% recipe, up the quantity to 4%. However i was only adding bittering hops at 60 min and no others at any stage of the boil. Well i guess ya know what to do the 60min hops at least

Lars

I was looking at homebrewwest.ie and homebrew.ie. I'll use some of the alternatives.
Thanks

Lars

Heres my first extract recipe that I brewed today. Got it from beertools.com. Its described as a 'Light Hybrid Beer' and rated at 4.33/5. I just liked the sound of it for some reason:
Made 17.5 litres
http://www.beertools.com/html/recipe.php?view=7657&fvu=liters&u=metric&fv=17.50&scaleBttn=Scale+Recipe
2.5kg wheat spray malt stirred into hot but not boiling water
29g Liberty(Leaf 3.6%AA) 60mins
29g Liberty(Leaf 3.6%AA) 20mins
21g Amarillo(Leaf 10.7%AA)--added at flameout
420g Orange Blossom Honey added 5mins before flameout
Yeast Safale US-05 sprinkled onto wort at 22~23deg
O.G.=1.052
Allowed to sit for 7mins after adding Amarillo, then started chiller.
Notes:
I put the chiller in the wort 15mins before turning the heat off. It reduced the vigorous boil to a simmer because the chiller was cold. Next time I might boil up the chiller in some water in another pot to heat it up instead of cooling down the wort.
Honey was warm going in but also reduced boil to a simmer for a few mins. Should have heated it more before adding.
Wort tasted damn good!! Looking forward to this.....

I now have Amarillo(10.7%), Liberty(3.6%) and Saaz(3.1AA) in the freezer. Can anyone suggest a recipe to use up this stuff?

Mashtun

Where did ya get the orange blossom honey? I was lookin for it recently for a recipe and just used regular honey in the end

guildofevil

Well Liberty and Saaz are both lager hops, so you could use them for late additions in a blond ale, with the Amarillo providing the bittering at 60 minutes.
On the other hand, Amarillo is a beautiful citrusy American hop, so an American pale ale would be another option.

I wouldn't worry too much about the boil dying down for a minute or two when you add your chiller. This happens to me too and I really don't think it affects to beer in any way.

BeerNut

Lars wrote: »

I put the chiller in the wort 15mins before turning the heat off. It reduced the vigorous boil to a simmer because the chiller was cold. Next time I might boil up the chiller in some water in another pot to heat it up instead of cooling down the wort.

Did you have water in the chiller when you put it in? That'll make a huge difference to the effect it has on the wort. It's always best to put it in empty.

Lars

BeerNut wrote: »

Did you have water in the chiller when you put it in? That'll make a huge difference to the effect it has on the wort. It's always best to put it in empty.

I'm pretty sure it was well emptied. Just the cold copper I suppose. Will probably immerse it in water even from the kettle next time

Lars

Mashtun, found the orange blossom honey in Tesco. I wasn't expecting to and had just intended using ordinary honey