miket6 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Hi Guys. I am going to attempt a Pale Ale with the addition of a small amount of grains.I am familiar with the method of steeping the grains and sparging to extract everything possible. when I have read about boiling,do i add my hops in sequence to this mash boil and after cooled add it to my extract that has been prepared, or do i mix all my PALE ALE extract,sugars, GRAIN extract and then boil for one hour ading hops as needed, then, cool and pitch yeast. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 The answers you are looking for depend a lot on the sort of pale ale your are after, ie how bitter etc you want it to be, and your equipment. Myself for a basic Pale Ale I would only boil the tea from the steep and add hops for maybe a 10 min boil, this would about a 2-3 Litre boil, then on flame out, maybe add some more hops, then I would dissolve all other ingredients into that tea , cool, add to fermenter and top up. The pale ale can doesnt need boiling. If you plan on doing a large boil for sanitation or even just because you want to, for maximum hop utilisation you want the gravity of the boil to be around 1.040. There are many more factors and things I could go on with but if you give a few more details on the type of pale ale and your equipment we could be a little more specific. what size boil, do you have a chiller etc.. hmmm hope thats clear, I got Sunday morning-itis.. [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miket6 Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 thanks mate,,ive got sunday itis as well. Im on my 3rd cuppa. I am just going to try 500g of crystal malt and some cascade and fuggles. As I hope your aware im new to brewing so its all trial and error. i assumed to just do a "tea", i would assume 500g of crystal malt will not to affect the og too much so i would still have to use the same amount of a be1 or2 or sililar? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miket6 Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 sorry mate..to answe your question Coopers pale ale probably be2 23 litres in total no chiller but have the facility to chill in ice bath Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 OK. I think 500g of Crystal Malt is too much, It will be a very sweet beer, I'd half it. If you are using BE1,2 etc.. I'd use BE2 + 500g Light Dry Malt OR 1kg Light Dry Malt. Not sure how hoppy you like your beers??? If you are new to hops I'd probably just boil your 'tea' for 10-15 mins to kill any nasties and then throw the hops in at flame out. If you like hoppy flavours I'd add 10-15g of each for the last 10 mins of the boil. and then another 10-15g of each at flame out. You can always go somewhere in between use smaller amounts of hops . I'd steep the Crystal in 2 litres of water at around 70c for 30 mins. strain. then rinse the grain with another litre of boiled water that has cooled slightly (just boil the kettle after starting the steep and use that). Then boil that tea for 5 minutes. add your hops boil for another 10mins. You must keep an eye on the time. You dont want to boil too long. Turn off Heat. Add the rest of your hops now. I'd then mix in the BE2 + malt (or whatever you decide to use) and the coopers pale ale can. Cool and add to fermenter and top up to 23L. There are many variations, but that is my basic method. Cheerz! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I just want to add, be careful with hops. If you arent use to drinking hoppy beers go easy with them. Maybe 5g of each to the 10 min boil. and 10g of each at flame out. If you are just use to drinking below average commercial beers VB,Carlton etc You may not want to add any hops at all. This is the thing with brewing, we all have different tastes. If you know of a beer you really like we could point you in the right direction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miket6 Posted July 1, 2012 Author Share Posted July 1, 2012 thanks so much Gavin, you have been really helpful and have made it a lot easier for me to try extract/grain for the first time today. Ill let you know how its goes. Thanks again Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 No worries mate! [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I agree with most of what Gavin has written. However..... maximum hop utilisation is achieved by boiling in just water, ie no gravity reading or added sugars. Having said that, most people do boil with a gravity around 1.040, which is what I also do. [rightful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 yep, the reason its better to boil hops in wort is it helps the Alpha Acid oils 'stick' to the water, helps us to win the battle of keeping hop goodness in our beers [biggrin] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 helps the Alpha Acid oils 'stick' to the water So using wort is still better? I still use wort because I didn't understand the science behind the water/wort debate and since the results are good I didnt feel the need to change what Im doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Everybody I know boils in 1.040 wort (or close to it). However, as I said and as written by several "experts", to get the best hop utilisation is to boil in plain water. Anything under 1.030 you can expect to get some really harsh bitterness which you will not desire for your beer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 That is true, but since oil and water doesn't mix and even when it does its constantly trying to separate, from all the things I have read boiling in wort helps the oil to stay in the wort. Another debatable issue [happy] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 My point is that you will get the most hop utilisation by boiling in water. I'm not disputing what you are saying with regards of 1040 hop boils. ... we seem to be debating what we both agree on.... sounds pretty pointless to me [roll] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 [wink] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raider Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I was planning on doing a toucan stout with some dex, steeping grains and hops but how would I get my boil up to 1040 without any DME or LME? I know the steeping grains would add some to it but obviously not enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gash Slugg Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 I think your wort from the steep will be enough, I'm guessing a couple of hundred grams of grain in a couple of litres? Thats normally all I would use in that sort of brew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 If you are not using malt but Dextrose, just use the grain water and dextrose to bring your gravity up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raider Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Yeah I was going to use 200g each of choc malt and medium crystal, with 2 litres and another 2 to rinse. Oh ok I didn't know you could use dextrose, thanks for the help guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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