Well I finally brewed in 2010.  I brewed up simple Amber Ale with all German inspired hops (I’ll post the recipe eventually).  Actually I had planned to brew up the Extract Brown Ale.  But when I was crushing my specialty grains, I accidentally knocked the hopper off of my mill and spilled all but a small amount of grain in the floor of the garage.   I stood there looking at the mess and almost called it quits; it just wasn’t meant to be I figured.

However, I rallied and changed gears.  I was out of chocolate malt for the brown ale, but I had plenty of crystal 80L, 120L and some roasted barley.  So I went ahead with my back up brew the amber ale.  I used the same WLP001 yeast starter that was intended for the brown ale and all went well.

The next near miss came yesterday.  I came home to a blown off stopper and foaming yeast climbing down the side of the carboy.  Thankfully, I was able to run to the garage and get a cap and blow off tube set up pretty quickly.  Funny thing was that the foam wasn’t even down to the floor yet, so it must have just popped off before I got home from work.

I pitched the yeast at 66F, the cool basement brought the beer down to 64F.  It’s now comfortable fermenting at 68F under its own residual heat.  This should be one clean tasting ferment at those low temps.

This post will serve as my jumping off point for my first brew session of 2010.  The new baby in the house has certainly slowed down my brewing.  So for this batch I am going to be brewing up an extract batch of American Brown Ale.

I modified my favorite all-grain brown ale recipe to this extract one in an attempt to brew some fresh beer in hopefully half the time of my normal all grain sessions.  I hope to get it started and wrapped up in 3 hours!  We’ll see though.I am excited to do an extract brew again.  Its been a while since I did one.  I started my WLP001 yeast two nights ago and I put the flask in the fridge this morning to encourage it to ‘floc’ out.  I’ll decant the spent wort and pitch just slurry tonight.  (I usually pitch the entire starter, but I wanted to try something different).The yeast looked nice and light tan this morning, so I am in good shape. The extract attempt will also be part of my efforts to shorten my brew day as part of the series I started in a previous post.  

We’ll see if I can hit that three hour mark.The biggest challenge will be getting my kettles set up in the garage.  I was hoping to brew on the front stoop just outside my garage; but its raining here today in The Commonwealth of MA.  My garage is a nightmare as usual post the winter season.  We just keep letting things pile up in there all winter long and I haven’t done a good spring cleaning yet.

And if you are really paying attention, yes I said kettles.  I am brewing the brown ale, but if things go well I may stagger a second extract session 40 minutes later to make an Amber Ale.  I had some extra hops around that I wanted to use up, so I purchased some Munich extract and more base extract.  If the set up and space issues work out I will hopefully come out of the session with two beers not one.I always tend to bite off more than I can chew though, so I hope to play it conservatively and brew the second beer only if its all going well….

BREW ON!

In a previous post (Return to Extracts), I pondered the value of doing a little extract brewing when I don’t have the time available for my 6 hour all-grain sessions.

I was pondering some of my recipes and decided that I would convert on of my recent American Brown ale recipes to an extract version.  When last I brewed it as all grain, I really enjoyed it an thought I had hit a real nice balance between malt flavors, chocolate notes and residual sweetness.  Although it is an American Brown ale, I kept the hopping to a milder schedule to not overwhelm the flavor with citrus and piney flavors typical in some American hopping schedules.

I offer the converted recipe below:

American Brown #1 Extract

If you’re a regular reader you know that I recently added a second brew assistant to my brewhouse.  With two sons now at home it becomes more difficult to find time to brew.   I have been thinking of ways to get in brewing sessions that are short and quick to slake my thirst for brewing whenever I have time.

I have been pondering the occasional dabble in extract brewing again.  I don’t plan to abandon my all-grain brewing setup as I love the process and the control.  But extract brewing would be a quick way to bang out some easier beers, experiment with ingredients and just stay active in the hobby when a 6-7 hour brew session with all-grain won’t cut it.

So this post is a call to all our extract brewing readers. What styles of beers really lend themselves to extract brewing?  I was thinking of putting together a simple Amber recipe to get myself started in the 2010 brewing season. I figure maybe a good dry Irish Stout and maybe a couple good English Brown ales, milds or other session style brews.

What is on your extract agenda these days?

BREW ON!

Ok.  So here’s another reason I should just go all grain…

I don’t know how great Munich malt extract is.  It seems the brands that produce Munich malt extract mix it with a base malt.  None of the descriptions I read stated that they were 100% Munich malt.

They cut it with some percentage of base malt, which is good…I guess…if you just want to brew with one type of malt extract and it happens to be Munich.

I want to brew with both Pilsner and Munich malts…and if I go back to extract, I am at the mercy of the maltster.

Here’s a good example for beginners.  When a more experienced brewer says that you have less control of your malt profile using extracts, this situation is what they mean. 

I think I can make a better Maibock with an all grain bill than extract.  More to ponder.

I was thinking for my first lager that I would “go back to extract” just so I could focus all my energies on the fermentation temperature control.  I guess with a few all grain batches under my belt I could do the whole process, but I sorta want to know if lagering without a fridge is really doable and want to take the issues of messing up the beer on brew day out of the equation.

What do you think?  Am I just being overly cautious?  Should I just go for it?

The grain bill for the Maibock is going to be ultra simple - just Pilsner and Munich malts…

Probably just one hop addition with 60 minutes to go in the boil.

I don’t know.  I could simplify it even more and just focus on fermentation.

Extract brewing is easy, quick, and convenient; sometimes I miss the good old three hour brew-day.  But I don’t miss the increase in freshness that all-grain has over extract.

A recent discussion I had with a couple other brewers yielded these ideas which help extract brewers bring more freshness to their brews:

1. Dry malt extract is generally more shelf stable and gives a fresher flavor than canned liquid extract.  I tended to use DME exclusively over LME before I switched completely to all-grain.  A possible exception to this would be if your local shop carried bulk LME in a drum, that is routinely purged with nitrogen instead of air, and has a high turnover rate.  I have a local shop that used to have the drums but their turnover wasn’t so good because more and more folks started doing all grain batches, so then “canned” the barrels (no pun intended).  Not to mention that the barrelled LME can get pretty messy with all those people trying to fill a 1 gallon container with 1.2 gallons of extract for that little extra value!
2. While it is a common practice for some, I think the use of steeping specialty grains is under-valued for its freshness contribution.  For the most part all your caramel/crystal grains, your toasted and roasted grains, and some of your other wacky grains (acid malt and melanoidin malt) do not need to be mashed.  Using them for your color and flavor will bring a much fresher taste and value to your wort than using amber extract alone.  Not mentioned in part 1 but praised quite a bit by us here at Brew-Dudes, we always recommend the lightest extract you can get.
3. Don’t be afraid to ask your local shop folks how long any product has been on the shelf.  Don’t just go to the store and grab a 6oz bag of any old thing.  It’s tough to tell from sight how fresh a little bag of black patent is, so you have to ask.  It’s like purchasing beef at the market with a blindfold on, only to get it home and see that it’s all gray and nasty.  With brewing ingredients, you may not realize freshness issues until the beer is brewed.  You can taste a few kernels on any malt and they should have a clear crunch in your teeth.  If not, they are likely a little stale and you should find another source.

Ingredients are expensive and so is your time.  If you want to make beer that you can drink and pass out on, then I encourage you to go get the discounted extract cans at your LHBS.  However, if you are interested in making a beer that rivals your favorite commercial beer for flavor and freshness follow those practices above!

BREW ON!