So, I'm pretty new to homebrewing, but I managed to whip up a basic kit from the local homebrew store, and it's currently fermenting away in the garage. I've been reading out of The Complete Joy of Home Brewing by Charlie Papazian, and it has a lot of good information, though it is from the '80s and a bit outdated.
The couple questions I had come from that book. First, a lot of the recipes call for specific types of malt extract, like Munton and Fisk's, Gold Medal, Edme, etc. Have any of these brands died out? And if they have, is it possible to substitute ie: plain ol' light amber instead of Munton and Fisk's light amber? Or will this affect the taste? The same question goes for hopped malt extract kits. Also, when recipes call for something like 2 lbs. of malt extract syrup, is that equitable to 2 lbs. of regular old malt extract powder?
As a side note, and a bit of an off the wall question, but are Crystal, Black Patent, Chocolate malts ever used as the primary malt in a beer? Or are they always as flavor, and Light/Amber/Dark are the only primaries? Sorry if that's beer blasphemy, but you've got to learn somewhere, right?
And one last thing - are there any current, up-to-date homebrewing books that you'd recommend?
Thanks for any advice you've got - these forums have already been incredibly helpful/inspiring!
The couple questions I had come from that book. First, a lot of the recipes call for specific types of malt extract, like Munton and Fisk's, Gold Medal, Edme, etc. Have any of these brands died out? And if they have, is it possible to substitute ie: plain ol' light amber instead of Munton and Fisk's light amber? Or will this affect the taste? The same question goes for hopped malt extract kits. Also, when recipes call for something like 2 lbs. of malt extract syrup, is that equitable to 2 lbs. of regular old malt extract powder?
As a side note, and a bit of an off the wall question, but are Crystal, Black Patent, Chocolate malts ever used as the primary malt in a beer? Or are they always as flavor, and Light/Amber/Dark are the only primaries? Sorry if that's beer blasphemy, but you've got to learn somewhere, right?
And one last thing - are there any current, up-to-date homebrewing books that you'd recommend?
Thanks for any advice you've got - these forums have already been incredibly helpful/inspiring!