First Brew Questions - Midwest Irish Red Ale

Hey All,

I've been visiting the site for awhile now, and I've got to say there seem to be a lot of good people and advice here. I am prepping for my first brew - Midwest's Irish Red Ale - and wanted to get some opinions on when to add the LME.

Due to the size of the stock pot I have on hand, I am only going to be able to boil 3 gallons or so. Midwest's instructions say to add the LME along with the Cascade hops at the beginning of the boil and let it go for 60 minutes. I am a little concerned about over-caramelizing the wort. I do enjoy bitter beers, so adding the LME late in exchange for increased bitterness is something I've considered.

Would adding some of the LME (~25%) early in the boil and the remainder toward the end (last 15 min.) produce good results? Should I consider withholding some of the hops?

Thanks in advance for your help. It is much appreciated.

-dmboiler

Check out first-wort-hops.

Id think you could add the LME when you are going into the fermeter.

I don't always do things by-the-book.

...also check out no-boil.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/boddingtons-bitter-orfys-modified-310208/


.

If you want to add the LME late for the flavor, you can do that. Your beer is just that and you can do whatever you want with it.

Here's an option: The 6lb LME is only 1/2gal. You could still steep your grains in 1.5gal, rinse the grains with .5gal and still have room in your pot for the full LME addition at whatever part of the boil you decide to add it. Then you top off with 2gal of boiled or bottled water to make 5gal in your fermenter.

You could also look at using 2 separate pots--your 3gal for the hops and wort and another 2gal (or whatever you have) for the LME and some water. Or split the boils evenly between the 2 pots. Either way: combine in your fermenter, mix thoroughly, wait a couple weeks and enjoy responsibly.

Thanks for the responses. Any one else care to chime in? I'll be sure to document my process and let you know how it turns out.

If you can boil 3 gallons add half the LME at the beginning and half at knockout.