Question for homemade extract brew

I am making an extract kit from scratch. One question I have is with steeping grains, will any sugar content be added, or will I need to add sugars to the boil? Thanks.

It depends... You could get a little, depending on the temperature and how long... If you want to do a mini-mash, then use a nylon grain bag, include some base malt (2 Row for instance) along with the other grains. Hold it at a temp from 148-160F (depends on what you're making) for a good 30-60 minutes and try to do a sparge (you can use another pot for that, then combine the wort) for 10-30 minutes at 168-170F...

Otherwise, don't count on getting any contribution to the OG from a pound of specialty grains. Use more DME in the recipe.

BTW, it WOULD help if you posted the recipe along with what you're looking for... You could also run it through brewing software, or one of the sites that help check your recipe out...

Sorry, meant to do that.It's going to be a Blonde Ale here is what I am working with. May do some tweeking on it. Thanks for the advice.
Type: Extract
Date: 3/18/2011
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Brewer:
Boil Size: 3.25 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: Brew Pot (4 Gallon)
Taste Rating(out of 50): 35.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: -
Taste Notes:

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 10.00 %
6.00 lb Pale Liquid Extract (8.0 SRM) Extract 60.00 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L (60.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (80.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 lb Mild Malt (4.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
0.50 lb Special Roast (50.0 SRM) Grain 5.00 %
1.00 oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 10.2 IBU
1.00 oz Northern Brewer [8.50 %] (60 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
2.00 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
2.00 gm Gale, Sweet (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 gm Seeds of Paradise (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
1.00 lb Brown Sugar, Light (8.0 SRM) Sugar 10.00 %
1 Pkgs Nottingham (Danstar #-) Yeast-Ale

What style of brew are you going for?

Looking at a sweet Blonde Ale

Well, that's no blonde ale... IF you want to get back on target, you'll need to dump the dark malts (60L, 80L and special roast). You'll also need to really reduce the hops, or use just one at 60 minutes (you have both listed for 60 minute boil time)... Putting the northern brewer to a 5 minute boil would be better, and get it back within the IBU range of the style. Do the LME as a late boil addition too, so you don't get too much darkening of the wort. Or just convert it over to DME (probably a better idea)...

If you want it to be sweet, think about using 1/2# honey malt in it. You can also go with 4# of extra light DME and get it within the color range of the style.

For the sugar, look to use either Dememera or Turbinado sugar...

My recommended altered recipe:

4# extra light DME
.5# honey malt
1# dememera sugar
1oz Fuggles (4.50% AA) 60 min
1oz Northern Brewer (8.50% AA) 5 min

Estimated OG: 1.045 style: 1.038-1.054
Estimated FG: 1.012 style: 1.008-1.013
IBU: 23.5 Style: 15-28
Color: 4.7 SRM style: 3.0-6.0 SRM

Not sure why you're looking to add the coriander seed, sweet gale, seeds of paradise into the blonde... I've not used any of those in a brew, and probably won't for some time (if ever)... It does seem like an awful lot to be putting into just one 5 gallon batch...

If you don't have brew software yet, get some... Beer Smith (what I use) is cheap ($21 for the license to use it on two systems) and will really help you to figure out recipes.

I would say from the recipe just guessing you can get away with steeping the grains in a nylon/mesh bag at 150 to 165 for 20 minutes or so. Don't let it reach 170 as you will extract tannins which will not taste good in the final product. Then bring it to a boil once you remove the grains. From there add all liquid and dry extracts. When it returns to a boil, add first hop addition. Boil for 40 to 60 minutes and add last hop addition in last 25 minutes. I'm not sure on when to add seed and such but this should make a good beer.

Great! Yeah, I just got the beer smith software and figuring it out. I'm trying to make it kind of a sweet Spring ale, which is why I was thinking of adding the spices. May leave them them out. Thanks for the tips. Very helpful.

Hey gold, if he only had the ingredients he listed on hand and had to brew tonight, what style could he make with what he's got and have a solid brew? With the specialty grains he has listed it would more than likely be a dark roasty type beer would you agree? Might be on the strong side with the brown sugar fermented out?

He didn't mention if that was ALL he had on hand and wanted to brew TONIGHT.. If that was the case, then either change what you're making to fit the ingredients you have, or wait until you can get the ingredients to make what you want.. Not hard to do...

The original malt bill looks more like a brown ale than a blonde (unless it's really a brunet)... BTW, that's why I asked what he was looking to make before commenting about the ingredients... Without knowing the target, you really can't judge a recipe... IMO

I do think it's easier to make what you want when going all grain, which is what I do now... I'm getting 'essential' grains to have on hand so that I can brew almost anything at the drop of a hat. I have different L levels of caramel malts (all British Crystal malts), plus a little victory still on hand. I have a few pounds of honey malt to use, and also got some roasted barley, chocolate malt and flaked barley yesterday... Combine that with the sacks of 2 row I have (UK, Golden Promise, and Maris Otter) and I can brew a lot of different styles without issue. Of course, I still need to get some additional items to have to round out the inventory, but that will come... I do still have 4# of crystal Maris Otter (55L) to use. Used my first pound in last weeks brewing. Got another ~6 weeks to go before I open up one of those suckers (has three more weeks on the yeast, including a week of dry hopping)...

I would suggest reviewing the different styles to see what is most often used. That has helped me to figure out which grains to include in a brew... I also find that keeping the grist more basic often leads to a better brew... Just because you have 6+ different grains on hand, doesn't mean you need to use them all in a brew. Last weeks brewing had UK 2 Row for the base, then 6oz Victory and 1# of Crystal MO... I would also suggest reading up on hops, so that you have a better idea of what they do in the brew. Especially ones that are dual purpose, or can be used for bittering, flavoring and aroma... Even ones that might not list it in their traditional descriptions, can be used for different stages.

Above all else, just brew. The more you brew, the more you'll learn what different combinations will product. Read different clone recipes, especially brews you like to drink. I would go with published ones, like from BYO or well liked books. I wouldn't trust just a google/bing search to come up with a solid recipe for you.

He may have other ingredients. I just wanted your hypothetical analysis of what he had as I'm trying to understand how the ingredients work. I was thinking before that this might be a good brown ale which I'm sipping on right now matter of fact.

I've not made a brown ale yet... You could, probably, make an Irish red ale with some of the original ingredients he posted. I just wouldn't use all of them... I used 12oz 65L British Crystal malt and 4oz of 120L British Dark Crystal Malt in my IRA, along with the base malt (mixed UK 2 row and Maris Otter)... Enjoying one right now in fact. SUPER clear after sitting on the yeast for about 3 weeks and then in the fridge for the past ~2 weeks. Was the last batch I primed with honey... I plan on trying my old ale tomorrow (used 750ml Belgian bottles, so not about to drink one right now), which is my first batch using turbinado/dememera sugar for priming.

I think a good chunk of the fun of home brewing is experimenting... Just because most people use corn sugar for priming, doesn't mean you can't use something else. As long as it is a sugar that can be fermented, go for it. Just be sure to know how much to use. :rockin: