dbrewski said:
I do all grain, but have read many times here you want to boil a small portion of the extract for the 60 minutes and save most of it for the last few minutes or even flameout. Boiling the extract accentuates the twang.
Boiling also darkens the DME in the wort ("browning" from Maillard reaction) and adding it all to the beginning of the boil reduces hop utilization. I add 3lbs to 6gals at the beginning of the boil and the rest at flame-out, except for partial mashes where the grains were 5lbs or more. If that's the case, all the DME goes in at flame-out. I also use 1.5gal tap water in 4.5gals RO water (pre-boil) with a quarter campden tablet, most of the time gypsum.
MI_Troll is TOTALLY right about overcarbing. Seems to me that it accentuates bitter and subdues malt. Also makes it hard to swig, which is no fun.
Stocktonbrewing: as far as I know, no carbon-based water filter can remove chloromines; Only chorine. If your municipal water uses chloromines, you must use campden tabs or age the water if you want to avoid off flavors. The water filter I have doesn't filter any dissolved minerals or chemicals and it's the best unit that's not an RO filtration system.
chungking: S-04 does attenuate a little lower than most and ends up a little sweet. 1.015 is normal for extracts, too. Only one of my batches has been less than 1.014, even with partial mash, and it was a Belgian yeast that ended 1.001
My "awesome" was my 5th batch... It was a Imperial Cascadian Dark IPA, Partial Mash. Tastes like a mildly sweet and malty Amarillo coffee. (My mouth is watering and I think I'll go have one right now, lol!)
My 6th was bottled yesterday and it's an Imperial Saison-IPA, partial. I have some high hopes for it as it tasted good warm and without carbonation, although I didn't dry hop it like I should have.
Many people say stick to known recipes, specially those trying to sell you a kit, but I say go out on a limb and DIY using known recipes for guidelines. For the Saison IPA, I took an AG IPA recipe, substituted 2-row with Maris Otter, added Pilsen DME to make it a certain ABV (9.5%) so it's an Imperial, then I changed all the hops translating their AA values (just to match the Saison funk better), and finally multiplied the specialty grains by the new ABV. I also used Belgian Saison III instead of WLP001. It tasted pretty damn good (being still and luke warm) and I'm definitely looking forward to cracking one open in two weeks.
Good luck, man.