Brewing help - No instructions!!

Hi all!!

I'm still a relatively new brewer, and today I picked up an IPA kit from a local brew store. The kit is sold by "Crosby-Baker", which is a wholesaler, and it's an extract kit. Problem is, it didn't come with any instructions. The website for the maker doesn't provide online instructions, and I can't seem to find anything close to it online. Anyone have any insight into this?? Especially with the oak chips. Here are the ingredients:

2 cans Unhopped Amber Malt Extract
1- 1 lb. bag Muntons Crushed Crystal Grain
1 bag Bottle Caps
1 Muslin bag for Steeping Grain
1 bag Priming Sugar
.5 oz. packet Heavy Toasted Oak Chips
1 packet Muntons Ale Yeast
1 oz. UK Pilgrim Hop Pellets
1 oz. UK First Gold Hop Pellets

I also bought an ounce of Centennial hops for dryhopping around day 5 (still not sure how to approach this).

Any help or insight from anyone would be greatly appreciated! Thanks in advance.

My kids didn't come with instructions either, but I figured out what to do with them
Check out howtobrew.com; there are step by step instructions for beginners. This kind of sounds like a brewers best kit; you might google brewers best kits; I think they have their instructions available online.

Me personally. If its a 5 gal recipe i'f steep the grains for 30 min at 155-160*. Remove grains and bring to boil. At boil I'd add one can extract and add second can at 45min in. Since its an ipa I'd split the hops up and add 1/2 oz at behing of the boil, 1/2 oz at 30 min in, 1/2 oz at 45 min in, and last half between 5 min and flame out. Cool your wort to 75ish add yeast and store. For secondary I'd dry hop and add the oak. I'd dry hop for 7-14 days. It's all preference. That's just what I'd do but others may have better suggestions! Good luck

Thanks guys!

No prob! If you go my route check back in and let me know how it turns out for you!

I'm no expert myself, but ed5488's advice looks solid. Just a hunch, but I think the higher alpha acid hop, the Pilgrim, would be the bittering hop and added at 60 min.

I've never used oak, but I've seen NB's whiskey porter recipe kit that has a step where you soak the oak chips in whiskey before adding to the secondary. I imagine this sanitizes them. Not suggesting whiskey here, but I'd look into whether you need to sanitize the chips before adding them to the secondary.

ed5388 said:

Me personally. If its a 5 gal recipe i'f steep the grains for 30 min at 155-160*. Remove grains and bring to boil. At boil I'd add one can extract and add second can at 45min in. Since its an ipa I'd split the hops up and add 1/2 oz at behing of the boil, 1/2 oz at 30 min in, 1/2 oz at 45 min in, and last half between 5 min and flame out. Cool your wort to 75ish add yeast and store. For secondary I'd dry hop and add the oak. I'd dry hop for 7-14 days. It's all preference. That's just what I'd do but others may have better suggestions! Good luck

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This.

There are variations on how they could want the hops, but this would be a good way to go.

OR, you could call up the brew store and ask what the instructions that they didn't give you say about the hop schedule.

I recently brewed a black ipa that i added captain morgan soaked oak cubes to. I got a lot of good info for how to properly add and sanitize oak by listening to these brewing network episodes! Hope they are helpful for you too.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/question-oak-wood-chips-105682/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/sanitizing-wood-chips-88650/

Hmmm... Ed, those links gave me some ideas... I was thinking about soaking the oak chips in Knob Creek (Kentucky Bourbon) for a few days, then toasting them, then just throwing them in primary after fermentation settles down, letting them float around until bottling, see what happens. I think that would produce a nice flavor? Whaddya think?

Sounds good to me! Brewing is all about experimenting! Worse case if you don't like it you know for next time. Best case it's the most delicious beer you've ever made! I myself make some pretty unconventional brews and haven't disliked one yet! It's all part of the fun of the hobby!! Good luck!

Gunpowder said:

Hmmm... Ed, those links gave me some ideas... I was thinking about soaking the oak chips in Knob Creek (Kentucky Bourbon) for a few days, then toasting them, then just throwing them in primary after fermentation settles down, letting them float around until bottling, see what happens. I think that would produce a nice flavor? Whaddya think?

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How about toasting the oak before you soak it so the toasting doesn't drive out the flavor of the Knob Creek?

its been my experience with knob creek from cooking steak with it, is that heat drives off the alcohol but not the flavor of the bourbon. i think i want the toasted oak to be the more dominate flavor, with just a hint of the bourbon.... and i feel that since bourbon is born from oak barrels, it can only serve to enhace that flavor and aroma.... i think marnating the oak chips after toasting will dull the oak flavor more than toasting after would dull the bourbon flavor. however, i could be wrong.

Gunpowder said:

its been my experience with knob creek from cooking steak with it, is that heat drives off the alcohol but not the flavor of the bourbon. i think i want the toasted oak to be the more dominate flavor, with just a hint of the bourbon.... and i feel that since bourbon is born from oak barrels, it can only serve to enhace that flavor and aroma.... i think marnating the oak chips after toasting will dull the oak flavor more than toasting after would dull the bourbon flavor. however, i could be wrong.

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When I made my ipa I didn't toast anything, but when I added it to the secondary I poured the oak cubes and the remaining alcohol it was soaking in right into the fermenter. If you were to toast first and add that to the knob creek all that toasty flavor would be in the alcohol as well. So my suggestion would be to dump it all into the fermenter! Either way you decided to do it isn't wrong it's just your preference. Experimentation is half the fun