Newbie Questions - Timothy Taylor Landlord Clone Extract Brew

Hi folks, long-time lurker on this excellent forum is digging his homebrew equipment out of retirement after a two year sabbatical to renovate a house. Just before it went away last time I did my first extract brew (done numerous kits) and made more mistakes than you could shake a stick at. I'm keen to try and brew something a bit more palatable this time.

Just want to take the opportunity to say how great this forum is, it is going to get me sacked as I'm spending all day reading about brewing and doing precious little else.

Anyhoo, I've stumbled across a recipe for a Timothy Taylor Landlord clone (top notch English Ale) and am keen to give it a go. However, there are loads questions running through my head before I give it a go. Could really do with some advice.


Ingredients:
------------
7.7lbs Light DME
9oz Crushed Crystal Malt
1oz Fuggles [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops
1oz Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (20 min) Hops
1oz Styrian Goldings [4.70 %] (0 min) Hops
Wyeast #1469

Dry hop secondary 1oz Styrian Goldings


So many questions :

Steeping Grains:

1) Recipe actually calls for 6oz Caramunich and 3oz Caraaroma, can't source these easily in the UK so have substituted Crystal. How much difference will this make?

2) For steeping I plan to add grains to the 3 Gallon boil (in grain bag) when cool then remove grains just before boiling (is this the way to do it?).

The Boil:

1) I have a six gallon boiler but no way of chilling wort (how do you stick an Electrim bin in a bath of ice water!!?). So I'm planning on a 3 gallon boil that will chilled by the additional 2.5 gallons of chilled water

2) For the DME addition I plan on adding 4lbs just before the boil and the remainder just before flame out. I've read that your better off dissolving the DME in a small amount of warm water and add ing that to the boil rather than adding directly, is this good practice and does it make any difference?

3) For the late addition DME should I stop the boil or simply add to the boil or do you add after the boil?

4) For the hops I was planning on using hop bags (just lugged 'em in last time and there was a hell of a mess). I assume there's no real issue here. Planning on doing the same for the dry hopping.

That's it.

No more questions (well not today). Thanks for your help in advance. The planning stage is almost more addictive than the brew itself!!

Steeping Grains:

1) Recipe actually calls for 6oz Caramunich and 3oz Caraaroma, can't source these easily in the UK so have substituted Crystal. How much difference will this make?
It will surely make some difference, but I think Crystal would be more authentic for an English Ale (caveat: advice from a Yank).

2) For steeping I plan to add grains to the 3 Gallon boil (in grain bag) when cool then remove grains just before boiling (is this the way to do it?).
I think you want to do the grain steep in hot water (65C) - maybe a gallon or two - for 30-60 minutes, remove the grains, then add the extract and boil.

The Boil:

1) I have a six gallon boiler but no way of chilling wort (how do you stick an Electrim bin in a bath of ice water!!?). So I'm planning on a 3 gallon boil that will chilled by the additional 2.5 gallons of chilled water
This isn't perfect, but it will work. How about making an immersion chiller - easy, and not that expensive.

2) For the DME addition I plan on adding 4lbs just before the boil and the remainder just before flame out. I've read that your better off dissolving the DME in a small amount of warm water and add ing that to the boil rather than adding directly, is this good practice and does it make any difference?
Presumably, you're doing this to minimize wort darkening due to the concentrated boil. You will miss some of the advantages of the boil this way - hot break and DMS boil-off. Dissolving first in warm water is a good idea, though - it will help in avoiding "clumping from hell".

3) For the late addition DME should I stop the boil or simply add to the boil or do you add after the boil?
If you pre-dissolve it, no need to stop the boil (the addition will do that for you anyway!). If you decide to just dump it in instead, I would remove it from the heat until you get it dissolved.

4) For the hops I was planning on using hop bags (just lugged 'em in last time and there was a hell of a mess). I assume there's no real issue here. Planning on doing the same for the dry hopping.
Sure. You will get less extraction from them, but your recipe calculator will account for that.

Good luck!

Thanks for your help DLB, took your advice on board.

Brewed up last night and really enjoyed it.

I did predisolve the DME before adding to the boil and this worked nicely with no hint of clumping onr scortching.

In the end I decided to build a wort chiller out of 8mm copper pipe and it worked like a charm. Reached proper pitching temp in about 25 mins. Can highly recommend this, took me about an hour to build a few night ago.

Ended up with a 4.5 gallon boil and achieved both hot and (my first) cold break.

Final result actually looked and smelled good. I guess in US parlance I guess you could say I'm "stoked".

Interestingly I think I've enjoyed the process of planning and brewing more than the end result (am I allowed to say that?).

Anyway, thanks guys, just wanted to share my experience with people who share my interest.

TBM, Wow - looks like a success -thanks for the follow-up. I think it's OK to enjoy the process, but enjoying it more than the end product? That's a novel concept...

Cheers!

Just an update and a couple more questions.

Racked to secondary last night after four weeks in the primary. All I can say is the patience was worth it. I took off a pint for tasting purposes and it was great. No hb twang (which I've had on all my previous brews), this stuff tastes like beer I'd buy......:rockin:

...but two problems:

1) The ferment was one of the most sustained I've ever had, good krausen for 8-9 days. As a result this stuff is seriously strong....could feel it after a pint!! In future what can I do to ensure a little more body biut a little less alcohol?


2) Over the weeks the "nose" has really faded. In week two it smelt great, but in the pint glass the hoppy smell was weak. I assume I should dry hop to resolve this?

Thanks for your help guys, I have made beer....I have made good beer!!!

Hey TBMaster,
Caramunich comes in three different grades. From the Weyermann website: Caramunich I (30.6-38.1 L), Caramunich II (41.8-49.3L) and Caramunich III (53.1-60.6L).

The Caraaroma is listed at 130-170 L.

That should help you in selecting proper substitutes.