Help make something :)

I did a Muntons all in one kit. It was pretty lame and I didnt feel like I made beer. I went out on a limb and bought some ingredients and wondered if someone can tell me what to do and how much. Heres what I have.

3 lb. Muntons spraymalt extract "Plain Dark"
1 lb. of Briess Pilsen Malt
1 lb. of Chocolate Malt
1 oz. Tradition Pellet hops

Is this OK for a good beer?

thanks

I think (I'm no expert) your probably going to have a hard time making something decent with what you have there. Have you looked at our recipe database, I bet you could find a recipe that you would like and then you could go buy the ingredients for it.

farmbrewernw said:

I think (I'm no expert) your probably going to have a hard time making something decent with what you have there. Have you looked at our recipe database, I bet you could find a recipe that you would like and then you could go buy the ingredients for it.

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I agree with you, that you have a hard time making a decent beer. The Dark extract does not necessarily go with the Pilsen malt. The Pilsen malt needs to be mashed to properly convert. I agree that you should either look at the recipe database for something or go with a kit that is not just a can or 2 of extract.

I went out of town and this is what the guy said to get. Whats wrong with it?

What guy? You got some poor advice.

First of all, it doesn't correspond to any particular style of beer and it is just a random mix of ingredients. Give us an idea of what you are trying to acheive and we'll be able to point you in the right direction.

Your OG with all of the ingredients is 1.034, which is too low for most styles that would use the dark extract. Your ABV is only going to be around 3.3%, which is in the same range as light american lager. Your beer is going to be very dark, and very malty due to the dark extract. Generally if you want to make a dark beer it is easier to go with a light extract and use darker steeping grains to get the dark color, and character you want.

What style of beer were you looking to make?

He could, of course, decrease the batch size in order to get a higher OG. I say aim for 1.040 OG, 35-40 IBU (I'm not familiar with Tradition hops, are they of sufficient AA% to get to 35-40 IBU?) and call it an Irish Stout. You'll have to mash the pilsen malt with the chocolate malt by crushing it and adding it to about 2.5 qts of water and holding it around 155 degrees F for half an hour. Then straining it, and adding the DME, bringing to a boil, adding the hops and all that.

I know Im not even close but I like Samuel Adams cream stout. Or just something darker.
Is there a rule of thumb basics that you must have to brew?

zoeconner said:

I know Im not even close but I like Samuel Adams cream stout. Or just something darker.
Is there a rule of thumb basics that you must have to brew?

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No, there's not really a rule of thumb and you've got some beginnings there. It's not enough to make a complete recipe, though. I'll give you an analogy- you want to make spaghetti sauce and you have tomato paste, onions, soy sauce, and beef. Well, those are all good ingredients, but the soy sauce would be better in a different dish, and you need a few more items to get a complete spaghetti sauce.

So, while there is nothing wrong with your ingredients as ingredients, they don't really come together to make a beer. You have the beginnings of a stout, though, but you'd need a couple more things. You have too much chocolate malt, and not enough extract. I'll see if I can dig up an easy beginner recipe.

So by adding malt extract it would be better?

zoeconner said:

So by adding malt extract it would be better?

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Well, you need another 3 pounds to start with. Then, you'll need to consider what other grains you'll need to follow a recipe. For a stout, you won't need the pilsner malt, and you may want to consider purchasing some roasted barley.

There are stouts in our recipe database, and I'm trying to find one that might resemble the Samuel Adams Cream Stout (which I've never had!)

I'm not sure why they keep telling you you don't have enough extract. All you have to do is not dilute it as much. Here is the recipe for the Irish Stout I mentioned earlier.

Irish Stout
4 gallon batch

OG 1.044
IBU 40
SRM 46

3 lb. dark DME (Dry Malt Extract)
1 lb. pilsen malt
1 lb. chocolate malt

1 oz. Tradition (I based my calculations off of them being 6% AA)

Heat 2.5 qts. water to 165 degrees in large pot. Add crushed pilsen and chocolate malt. Try to maintain a temperature of around 155 degrees F. After 30 minutes of 155 degrees, drain the wort into your kettle. You can rinse the grains with hot water (sparge) in your original pot then add that to the kettle if you want, or you could just throw the grains out. Add enough water to the kettle to add up to 3 gallons. Bring water to a boil. Take off heat and add DME. Return to heat and bring to boil. Add hops. Boil for 60 minutes. Cool wort to <70 degrees F. Transfer to fermenter. Shake it to aerate. Add water to add up to 4 gallons. Sprinkle a pack of Nottingham yeast on the top. Wait three weeks. Take gravity. If <1.015 and clear go ahead and bottle or keg.

Oh agreed you could make a smaller batch I guess I was just thinking the OP probably wanted to make a 5 gal batch and I'm not sure that the OP is up to mashing just yet. It sounds like they are just starting, yes I know mashing is easy but it's not exactly something a beginner does as a general rule.